Friday, September 29, 2006

Sunset in Kokubunji

Funny thing about living in Tokyo... you can't always take a good picture of the sunset. In fact, two days ago the rain stopped and the sun came out in time to give us a really nice sunset. Only problem?? I couldn't get high enough to avoid buildings and homes to get a view of just the sunset. I knew it had to be pretty... if only I could get away from the crowdedness of the neighborhood near where I live.

Unfortunately, I was not really able to get that far... but I did take some interesting pictures that will have to fulfill the "Tokyo at sunset" portion of my picture album. :-)

Me looking at the sunset. I thought this picture was kind of funny...
The next is the sun shining through the trees... and there you have the best pic of a Tokyo area sunset!! haha...

Monday, September 25, 2006

Things are beginning...

Well, things are beginning to settle down a bit. And in no time, things will start to actually become routine. (Funny that!?!) That will all start to happen once classes start next week. It seems like I've been here forever, time creeps by when there's no fixed plans... and as soon as you feel like your life is beginning... the time will begin to fly and in no time it's all over.... trust me... I've been here before. :-)
I took SO many pics when I was up North I thought I'd share some more with you... hope you don't mind. :-)
Believe it or not behind that huge white cloud in the pic there's a really nice mountain!! It's called Mt. Chokai and sometime next summer I plan on climbing it... again. I've tried to climb to the top a couple of times but have always been foiled. ;-)This is also a picture of the town where I used to live... and this pic is perfect because it highlights the rice and the mountains nicely.

I couldn't help but sneak in another great pic of Haguro. It was such a stunning day... I could have taken SO many pics! But decided to limit the number to just really cool pics... I hope I don't make anyone jealous. ;-)

Here's a novelty pic... I finally got to eat sushi when I was in Sendai. Now this is kaiten sushi, conveyor belt sushi. I just thought it would be funny to take a pic of ALL the sushi that was going round and round on the conveyor belt. :-) It amused me!!


I hope my pics have amused you all as well... Talk to you again soon.

love,
lish xx

Friday, September 22, 2006

BIG Yamagata update!

Ok... so last weekend/this week, I spent a lot of time back in Yamagata. Shonai to be exact. It was kind of weird in one way, because it kind of felt like I didn't belong. But in another way, it felt like I was finally home. i got to see some of my old students, I even got to help teach a few classes. Man, am I ever glad I'm not still doing that job. Filling in for a bit was fun, but 3 years of doing English lessons all day was quite enough. So... the following are some pics from my time up north... heck, north is always where I feel comfortable!

Me at Haguro on the red bridge... Ahhhh... I love that place!!
It also helped that the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day too!!



This is a pic taken from Haguro of the Shonai plain. Can't see it too well, but it's there... and you can tell that it was really nice and sunny that day too! Could hardly believe it. :-)
This one is a great Bond-girl pose, don't you think?? These little 4th graders were all playing with airsoft guns (surely they're a bit young!?!) so we had to pose like this. Was really funny seeing how these kids have grown up a bit. :-)

This last one is me and one of my old students, Naoya. He's currently studying to get into the pilot's program for the Japanese Self-Defense force (Jieitai). He's a really bright kid and I can't wait to see what he does next, once he graduates high school. :-)

These are just a small sampling of pics... there's LOTS more. May have to do an update part 2 or something. Hope you like this sample, I had tons of fun at "home."
Love you all!

Friday, September 15, 2006

Hockey in Japan!



So, the other day I was able to see a scrimmage between two university hockey teams here. It was a long cry from UAF-style hockey, but it was still hockey and I had a great time watching. I will definitely be watching a LOT of hockey this year. Yay!! I'm stoked. I had to rub it in with some pictures as well... ;-)
It was defininitely fun to be watching hockey again... :-)

Hope I made everyone at home a tiny bit jealous!!! ;-) Love you guys!!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Fun and Games in Japan!

So there's always something amusing about Japan. You've got this country with ancient culture, but HUGE highrises... you've got station wagons that are completely G-ed out because they are in fact the coolest mode of transportation and there's even coffee that is apparently trying to make people "deep-ressed." Go figure!?!
With the combinations of interesting and absurd, this country is a MUST visit. If for the sole fact that you want to see if the coffee will indeed leave you "deep-ressed" or not! ;-)
Hope these pics make you smile... :-)

Saturday, September 09, 2006

First Japan update!


So, I made it back to Japan in one piece. No major issues... except for a HUGE epiphany about the Chinese language. It's UGLY and I don't really like listening to it. No more flights via Taipei for me!! ;-)

I've only had a few days and I've decided I like where I'm going to be living this year. Pretty lucky, eh?? ;-) It's a little ways from where I'll be going to university, but that's better because I'll be in the middle of Tokyo for school. It's nice and quiet out here in Kokubunji.

I have taken a few goofy pictures since I got back... so I'll attach the best of them. Don't worry... there will be plenty more pics being taken in the near future. And then I will post them right on here!

Anyone remember the Oz swimming star Ian Thorpe. Well in Japan he's famous enough that he gets his own sports drink!! In case it's blurred... it's called THORPEDO!! ;-)