A little late...

So, I know it is a little late to be posting this but, I took a few photos of our apartment. The downside is they're all taken with my cell phone so the quality of the shots are a little crummy.

I also have a few pictures of some school lunches I eat and a pizza we ordered the other day.

Kyoto 3

Now if there are any learned people on Buddhism reading this blog and know better than I do, I appologize if the information I am giving is wrong. Now, as I have been told there are certain things that people need to go to do in thier lifetime at these Buddhist temples/shrines maybe to make it to the other side or something like that. As with any culture, back in the day it wasn't too uncommon in Japan for small children to die before they got very old. As a precaution to this, I guess the Japanese take thier young girls to these shrines around the ages of 7-10(?) where they dress them up in pretty kimonos and have them recite some type of prayer or something or get something like a blessing from a Buddhist priest. Well, unfortunatley I don't have any pictures of these little girls that we saw at the shrine but, there were a handfull of little girls all dressed up. I do have a picture of Ayumi when she was little doing this though and it is dang cute! Anyways, this was one of the things we witnessed at this temple.

Now somewhere in the pictures I have a shot of a few little trees covered with paper. I think these are maybe prayers that people are petitioning the Buddah with and somehow tieing them to a tree works in this cause. Pretty neat looking none-the-less. This place is also known for housing one of the biggest (if not the biggest tori (Buddhist gate) in Japan. I do have a shot of that, you'll see strattling the road. ***This just in! I have been told by some students that people go to these temples and write thier sins and weakpoints on these little papers and by fastening them to the tree, receive forgiveness or are able to forget them. Anyways, enjoy the pictures. Onto the next place.

A few years ago in college I read a book named entitled The Tale of Genji about a young aristocratic playboy written a thousand + years ago. I think it is credited with being one of the worlds oldest novels. Well, our journey in Kyoto took us that a temple named Rozonji where the author Murasaki Shikibu is said to have probably written part of it. While at the temple, on display are old authentic copies of the novel. I don't think any originals exist but, pretty old copies. This place is where the photos of the Japanese garden were taken.

The final place we visited this trip was a place called the Abe shrine. This is the picture of the star fountain and the one with Ayumi standing by a gate. Japan is a pretty superstitious country. A thousand years ago a guy name Abe no Seimei was famed for being a demon slayer of sorts. Apparently he was able to remove possessing demons from people and did all sorts of healings. Well, this shrine was build shortly after his death and then, redone a few years ago after a successful release of a movie based on his life. Too bad because the shrine now feels like a cheap advertisement for the franchise and not the cool, creepy superstitious atmosphere that you think the place would have. It was fun to go and see it though. There you can pay to have priests assess your person and maybe remove spirits.

Well, that was all we had time for this last trip. It was fun but, as you can imagine walking from place to place was a bit tiring. Kyoto is beautiful but, too big to hit in one day walking. I'll try and update this blog a little more often!

Kyoto Part II

So, here we are at the temple. As you can see in the pictures it is very beautiful but, a little crowded. Aside from the views, the thing that drives the crowds to this temple is its water. I think the name Kiyomizu comes from the words kiyomeru which means cleanse, purify and mizu which means water. At a particular part of this temple there are three streams of falling water which each grant an attribute to the drinker upon consumption. I think one stream is wisdom, one is health and the other for physical beauty or happiness... something along those lines. There was a long line to get to it plus, I wasn't to interested in pressing my lips against a cup which has probally seen more milage than Paris Hilton. Well, enjoy the pictures of that.

After having our fill of that place, we decided to start back down the streets and back on our self guided tour of Kyoto. At the base of the temple I was suprised to see three monks standing there chanting while begging for money. Thier way of chanting is probally the coolest thing I have ever heard. I had heard recordings of it but, this was the first time I had seen it live. They have these sutras which are written in old Japanese which they speak from memorization all in a low voice at the exact time. It is hard to explain but, I will see if I can find an audio copy of it and post it on the blog somewhere. As soon as I had left the temple, I was a little upset with myself that I hadn't used the camcorder function on our camera. Well, away from the monks and down the tourist streets.

We next headed for an area in Kyoto named Gion which is famous for its Geishas. I imagine that had we been there closer to dusk it would have been a bit more lively but, apparently come night this place is full of Geishas with thier clients going in and out of bars, taxis etc. The only photo I have is of somones backside which has been included in the slideshow.

Next we started to walk to another famous place in Kyoto, the Heian shrine. Heian is the name of a time period in Japanese history. I find this period most fascinating but, not too many people know of it because it was a few hundred years before the Samurai/Ninja time periods Japan is famous for. Here is what I have dug up on the place from the net:

The Heian Jingū (平安神宮) is a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. The torii before the main gate is one of the largest in Japan, and the main building, or shaden (社殿), is designed to imitate the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

The Heian Jingū was built in 1895 for the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heiankyō (the old name of Kyoto). The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Kanmu and Emperor Kōmei. The former moved the capital to Heiankyō, and the latter was the last before Emperor Meiji, who moved the capital to Tokyo.

The Heian Jingū hosts the Jidai Matsuri, one of the three most important festivals of Kyoto. The procession of this festival begins at the old Imperial palace, and includes carrying the mikoshi (portable shrines) of Emperors Kanmu and Kōmei to the Heian Jingū.

Now don't that just sound interistin'?

I'll have more pictures and explantions tomorrow.

Kyoto I

When I was a little boy, I can remember seeing on TV the blockbuster hit that had all the kids in school talking, Big Bird Goes to Japan. You know the one where he out bows the old lady? Anyways, in that movie he ends up in Kyoto where he meets some little girl who ends up being some princess from the moon (not to be confused with the life size, creepy, dancing monkey... that was Big Bird Goes to China. Well ever since watching that movie, I had always wanted to go to Kyoto; which is probably one of the biggest national/international tourist spots in this country. This past Saturday, we made the trek.

I don't want to explain all the history of the city, nor do I think anyone would care but, will include for starters this little snippet from the Internet on the city.

Kyoto was the capital of Japan and the residence of the Emperor from 794 until the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the capital was moved to Tokyo. During its millennium at the center of Japanese power, culture, tradition, and religion, it accumulated an unparalleled collection of palaces, temples and shrines, built for emperors, shoguns, and monks.

Whenever you are looking at a book on Japan and it shows those old stereotypical Japanese pagodas and wooden buildings more likely than not, those pictures were taken in Kyoto. Anyways, as the article says, this place was the center of Japan until America forced Japan to open its doors to western trade and the capital was changed to where it is now. With that being said, you can imagine that there is a lot of culture and architecture to be had there. Because we are so far from anything, we had to wake up pretty early in time to get there in time to have any time to see anything. Try saying that three times fast. We got up Saturday morning around four, so we could leave the house and be at the train station by five-fifteen. As you can see in the pictures, the station looked pretty busy. Well, three transfers and three hours later we found ourself pulling into Kyoto around nine in the morning.

After a few minutes of getting settled and finding our bearings we took off to a place called the Sanjusangen-do which is famous for having over a thousand of the same statue in this building all surrounding an even bigger, exact same statue... only bigger. All made of wood and all (once) covered with gold leaf. Very cool and very interesting. Taking pictures inside is forbidden but, here are some snaps I stole from the net.




As can be said with any photo taken, these don't do the site any justice. I am not quite sure the tie but, somehow Buddhism has a relation with Hinduism and some of the statues in this building are Hindu gods adopted into the Buddhist teachings. Maybe like how when the Romans took over the Greeks they merged their religion with the Greeks, or something along those lines. A place I would have loved to had taken pictures but, I guess in my memory will have to suffice for now.

Next we took a little walk to a famous place called the Kiyomizu temple. For lack of being able to write anything creative about it I will copy and paste an entry of the place from wikitravel and then write my comments underneath.

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺). This temple complex, with a spectacular location overlooking the city, is a deservedly popular attraction, approached by either of two tourist-filled souvenir-shop-lined streets. Highlights of the temple complex include;

* The main hall's wooden veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars and offering incredible views over the city.

* Jishu-jinja, the love-themed shrine selling countless charms to help you snag the one you love, and featuring two "love stones" positioned around 18m apart which the lovelorn must walk between with eyes closed to confirm their loved one's affection.

* Otowa-no-taki the temple's waterfall, which gives it its name (Kiyomizu literally means 'pure water'). Visitors stand beneath the waterfall, and collect water to drink by holding out little tin cups.

Anyways, I have a few pictures of this place in the slide show at the top but, still have a lot of pictures to be added so, don't think that those are it, because they aren't. Anyways, got to run to class. Will write more later.

Tennis

I think I have mentioned it a time or two in this blog but, monthly I teach an adult English class at the local community center with Shelley, the other JET here in Isobe. These members get together every Wednesday at a city run sports park and play tennis, and from what I hear have been doing it for a few years. Well, I was invited to attend with them a few weeks ago and being constantly sick was always unable to make it. Although I still have a bit of a scratchy throat, cough and a stuffy nose, last night I went along, which I regret to say is probably the first decent bit of exercise I have gotten since coming here.

The event went from seven-thirty through nine-thirty and in spite of being a bit chilly went quite well. I didn't have any cold weather exercise clothes so I wore some sporty pajamas and I don't think anyone knew. Tennis was rather fun and having only played a hand full of times in my life did pretty good. I warned everyone before starting that I was really inexperienced but, was able to catch on quickly. I think a lot of it had to do with all the Wii tennis matches against dad and my brothers. It was a fun time and I think I will go again.

Japanese Schools

I thought it would be interesting to write a little bit about Japanese schools because they are a little different than what those of us in the States are accusomed to. I think the first thing that strikes people with being different is the school uniforms that the students are requied to wear. This starts from Jr. High school and goes up through graduation. I'll try and find some pictures to accompany this post but, in the event that I don't I'll briefly try and describe what they wear. I teach at two schools and both have differnt uniforms but, for the most part, the boys are in navy slacks and white collar shirt at Suisan and charcol-plaid with white collar for Shima. Now that it is cold, the students are required to wear thier jackets which for Shima make them look like the stereotypical ivy-league college student we see in movies with thier slacks, jacket and school insignia on the front. The Suisan jackets are dark navy to match thier pants and looks more like a military uniform than slacks and blazer. The girls at both schools are required to wear a uniform skirt; colors matching the boys' colors. The top being a white collar shirt. I once heard someone describe the Japanese schoolgirl uniform as having been designed by someone with a fetish for little school girls- which is how the uniforms make them look. It is hard to describe these uniforms but, hopefully looking at a picture you'll be able to make sense of these words.
In the States, students have seven periods with lockers to store thier stuff inbetween classes as they go from here-to-there. In Japan, students stay in the class where it is the teacher who changes each period. You still take all your classes with the entire class (there are some students that do go to other classes for some periods my observations show that this is not very common... at least at where I am teaching.) In the states, where it is the students that come to the teachers room, the teacher has a little bit of freedom/motivation to decorate the room to make it warm, comfortable and applicable to the content of the class. Because here, the students are the ones staying... the room has an atmosphere of a prison more than a classroom. Note that this comment is bias because having grown up where decorated rooms is the norm to me that is normal making this seem odd.
Another intersting thing that happens here is at the beginning of class, the class leader will yell out (in Japanese) "Stand" upon which all students stand up. Next he/she yells "Bow" to which all students bow to the teacher and the teacher bows back in return... then class starts.
Back in the day students would go to school on Saturday, with school being the only day off. Back in the day wasn't too long ago either being that I think Ayumi was required to go when she was in school too. School here has six periods as opposed to the seven I grew up with. After lunch or after school, there are about twenty minutes in which the students are required to clean the school. They sweep the halls, haul out garbage, erase the chalkboards, etc. This is done daily at Shima and Suisan I don't ever see. Still figuring it out.
Students here in Japan are not allowed to have color in thier hair nor any piercings while in class. The are forbidden from using hair wax/gel in thier hair. I think makeup is off limits but, I still see students doing it... I don't this this is enforced too strictly.
School starts at 8:45 and goes until around 3:30. Immediatley following school starts clubs which go until around 6:00-6:30 where the kids will either go home or go to a cram school to learn more stuff. Japan is strict and all I can say is I really had it good when I was growing up!

Darn that cosmic force!

It seems like I always have something going on in my life since getting here worth writing about yet... never find the time to do it. Last week I've got a story to bring a tear to your eye. It all takes place last week; last Tuesday to be exact. Normally on Tuesday and Friday mornings I take off here around twenty to eight to head over to the station to catch the train and then the boat to get down to my school. I don't know what it was but, some cosmic force interrupted the flow of my life to the extent that I found myself leaving the house like seven minutes late; and by cosmic force I mean laziness- sleeping in. Anyways, if i miss this train, I miss the ferry and the next one doesn't come for another hour-forty minutes so I dare not be late.

Well, so here I am at seven forty-seven with four minutes to catch the train. I sprint to the train station darting up the stairs where I meet a student I teach at Shima high school. He tries to talk to me and I tell him I am sorry and must run to catch the train. I purchase my ticket and can hear the sound of my train arriving at the platform, meaning I have only a few seconds before it leaves. Little did I know these next few seconds would be some very short life altering seconds. Well, I grab my ticked and head down the stairs. I don't know what it was but, guessing it was that same cosmic force which held me in bed long past my due time. I could feel the wind blowing through my recently cut hair when suddenly I feel my feet go out from under me. Thankfully I was alone on the stairs and, as far as I am aware the only witness to this blunder. Well, I suddenly found myself flying forward and instinctively rolled into that fetal position my mother had trained me to use so many years ago. Well, I don't know much of what happened but, somehow in the course of about four or five stairs I had somersaulted and landed back on my feet. I'm not aware that I had made any noise during the scuffle but, apparently did because at the bottom of the stairs were two of my students who said they had heard something but didn't know what. I decided to keep my cool and act like nothing had happened. I checked my clothes for holes and jumped onto the train (amazingly I made it!)

I sat on the train processing the happenings of the last few moments when I saw the old lady across from me was staring at my hands. It was at this time that I realized that all the knuckles on my right hand and a few of my left were bleeding. I am sure not knowing that I had just taken a spill down the stairs she probably thought this weird foreigner had just pummeled somebody before jumping on the train. Well, I reached into my bag and the only thing I could find was my face wipes I carry so, wiping away my wounds I had the nice stinging burn thanks to the alcohol. I pulled out my phone to check the time only to find that apparently it was the phone that had broken my fall because it was bent in half and the screen was completely shattered. I could see nothing on the screen but, somehow could still dial Ayumi with my speed dial. Anyways, broke my phone. This was no ordinary phone, I could watch television on my phone, I could listen to MP3's on my phone, I could surf the net and download streaming... this phone was nothing short of a miracle. The good news is that the phone was insured so, I took it to the store and in about two weeks I should get a new one... being that it was my fault (or some unknown cosmic force) I am responsible to pay some money but, that is what happened last week.

Bonus Photos

Ok, so the other night we had a party with the English Conversation students I teach one a month. Here are some of those photos as well as an exclusive shot of out bedroom (with no beds, we keep the futons in the closet when we clean up) and lovable ol' Hershey. Enjoy

Some photos as promised

Something wrong with my computer

So this week at the schools in Japan is what I figure to be the equivalant of mid-terms. As a result the teachers are busy making tests and as a precaution, no student is allowed to set foot inside the teachers office. Another nice side-effect of this is that other than two classes which I taught this morning, I am off the hook as far as teaching goes this week. Tomorrow at Suisan, I need to lend my voice to a tape recorder so they can record some listening comprehension questions for the tests but, other than that nothing. Now, if I am a good boy I will spend all this free time at school studying Japanese for a big language comprehension test coming up in December. I have been busy today with preparations for tomorrow nights adult English conversation class that Shelley and I teach but, having that done, an no desire to study, I thought I would seize this oppourtunity and fill in my blog.

As I wrote last week, Ayumi and I have caught some nasty colds. On the scale of judging colds from good to bad I am not quite sure where nasty lies but, from the way we have been feeling, its near the top. It all started a week ago last Saturday; Ayumi and I had gone to Suisan's school festival. We went, had a great time and some good food. Upon getting home we both crashed on the futons and unintentionally took a two hour nap. Waking up I felt a little queasy. You know before you get sick you can feel it coming one? That is how I felt. By night, my body was warm and nose starting to run. Sunday spent the whole day in bed. Monday and Tuesday were days off too... spent bundled up with a red nose and a box of tissues. Ayumi had the same symptoms but followed a day behind me. Well, now here we are a week and a half later. Better but, still sick. I'm still need to blow my nose quite often, and every time I cough (which is now only once an hour or so) I am coughing up the junk in my lungs. This cold has been going around. I've watched it skip from one teacher to the other, anticipating my turn. The only good thing that can come out of this is knowing, whatever is going around, I've already caught it and don't need to worry about getting it again.

Lately I have started reading Japanese comic books to help improve my language. I am currently reading a series called Dragon Ball which is pretty popular and has been consistantly written since the late eighties. The comic book is intended for elementary level where I gauge my reading ability (at the very bottom of that list). So far, I am on issue 17. If you google Dragon Ball, you can see some pictures. Altough not very popular in the states, they are fairly familiar.

In the neighboring city is an English man who runs with his Japanese wife an English conversation class. They have given Ayumi a phamplet which needs to be transulated from Japanese into English so, that is what Ayumi has been doing lately. With the seaons changing, I would like to get out and do some running. The other week, at the school sports festival I barley ran at all and pulled muscles in both of my calves. Afraid to do it again... I am afraid to run. I guess that is what stretching is for.

As I mentioned in the title, something has been wrong with my computer lately. Nothing serious but, I have a lot of picutres I have taken over the past little while I would like to post on the blog however, when I try and make a slideshow on picasa, there is some error where it loops me through the password entry screen again and again and again...
I think it is my browswer I am using but, too lazy to check it out. That will be my goal between now and the next entry.

Amyways, thanks for all those who read my blog.

A much anticipated entry

Well folks, I am sick. All this running around going to festivals and eating delicious food has finally caught up with me. Last Saturday Ayumi and I took a trip down to Suisan High School to experience their school festival which apparently wiped us both out. Upon getting home, we crashed and took a two-hour, unintentional nap. Those are always the worse. I am not much of a fan of napping. Not that I have a lot to do during the day but, when I nap I feel like I have lost two hours. Well, I guess this nap gave me an excuse to get some extra snuggle time with Ayumi but, when I woke up I could feel sick was coming upon me. I had a few days off of work (great timing to get sick) so I spent Saturday, Sunday, Monday and most of Tuesday home sick in bed. Ayumi wasn't so bad but, come last night she started to get worse. Just when I was getting better she got sick. I had runny nose, cough, that all-around I feel like garbage feeling and a bit of a sore throat. Today Ayumi has the same symptoms but, we can add a fever to the list of things haunting her. I got online to view conference (being that we are a day early) but, online transcripts aren't released until this Thursday so, if everyone has started heading for Missouri... we're going to be late.

I have lots of pictures from the festivals as well as an intent to write about them but, sick and no energy to do it now so... please wait a little bit longer.

So, guess who finally got a haircut?

Me baby, me! Yes, this ol' miser finally let common sense get to him and went out and got a haircut. As you'll see in some of the pictures later in this post, I was getting a bit shaggy. It's not that shaggy hair is bad or anything but, I suffer from UHGS (Uncontrollable Hair Growth Syndrome) which means the hair on my head grows at different speeds depending on the zones of my head. The sides and back grow really fast while, the hair on the top likes to take it's time and is in absolutely no rush to come out and present itself. As a result, I start to get this really cute mullet in the back, mad scientist hair on the sides and the world famous AJ up-doo in the front. So, I'm thinking of growing out my hair a bit but, realizing there is a stylish way to do so, opted to go get it cut and see what happens. Well, as you can see in the picture... I probably look like I did when you last all saw me. True but, now I've got this sportin' cool haircut which is like a faux-hawk extreme. If there is such a thing as a stylish mullet... I am on that path. Well, it looks cool but, I think its more Japanese than American. Well, I'm split right down the middle so I'll wear this for a while as I keep growing out the top. It's hard for me to go anywhere here without making a big deal out of it so, for the enjoyment of those reading my blog, I snapped a few shots in the parlour so you can see mine and Ayumi's new cuts.



This week we had some festivals at the schools but, I've got to run now and catch another so... I'll post later with some pictures of that. In the meantime... enjoy my new haircut!

Sports Day

So in Japan, its tradition to have a sports festival at the school for the students. Ours at Shima High School happened to be this past Wednesday. In Japanese schools (Jr. High and High School) you're with one class the entire year where the teacher changes every period unlike in the States, where the teacher stays and the students change. Is that confusing? Anyways, this sports day is a huge competition between all the different classes at the school. Each class has a name (1A 1B 1C for Sophomores, 2A 2B 2C for Juniors and 3A 3B 3C...etc of Seniors). For preparation the past few weeks the students have been staying after school with their class designing class t-shirts and making giant flags which they rally around at the festival. So, anyways Wednesday comes and the big day has arrived.

The entire school is to report out to the field by eight-forty five where we do stretches, have some opening remarks by the principal and each class parades around the field with their flag (a la Olympic opening ceremony). The only difference though is they have the band playing the school song and each step of each class is perfectly coordinated to the beat so it is like watching a military drill. Anyways, this whole day was pretty much like a high school track meet minus the non-track events. There were relays and hurdles... Then there were weird ones like giant tire pulls and class jump roping. All in all it took the whole day and just watching it made me tired. I was pooped at the end and grateful when it was over.

I did injure myself though. Trying to run a fifty meter dash at full speed without stretching can really pull a number on the front of your calves. I don't recommend doing it. Please enjoy the low-quality pictures taken with my phone!

So, I was cleaning up my bookmarks and...

So, I was cleaning up my bookmarks and I saw this old dusty page which I hadn't been to in a while. I clicked on it only to find that it was an online blog which I had been doing in the past. Well, I thought to myself, I've gone this far as to open the page I might as well type something. So, here I am. I think it has been two weeks since my last post. I'll have to remember what I wrote in the pat as to make sure I don't repeat myself time and time again.

Well, to be honest, the reason I have not written much in the past little while is because not much has happened. School has started and with it we finally have found a rhythm to our lives again. Although things are still a little chaotic, having a constant schedule now makes it nice. I know on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, I am up at seven thirty to head off to Shima high school. There I teach a total of seven classes a week, mostly made up of whatever content I choose. It is nice to have the flexibility but, with little or no help from the teachers am not quite sure on what level I should be basing the lessons. Tuesdays and Fridays are up at seven to get ready and head to the train station to get to the city to catch my boat. I teach nine classes there in a week and thankfully, it is the teachers who do all the preparation at that school. I sometimes think I teach more than a real teacher.

Two weeks ago this Wednesday, I decided to play a little rugby with the team after school; First and probably only time I will do that. About fifteen minutes into it, I tackled a kid and in the process scraped up both my legs and tore off all the skin on my left knee. Guesstimating about four inches across, two high. As soon as the adrenalin wore off, I was in a world of hurt. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the blood trickling down from under my shorts but, that is what I have been dealing with for the past little while. It was a big scab for a while (I tried not to bend my knee) and now about a one-by-one scab is all that is left. It still hurts and bleeds and I constantly wipe pus from it. More than you wanted to hear... I know. Anyways, that also adds to me not writing.

Tonight the other teacher Shelley and I are teaching an adult English Conversation class at the community center. Last time they told us that they wanted to read some articles, play some games and have discussions so today hopefully that is what we will do. Shelley and I have had no conversation about this lesson except in a brief e-mail and only hope with the two of our spontaneity we can kill two hours of time.

Today also, I had a day off so Ayumi and I went and did three hours of Karaoke. It was a fast three hours. Super fun though! All the ice cream and soda you could want. I love it here!

Guess who I ran into...

Well, I survived my first real week of school. I enjoyed it very much but, it was really tiring. For the most part I am afraid that I am going to be a living tape recorder but, at least I’m getting paid for it… right? So far I have given a presentation about me which I made on PowerPoint like nine times already with four more this upcoming Monday. I never thought I would be saying this but, I’m kind of sick of hearing about myself. It will be nice to have a lesson on something different. The students are fun but, a little immature. I look back to when I was in high school and figure it probably isn’t too different to how I was at that age so going in to class I’m not expecting too much. I do walk out of class with a lot of friends though. Well, maybe it’s too early to say friends however, I think they respect me. Walking down the halls I get people waving and shouting to me “AJ!" I've even had a few photos taken at school.

On Friday I arrived at Suisan School to yellow and black police tape. During the night somebody had come to the school and using a little statue from a nearby Buddhist shrine had broken all the entrance windows of the school. As can be imagined, there was glass everywhere! They cancelled first period to hold an emergency school meeting where the disclosed what little details they had and told us that the total number of window panes broken was forty-three; I imagine quite an expensive amount to have to repair. Apparently this happened a few years ago and that time the culprit used the same Buddhist statue so I figure either the criminal has a grudge against the school or against Buddhism. I’ve included a few pictures.



Over the past few weeks I have been in contact with my cousin Lisa who lives in Osaka. Today she and her boyfriend made the trek to Shima-Isobe to come and meet us. On the phone a few weeks ago when she had mentioned she wants to come and visit I promptly warned here that there is absolutely nothing to do here. I am afraid she thought I was kidding. Well, we planned this day a few weeks ago and today we finally met. It had been twelve years this past summer since we had last met but, she said she still remembered what I looked like and remembers her trip to the states quite vividly.

Our apartment is a short two minute walk to the train station so Ayumi and I escorted them to our pad where we sat and spoke for a few minutes to discuss what we wanted to do this afternoon. I can’t emphasize enough how little there is to do in the town Ayumi and I live in. The other night we rode twenty minutes up a hill to go to a restaurant that is highly recommended. We got there around seven pm only to find that in addition to having had the sun set on us, the place was closed. Well, back to the story, we decided to take the train to Ugata (our oasis to this little town) where we went to lunch and then took a taxi to a famous beach in the area. I am sooo glad that Ayumi was there because she was able to engage our guests in conversation when I fell short… which quite often. I am able to shoot the breeze pretty good in Japanese but, today maybe I was a little intimidated or maybe even nervous?

So, after lunch we all piled into a taxi and drove about fifteen minutes to the beach. The weather was perfect for wading in the waves. There were people laying on the beach, body boarding and surfing all up and down the shore. We took a few pictures; enjoying the weather and each other’s company while we walked up and down the beach. I almost wish I had brought my swimming suit. We walked back to the road, and took a cab back to the apartment where after looking at pictures of the family reunion Lisa and her boyfriend (Kenta), Ayumi and I all walked to the train station and saw the two off. Ayumi and I both feel bad having had them both come this far just to see us with nothing else much going on. I think for the most part Lisa was just excited to come and see us so, in spite of feeling bad, think she was quite happy. We’ve got a promise though to get together in Osaka soon so, we’re looking forward to that.



All-in-all Lisa is doing well. She lives by herself with her pet Chihuahua Bruiser (named after the Chihuahua on the movie Legally Blonde) and has been dating this guy Kenta for four years (both 22 yrs. old). They seem like they have good heads on their shoulders, have goals and are both happy. Kenta is in college to do real-estate and Lisa is working full-time at a cell-phone company. We didn’t talk much about her sisters but, she said they are both doing well; perhaps when we go to Osaka we can see them too. A few years ago I received a DVD made by my grandparents which was a compilation of home videos of their growing up. Her dad was in that video a handful of times and I thought that maybe she would like to see it. We watched a little bit of it together and ended up giving it to her. I think in spite of being a little bit bored, we all had a great day!


This is a photo I took tonight while we were shopping for cat food. Something about this brand just dosen't sit right with me...

New Feature!

Hi, I've added a guestbook to my blog located on the index bar to the right.

600 hits and rising!

Wow, 600 hundred hits! Between mom and I, we're really setting the mark with this blog. I don't know who is reading this but, I am sure that at least a tenth of those hits are from me creating, changing and checking on the things in my blog but, fun to see that some people are reading this blog none-the-less.

School started this week. I still feel like I am getting into the swing of things. On Monday at my main high school (Shima), Shelley and I had to give some opening speeches in English to let the students know who we are. The teacher told me to speak some Japanese too and so after about a minute of speaking in English, I switched over to Japanese which seemed to amaze the kids. It's fun being a bi-lingual-ish English teacher. I think the teachers I work with like it too. If the kids aren't understanding something I am trying to explain in English, being able to jump over into Japanese and explain the same thing is pretty fun. Today I did the same thing at Suisan High School- giving my introduction speech. This time they only wanted me to use English so, I went up there and spoke really slow and used really easy to understand vocabulary; "Hello. My name is Andrew Allred. I am happy to be here..." etc. The students at this school aren't as ambitious to try and learn English so when I walk through the halls people are more inclined to speak to me in Japanese than in English but, I'm cool with that. The teachers tell me that as long as I use English in the classroom, Japanese is OK elsewhere.

Yesterday I was at Suisan High School as well. Being the first week of the semester, for some reason they only had half a day. Being done around noon and with nothing else to do, I decided to go out sailing with the yacht club. The head of the club is one of the teachers I teach English with so, anything I can do to associate with the students in thier eyes is good. I had on a t-shirt and borrowed someones swimming suit. With my undies on underneith I figured sharing a swimming suit with a complete stranger really isn't that gross. Besides, not many students can boast that they've shared a suit with a foreigner.

The school has a few boats of all sorts of different sizes but, for the after school club they focus on one man and two man boats. I set sail in the two man boat (a little crowded for three) and was constantly having to duck down, change sides whenever they brought the main sail across to catch the wind. Before too long I was steering the rudder, and pulling the jig like any ol' seaman would all while my two Japanese hosts were making sure I wasn't going to capsize the boat.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day. Riding the ferry to go home, I passed the little port where the students were practicing and they greeted me with waves goodbye. Today on my way home, I snagged a few pictures (and thankfully they waved again) while on the yacht to give you a quick glimpse of what they do. It was a fun day.

My One Man Show

I think I found my geeky passion. Today I tried karaoke for the first time (in a real karaoke place). I had spent the afternoon on a bike ride to the neighboring city to check out the sights and enjoy the break in hot weather. After I had done a bit of (impulse) shopping I decided to head home. It was nearing dusk, which happens here around five-thirty, when I thought I’d stop by this place just to see what they offer. It is a pretty nice joint, looks fairly new and offers bowling, batting cages, internet, billiards and comic books all in addition to karaoke. Reading comics is huge over here. If you’re interested in anything… seriously anything, there is probably a comic book series that suits that interest. Well, maybe not everything but, they write comics about anything from romance, school, fantasy, sci-fi to tennis. Anyways, you pay 450 yen an hour, about $4.00 to sit and sing, read comic books and drink all the soda you want. I called Ayumi and informed her that I would be coming home a little late…

So to sing at this place, I needed to become a member so after filling out a form I was given a white basket containing my membership card, a microphone and a remote control that looked like it had been removed from the bridge of the U.S.S Enterprise. Being a karaoke virgin, I didn’t know how to do any of this so, after the employee lady escorted me to my room (and showed me where to get my free drinks and soft serve ice-cream) I had to beg her to show me how to run the console.

In this room, laying on the coffee table lay four large books, each about the size of a yellow-pages book filled with rows and rows of songs. She showed me the English section and there were probably (guessing) 10,000 songs. I was a little timid at first and thought I’d break in these vocals with a little Queen (what else?) “Don’t Stop me Now”. The song finished and I thought to myself why stop now so I kept singing Queen. This book had about 100 different songs all by Queen. Some so songs obscure they’d never left my lips outside of the shower but, I’ll be honest in saying that I was tickled to see them in there. After a few songs I realized I was really getting into it, flailing my arms in the air, playing the air guitar, beating the drums with my mike… all which I would have hesitated to do had someone else been in the room, or the lights being on.

After a few songs, I thought I needed to give my falsetto a rest and put in a little Sinatra and then got really bold and tried a song in Japanese. I didn’t have a good impression about my Japanese singing. The fact that someone peeked into my room just after I hit an exceptionally ugly (Japanese) note helped me to realize this; probably to see who was strangling the cat. It was time for a refill of my drink and then back to Queen. I must say I was a little sad to leave after my one hour was up but, looking forward to the $10.00 three hour package they have going. The good news, this place is open 24 hours. The bad news, I unfortunately have somewhat of a life and don’t think I’ll ever get to utilize an early morning sing-a-thon… especially being that this place is in another town accessible only by bike, train or car for those lucky ones. Can you imagine seeing a bloodshot, white kid on a bike in Japan riding up hill at two in the morning? Yea, neither can I.

Pictures of School 2

Hi, the photography isn't the greatest, nor are the captions but, here are a few dozen photos I took yesterday in route and at the second school I work at. Suisan Highschool!

Scenes From Around Town

Nothing too exciting but, yesterday on my way home from work I took a few snaps of the town... that is until the battery died. Well, here is what I have and more will come soon.



This beautiful (cough cough) Spanish looking building is the town train station. As I've mentioned earlier, this town used to be home to the famous Spain Town amusement park. The park is in the same place but, the home is now a larger city down the road. By home I mean, people used to come here and then take the bus to the park but, now the bigger city has taken all the cliental... apparently. The building to the left is the train station and the one on the right is the towns tallest building and most vibrant hotel. Although it dosen't seem to get much use the parking lot always has a dozen or so cars in the lot. We'll see how that changes once school starts again and the amusement park going season dies down.


Not much to see here but, my school is at the top of a small hill and this is the view that greets me every day coming home from work. I am told that at the base of that large crane you can see is the future home of the Shima City Assisted Living Center (aka Zombie Halfway House). Although there is not a lot to see based on the skyline, it really is a cute little town.


This is a failed attempt of mine to take a panorama photo of my school front. I neglected to realize at the time of taking it that as I change my body, vanishing points change and so does size perspective. Hopefully those of you reading can fill in the gaps with thier heads and appreciate my little collage as a modern piece of art.


This is a standard school hall at a Japanese school. Not much to see here but, I imagine halls like this were the inspiration of many a Japanese horror movie. Can't you just imagine Sadako, the creepy girl from the Ring, standing at the end of the hall slowly walking towards you. You turn around and she is like right in your face! Boo! Yea, so can I!


This is where your friend, my rear, rests all day long. I know its anything but glamorous but, this is my desk at Shima Highschool. Its quite comfortable really. To think, so far I'm getting paid to keep that piece of tin company. It may be hard to tell but, this is the standard setup for a Japanese teachers office. The room is full of probally about twenty desks like this all lined up to each other. Every morning the teachers all meet here before class and (apparently) have a meeting with the Principal/Vice Principal who will go over the things of the day.


This is the main school field. Here they do rugby (you can see the post in the background) as well as baseball (you can see a diamond too). This school also has tenis courts, soccer field, a weight house, a gymnasium and a goat path running track which goes around this field in the picture. 3 times around is 1k so about 5 times around is a mile..? Give or take. Japanese students go to school Monday-Friday (however until not too long ago Saturday was included in there too... and may still be in other places). School is until around four and then the students all clean the school for a little while and then go to thier club activies. These activites range from sports (Basketball, baseball, martial arts, swimming, badminton, etc) to language clubs (like an English or Korean club) to misc. (Flower arranging, tea ceremony, chorus, band, etc.) Anyways, I'd guess a large majority of these students are involved in these clubs. In the summer thier club scheduel is roughly nine in the morning until noon for some clubs and then noon to three for the others. When school starts they'll do thier clubs from around four-thirty to around seven..?　　I am told, with Saturday as thier only day off from the club. Yikes!


This is a picture of my sweet ride. I call it "Lucy", after my favorite mutt. Just kidding, I don't call it anything... anything but sweet. Up until yesterday (we bought Ayumi a bike) she would ride sidesaddle sitting on the rack on the back. It was fun (and a little romantic I suppose). This is your standard issue Japanese bike. One gear, basket and a tire powered light on the front. Sweet indeed, sweet indeed.


This is where I park my sweet ride every night when I go to bed. The ratio of bikes to tennants in this apartment is probally about three to one, three bikes to one person. There are bikes in there that are probally older than the complex itself. Security you ask? Five dollar lock at the home center... that and an old busted camera that I am sure used to work for about a week until somebody pointed it straight up and nobody bothered to fix.

Now the next picture is of our front door. I know you may be asking; "Now AJ, why don't you show us a picture of the front of your apartment". The answer is simple. I don't want people just showing up on our front porch with a copy of the picture in thier hands saying they knocked on every door at this complex know that we were one of them. Well, without further a due, here is our front door.


Beautiful isn't it. Yesterday coming home from work I saw a preying mantis standing on the ledge a few feet away. I wanted to flick it with my shoe and watch if fall the four stories to its death but, a)didn't want to get nearer to it than I had to and b)knowing the little devils can fly figured it would just fall a few seconds then fly up here and bite my head off.


Picture looking off from the front of the balcony.


And a picture from the back. You can see the amusement park in the picture and this is roughly the same spot I took the pictures of the fireworks with the other night. I don't have any pictures of inside the apartment but figure maybe Ayumi would like to post those on her website... She always does a much better job at presenting things than I. Either on my site or hers, one day you'll see the inside of this place once we have it looking presentable.

I am going to go to my other Highschool tomorrow so if I remember I'll take the camera and snap a few shots so I have pictures to go along with all my boastings.

I think I'm giving too much time to this blog.

Night.

Babies

Well... I had a dream the other night; a really weird dream. It was about having babies. Now I'm in no rush to have babies nor do I think this dream was some type of sign or omen that we should start but, a strange dream none-the-less and with nothing better to do at work right now and my fingers itching to do something I'll write down what I remember.

Ayumi was pregnant with twins; a boy and a girl. I don't remember too many details but, am quite confident the entire dream took place in a hospital. I was in the waiting room and the nurse/doctor brought in this baby boy who had the most beautiful face ever. I remember looking at it and thinking it looks just like me and Ayumi and looking at the face and picking out which part belonged to who. (I'm sure I sound quite narcaccist right now). The baby's face glowed with a bright light and now that I think of it looked already a few months old. It was also wearing a white beanie cap. It's weird because although I was sleeping I in my dream felt such joy. Next thing I remember was them taking the baby away and then the nurse telling me that the baby girl had died at birth and later being told that the baby boy had died only a few minutes after I had seen him.

The entire dream I can't recall ever seeing Ayumi even once but, when I found out that both babies had died I felt really sad but, more sad for Ayumi than for the fact that we had just lost both of our babies.

Weird huh.

Maybe it's a sign to not have babies..?

I'm open to any interpretations.

Back on Scheduel

Well, after being in this city for nearly four-weeks now, yesterday we finally got the internet in the house. It’s not that we didn’t want it or anything but, in Japan waiting for things to happen after ordering services isn’t too uncommon… especially when you live in a laid-back country area. Last week was a national holiday and as a result was told by the cable company that we would need to wait until that was over until they could come. Beggars can’t be choosers (couldn’t tell you where I heard that one) and when it really comes down to it, we don’t really need the internet. To be honest, I quite prefer being disconnected from the rest of the world.

Anyways, things here are going great. This place may be small but, amazingly enough every time I leave the house I always come back feeling more appreciation for where I live. I need to be at work every morning by eight thirty and leaving the apartment at quarter after and walking still leaves me five minutes with by the time I get there. My commute is short but hot. I think typically the humidity here is like between 80% to 90% and only cools down slightly once night hits. Right now, its 7:30 PM, the sun has set and the current temperature is 84 with 79% humidity (weather.com tells me it Feels Like 94 out there). Anyways, I think I mentioned it before but, from the time I leave my house to the time I get to school I’m usually already sweaty and stinky. I’m fortunate enough to be able to show up to work in shorts, t-shirt and sandals but, on the few occasions I’ve worn a dress shirt/suit it has been a (very stinky) nightmare.

School still doesn’t start for a little under two weeks but already there is pretty constant flow of students all with various things to do. Every day from about nine to about noon clubs are there working either out on the field or in the (non- air-conditioned) building. I’ve already been indicted into a few of the clubs… I’m the only boy in a five member woman’s softball team; I’ve got quite a fan following with the woman’s volleyball team and today attended a few hours of the men’s rugby team (my prerequisite to use the school weight room). I’ve got to learn the rules tonight because I think tomorrow they’re going to make me play. Anyway, a result, not only does it seems like I am losing weight but, I think I’m starting to get some color in my skin. I think the faculty (and maybe even some of the students) are excited to have somebody there who can speak a little Japanese and as a result have been very good to me. I feel very welcome and actually enjoy heading off to work every day. Pretty much we’ve been told to get to know the teachers and I can’t think of a better way that just being there, chilling with them and having a good time.

Now this is only one of two schools I will be teaching at. This one I am at three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). On Friday, I head to another school about thirty minutes south on the peninsula named Suisan. This school is a specialty school which teaches students maritime related skills. Here the student body is divided into three different area of expertise which spread through their sophomore, junior and senior years. One of these areas teaches the students how to sail and navigate the seas. The school has a few small sail boats and one thirty yard yaut, a bunch of canoes which they use to take these students out and learn the ropes. The next area teaches the students engineering specifically how to fix broken ships and the things on/in them. The third area is aquamarine cuisine preparation. I assume they go out and catch all their own foods. Walking around the grounds outside were large vats full of all sorts of different sea animals and tools used to measure the scientific things you can measure.

Now what aquatic school would be complete without swimming, surfing and scuba? This school has all three. They’ve got this indoor pool that is twelve meters deep and more scuba equipment than you can shake a stick at. Their pool area (its own separate building) has its walls lined with surf boards and wetsuits, scuba tanks, fins, masks, etc. The best part is the swimming teacher told me that the school has its own air compressor so I am free to use whatever/whenever I want. No cost for air or anything. As soon as school starts I am sure I can meet some people who could take me out and teach me the basics… of surfing. For scuba he apparently is a certified instructor who can refresh me and teach Ayumi if she wants to do it. I think I’m going to like it here. This school has a few unusual clubs you won’t find at too many other schools, like surfing, swimming, scuba diving, boxing and, sailing. They even had a few kayaks. I’ll be sure to take my camera with me next time I go.

Our apartment is a little dirty now because we’re still moving in but, once it is clean I’ll take a few snaps and throw them on the website. I’ll also go out tomorrow and try and take some pictures of the town so you can see what it is I’m talking about. We’ve got about two or three miles away on an opposite beach an amusement park which every night of summer vacation displays five minute fireworks show. We have a great unobstructed view from our balcony. I’ve included a few pictures. Enjoy!

The List Continues

So here I am, back at school... back at work. I had a wonderful weekend during which we were able to get some furniture to fill our house. We climbed a mountain, which was the tallest in the area, visited an old battlefield and visited a historic village created with old relocated Meiji era buildings; very cool. In Japan there was a famous battle called the Battle of Sekigahara it was here that one of the most influential battles in all of Japan was fought. I think this happened around the year 1600 but, pretty much up until that point Japan was broken into a bunch of little different feuding states. This Sekigahara battle was where this one dude Tokugawa Ieyasu fought these other clan leaders ending a civil war and pretty much unifying Japan under one Shogun. I don't have any pictures, which we took at the time due to not having the camera with me but I will tell you I enjoyed myself a nice tuna rice ball as I sat alone overlooking this valley. I've included some cool Japanese pictures depicting this battle.

We also took a trip to visit a place called the Meiji Mura (the Meiji Village). Japanese history around the 1860's: Japan had been in a self-inflicted national isolation, which restricted foreigners from entering the country and Japanese from leaving. This actually started as a result of the above-mentioned unification of Japan. Well, for 250 years Japan sat isolated while the rest of the world experienced the renaissance, and other scientific/artistic breakthroughs. In 1862-ish an American Navy Commodore Matthew Perry sailed his boats into the Tokyo Bay and pretty much told Japan they would destroy the city with cannonballs if they didn't open up for trade with America (not a lot has changed in the past 150 years since then). As a result, Japan opened up and figured they had a lot of catching up to do. The Meiji period was the time period from this event to about the time of WW2. So, what happened during this time is Japan goes through a metamorphosis. Adopting the western style way of life. Their architecture changes, literature and fashion changes. Science and medicine changes too... anyways, this town is made up of all these old buildings that were build during this time period and brought and rebuild to make this historic city... like the Pioneer Village at Lagoon. They've got the Grand Imperial Hotel from Tokyo designed by F.L. Wright, old time Japanese theatres, etc.

My computer at work is broken, again and so I am writing this letter on a borrowed computer. See you all later.

An Inconvenient Truth

Ok, ok... since my last blog my mailbox and phone lines have been crowded with comments from a few of my readers regarding the comment I attributed to my mom the other day. For those who don't remember, I quoted my mom to often saying something along the lines of "Beggars can't be choosers, and you son are a loser". I must apologize and say the rude quote I attributed to my mother was a pernicious lie. I'll take this opportunity to let you all know that I am an alcoholic and have decided to enroll myself into a substance abuse clinic with ongoing psychological treatment for the next twenty four months. I apologize to my friends, my family, my fans and most importantly... my mother for the pain this pretentious lie may have caused. I pray for your ongoing support.

Ok, that was a joke. I'm no alcoholic nor do I need ongoing psychological evaluations however, the bit about my mother was a lie. Is it just me or in Hollywood does it seem that every time a celebrity is caught doing something bad he attributes it to being an alcoholic and that he plans on enrolling himself into some sort of program. Ha ha ha... Probally not as funny as I think it is anyways, sorry mum.

So, we are in Gifu tonight to spend the weekend with her parents. This weekend is a Japanese holiday called obon where it is believed that Japanese spirits return to their families for one reason or another; then something along the lines of the Japanese praying to and then dancing with their ancestors. I don't know but, I remember having fun doing the dance years ago. Looking forward to that... and buying furniture which I regret to say, is probably the main purpose of the visit. There is just something nice about having a chair you can sit in in one's home. We've been prone to sit on the floor for the past week. Anyways, first time in four years I've seen the folks-in-law so, this is fun.

I've got a few pictures of the shrine we went to the other day. It's getting late and so I think I am going to turn in. Night all.

Blogging in the Name of Love

Well, here I am again. I can't believe has been a week since I first got here... and since I last wrote. I still don't have the internet at the apartment so getting online must be done at school and because of that I don't have as much time as I'd like to check/write e-mail and update my blog. However, as time permits will continue to do so.

Its been so long since I last wrote in this blog that I can't remember so far what I've written. My coworker from New Zealand (Shelley) and I both got here at the beginning of the school's summer break. As a result, every day we come to an empty school and sit in the teachers’ lounge (which thankfully is one of the few air-conditioned rooms). We each have our own desks and have been given computers. My computer is pretty old and as a result keeps having problems. So far it has been reformatted twice in the one weeks since I've been here. It has the internet and all the essential things I need to make my lessons so, I'm happy. Besides, momma always said "Beggars can't be choosers". But, then she would go on to say "and you son are a loser." The funny thing was I never heard the second part from anyone but her. I think I know now where I get my low self esteem. Yesterday I tried to plug my thumb drive into one of the old, dusty ports on the back and the computer reset and rebooted itself in safe mode. I figure because this isn't my computer I probably shouldn't try to fix it up; especially when all the directions are in technical Japanese.

Ayumi and I are doing our best to make our apartment cute and comfortable. Because we moved into a new apartment, we needed to get new appliances. Originally the school provided us an apartment which we decided to not move into because a) we’ve got a cat and b) sanitary reasons. The place is full of furniture which we are free to take but, when we went and looked at it everything was hammered, stinky, moldy and old. I guess it would be like saying, how about furnishing your new house with old missionary hand-me-downs. I've been back a time or two to see the place they provided and am so glad we are not there. It is on a river and I can only imagine how bad the bugs must be there. Shelley was almost attacked by a bat in her home the other night.

This is a small place but, by train there are a handful of places nearby that we can go to get a little taste of civilization. I've yet to go to the beach but, am only about thirty minutes from one of the most popular in the country for surfing. We went to a city called Ise the other day where we went and visited one of the most famous and oldest Shinto shrines in the country/world. It is said that at this place, the Sun God is suppose to come and occasionally reside. I think. I know it sounds geeky but, this culture fascinates me. It is so fun to be here and be able to actually have a (non-religion) conversation with people.

I've got to go but, will write more soon.

Welcome to... Mayberry

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have arrived. It was a long and tedious trip but, I have finally reached the place that I can call home. At least for the next little while. Things here are awesome! Ayumi found us a great little apartment, Hershey is alive and kicking and our air conditioner works. Comparing our apartment with the rest of the city, it looks like we are in one of the best (and newest) structures in the whole place. So far I have yet to see the sea. I know we are on the coast but, not like I imagined it. From what I understand, Shima today was five years ago, a series of little towns. For one reason or another they decided to take all these little individual settlements, throw them into one and call the place Shima. I am living in the city called Isobe. I guess you could consider it like Shima is to Salt Lake what Isobe is to Sandy, but on a much, much smaller scale. This town is honestly even smaller than I imagined it.

From what I have been told (and seen) years ago this place used to be quite the hip spot. This place was famous for its beaches and surfing (which still exist). An amusement park was built here and people would come from miles around to spend the weekend and this was a thriving resort town. For one reason or another people stopped coming. The amusement park is still here (and we can see the nightly display of fireworks) and attracts a bit of a crowd but, not to the extent that it used to. The town is now full of closed hotels. Its a small place, and a bit off the beaten path but, I like it none-the-less. The Mayberry analogy comes from this town being so old and small... no comical police regeim though.

From Tokyo, we took a train to Nagoya with is the biggest city around here (about two hours by train) and from there a train to Tsu, the capitol of Mie. In Tsu, we were greeted by our supervisors who then drove us the rest of the way. One thing I can say about this place is that it is super green. On the drive, I noticed the towns getting smaller and smaller and the forests bigger and bigger. For those who have seen the Japanese cartoon "My Neighbor Totoro", the forest roads look a lot like the ones from that show. We arrived here (with my co-worker, a New Zealander named Shelley) and were taken right away to go meet the Principal and Vice Principal of one of the High Schools that I am going to be working at. From there to my apartment to see Ayumi. One thing I can state with confidence, no matter where I am or what I`ve been through, it is always nice to be with her. Well, I got home, showered and we went out. That night I thought I was going to die by drowning on my own sweat. The apartment was so hot, I literally was dripping buckets of sweat off my forehead. After a while Ayumi went and turned on the air conditioner and now the apartment is really quite comfortable.

The apartment is nice and new. We are on the fourth floor of six and about a five minute walk from the train station and about fifteen from the school. I`ve yet to see my second school (the one I need to take a ferry to) but, have an appointment to see the teachers on the tenth. Next to us is the community center where the other night we spied upon a hip-hop dance class being conducted there. The town has two small supermarkets, a bookstore, post office, bank and train station. Last night, we took a train with Shelley to the next town over to buy some supplies we were lacking, and to visit the dollar shop... the coolest shop in Japan. There in the other city we ran into some other Jets from the nearby towns and had a bit of a chat for a while. There were about seven of us and all from different countries standing in the heat all excited to see each other. We had a New Zealander, Australlian, America, Scottsish, Irish and English person in that conversation. I was cool to talk and hear all the different accents.

So far, no phone or internet in the apartment. With that being the case, I suggest to those who read this blog not to look for an update until at least Monday. I`m doing well, things are great. Honestly, I couldn`t be better. The people I work with are all amazing and, all around the same age as us. Yesterday, they took Shelley and I out to lunch and we just kind of shot the breeze while we ate. Half of them live in town and the other half commute every day. We were invited to go and have a barbeque with some of them tomorrw afternoon so, definatley looking forward to that.

Once I get the internet at home I`ll be able to take more time and make this blog a little more interesting but, in the meantime because I am at school kind of hesitant to do too much. More later to come!