Monday, May 21, 2012
Golden Week Travels 1/3: Okinawa
So, Okinawa: our main Golden Week destination. This trip would also serve as our 4th Wedding Anniversary trip (which is actually April 19), since we like to travel around that time every year. There were endless options of course, but we ended up sticking with the main island because that would be the cheapest. A lot of the smaller islands also don’t have mid-range hotels; it was either dorm-style hostels or very expensive resorts. The resort we chose was Rizzan Sea Park Hotel on the main island and it also had several restaurants on-site, which was appealing to us since we could enjoy drinks without having to deal with driving.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Spring Cleaning
I have a new layout around here, which means I'm in the process of doing some spring cleaning on my blog! If you are a blogger in Japan (or will be soon) and would like to exchange links, please let me know! Or even if it's not your blog, that's cool too. I'm always looking for new JET / Japan blogs to have in my blogroll.
I also noticed that my posts the past several months have been more "me oriented" and not so much with JET. I made this blog for myself, to chronicle this chapter in my life and to keep family & friends in the loop, but I'm not opposed to making helpful articles as well. Is there anything in particular you would like to see? More about driving in Japan? More about what teaching is like? Misconceptions about living in the inaka? I have ideas for my next several blogs, but I'm open to suggestions.
Hope everyone has a great Friday and a lovely weekend! (｀・ω・´)”
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Bike Riding in the Inaka
Traveling is nice. Traveling is fun. Traveling is also expensive, and even though we do it more here than we did in America, it only happens once every month or two. I think getting out and exploring areas nearby is just as fun as traveling sometimes, especially at the turn of the seasons!
About a month ago, April 14 to be exact, we finally had our first taste of spring up here in our town. I find it interesting that Japan, my area especially, is about a month behind the normal weather in Atlanta that I'm used to. (NOT counting the non-winter they had this year. Ugh. Jealous!) The lack of blogging from January through the end of March can definitely be blamed on winter, haha! So on this particular weekend, we were blessed with warm weather. I'll use that term loosely -- by "warm," I mean there wasn't 3 feet of snow and I couldn't see my breath when I got out of the shower that morning. It was sunny and 55 degrees.
That day Matt and I rode bikes around the bay on a whim. It took up most of the day because it covers 10-12 miles (depending on which roads you take), and we kept stopping to see sights and take photos. Keep in mind we live amongst hills and mountains, so it makes for quite a workout! There's actually quite a few interesting things out here, and I can see why this area has some tourists at certain times of the year.
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| Yep, more sakura. Deal with it. |
About a month ago, April 14 to be exact, we finally had our first taste of spring up here in our town. I find it interesting that Japan, my area especially, is about a month behind the normal weather in Atlanta that I'm used to. (NOT counting the non-winter they had this year. Ugh. Jealous!) The lack of blogging from January through the end of March can definitely be blamed on winter, haha! So on this particular weekend, we were blessed with warm weather. I'll use that term loosely -- by "warm," I mean there wasn't 3 feet of snow and I couldn't see my breath when I got out of the shower that morning. It was sunny and 55 degrees.
That day Matt and I rode bikes around the bay on a whim. It took up most of the day because it covers 10-12 miles (depending on which roads you take), and we kept stopping to see sights and take photos. Keep in mind we live amongst hills and mountains, so it makes for quite a workout! There's actually quite a few interesting things out here, and I can see why this area has some tourists at certain times of the year.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
める の DAILY LIFE #6: Spring Edition
How is it already halfway through May?! And how have I not done one of these since January? Oh well.
める の DAILY LIFE
( Meru's Daily Life )
This post contains cell phone snaps from 4/1 - 5/15.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Afternoon Reminiscing on a Monday
Today I felt something.
After an amazing lunch, I took a break and sat outside of the staff room for a moment. It's such a noisy place sometimes and I wanted to clear my head. Suddenly, it just all came together in that one moment. The sun was shining on my face. A train went by. Someone was playing piano in the music room upstairs. Birds were chirping. The wind rustled some paper on the ground. Students were chatting and laughing in the distance.
This is my life in Japan. These are the things I want to remember long after I've left this place.
I'm not posting a picture just this once, because there isn't one. It was just a feeling.
After an amazing lunch, I took a break and sat outside of the staff room for a moment. It's such a noisy place sometimes and I wanted to clear my head. Suddenly, it just all came together in that one moment. The sun was shining on my face. A train went by. Someone was playing piano in the music room upstairs. Birds were chirping. The wind rustled some paper on the ground. Students were chatting and laughing in the distance.
This is my life in Japan. These are the things I want to remember long after I've left this place.
I'm not posting a picture just this once, because there isn't one. It was just a feeling.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Private Kimono Lesson
I know I have a serious case of blog backlog, but I can't help myself. Last night was so amazing that I have to post about it now, before these feelings wear off!
If you've been reading for a while, some of you may know that I took kimono lessons back in the fall. It only cost about 3,000円 and we met once a week in some kind of a community center with tatami mats. At least, I think it was a community center. It was more like a back alley, but anyway! Looks can be deceiving, right? My lovely friend Kumi arranged everything for the class, even to lending me her kimono, yukata, obi, and all the accessories and undergarments that are needed. Kumi and her husband have been very kind to Matt, myself, and all the ALTs in our area. She attended kimono class with Jenni and me for support. The class itself was led by Oe-sensei, and there were about 15 other students. Some were middle-aged women, others were girls around my age. Some were genuinely interested, others were forced by their mothers to take up the art.
The lessons technically lasted two hours, but sometimes time went over. Just wearing kimono is intense, let alone putting it on yourself. There's a reason it's considered an art. For those two hours, we would either be sitting in seiza style, or standing on our feet, trying to make sense of how to put the garments on correctly. The entire class was also in Japanese, so I would have to heavily rely on demonstration. We also didn't really get to use mirrors. Needless to say, as much as I enjoyed these lessons, they were exhausting on top of my already-exhausting schedule of teaching 5-6 elementary classes that particular day. It was also almost an hour's drive away from my apartment. I would get home late, go to bed late, and it would affect my work performance the next day. After about 6 weeks, I made the decision to discontinue the lessons for my physical and mental health.
Thankfully, Oe-sensei took a liking to me and is good friends with Kumi. Thus, private lessons were arranged. Yesterday after work, I met up with Kumi and we caravanned to Oe-sensei's home. To my surprise, Dave was there with his visiting sister, Sara. I was happy to have both of them for the company, and Kumi had lent one of her kimono sets for Sara to use. Even though I hadn't done this in months, putting everything on was much easier this time around. It's amazing how much difference one-on-one instruction, mirrors, and a little English translation (thanks, Dave!) can make. As usual, we spent two hours doing it. Oe-sensei even made us tie the obi twice, but it was much easier the second time around.
After the lesson, Sara and I changed and we all went downstairs to leave. To our surprise, in the midst of instructing us and answering the door to guests, Oe-sensei had prepared a lovely meal! How could we say no? Everything tasted amazing, especially the crab miso soup and whatever kind of mochi was served as dessert. It was the perfect ending to a perfect evening. I didn't even notice how long it took me to drive home, and I still managed to get 8 hours of sleep since we started earlier than normal.
I love being able to have experiences like this, and just wanted to share! ♥
If you've been reading for a while, some of you may know that I took kimono lessons back in the fall. It only cost about 3,000円 and we met once a week in some kind of a community center with tatami mats. At least, I think it was a community center. It was more like a back alley, but anyway! Looks can be deceiving, right? My lovely friend Kumi arranged everything for the class, even to lending me her kimono, yukata, obi, and all the accessories and undergarments that are needed. Kumi and her husband have been very kind to Matt, myself, and all the ALTs in our area. She attended kimono class with Jenni and me for support. The class itself was led by Oe-sensei, and there were about 15 other students. Some were middle-aged women, others were girls around my age. Some were genuinely interested, others were forced by their mothers to take up the art.
The lessons technically lasted two hours, but sometimes time went over. Just wearing kimono is intense, let alone putting it on yourself. There's a reason it's considered an art. For those two hours, we would either be sitting in seiza style, or standing on our feet, trying to make sense of how to put the garments on correctly. The entire class was also in Japanese, so I would have to heavily rely on demonstration. We also didn't really get to use mirrors. Needless to say, as much as I enjoyed these lessons, they were exhausting on top of my already-exhausting schedule of teaching 5-6 elementary classes that particular day. It was also almost an hour's drive away from my apartment. I would get home late, go to bed late, and it would affect my work performance the next day. After about 6 weeks, I made the decision to discontinue the lessons for my physical and mental health.
 |
| 2 hours later: a little tired, but pleased with the results. |
Thankfully, Oe-sensei took a liking to me and is good friends with Kumi. Thus, private lessons were arranged. Yesterday after work, I met up with Kumi and we caravanned to Oe-sensei's home. To my surprise, Dave was there with his visiting sister, Sara. I was happy to have both of them for the company, and Kumi had lent one of her kimono sets for Sara to use. Even though I hadn't done this in months, putting everything on was much easier this time around. It's amazing how much difference one-on-one instruction, mirrors, and a little English translation (thanks, Dave!) can make. As usual, we spent two hours doing it. Oe-sensei even made us tie the obi twice, but it was much easier the second time around.
 | |
| Nice surprise! |
After the lesson, Sara and I changed and we all went downstairs to leave. To our surprise, in the midst of instructing us and answering the door to guests, Oe-sensei had prepared a lovely meal! How could we say no? Everything tasted amazing, especially the crab miso soup and whatever kind of mochi was served as dessert. It was the perfect ending to a perfect evening. I didn't even notice how long it took me to drive home, and I still managed to get 8 hours of sleep since we started earlier than normal.
I love being able to have experiences like this, and just wanted to share! ♥
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
And when it's all a blur, you are the hard line.
 | |||||
| Show me that your love will never change. |
Here's a preview of what my Golden Week looked like. Osaka, Okinawa, Kobe, and Tottori all rolled into one. Our year in Japan will be coming to an end in the near future, so we wanted to soak up as much traveling all over the country as possible. I'll do a real post... someday. As beautiful as the cherry blossoms were a few weeks ago, late spring is my favorite time of year. Everything is green again, and my energy is being put into other things besides blogging and video editing. I did make a movie of our trip for my students, though, so I'll try to post bits of that later this week.
I also feel the urgent need to blog about these pants, "Easy Cropped Leggings Pants" from UNIQLO. It was one of those shopping trips that snuck up on me, when I wasn't even planning to buy clothes. I hate buying pants even in my own country thanks to being pear-shaped, so I vowed to avoid it here entirely. Then I saw all the cute colors when I stopped in UNIQLO on a whim, and couldn't resist heading to the fitting room. It turns out I fit perfectly into a size that doesn't even damage my self-esteem, and they look pretty damn cute. Score! They were also on sale. I went with black for work (I'm lucky enough to have a casual dress code, so long as I don't wear jeans); turquoise and orange for fun. I might go back for the khaki and grey, too.
P.S. Just wanted to say congratulations to all the new short-listed applicants for JET! And if you're still an alternate, don't despair. Some of the best people at this job were alternates first.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Golden Week
A lot has been happening lately. The weather is finally starting to behave, so Matt and I have been running and riding bikes quite often. Right now we're on a train headed to Kansai International Airport! This is Golden Week, another major travel season. Matt and I will be in Okinawa for a few days, and then Kobe. We spent the previous night in Osaka and had a lovely time. ♥ Safe travels to everyone! I'll post photos when we get back!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Happy Birthday to me~
Tuesday (April 10) was my birthday! Not much going on this week besides the entrance ceremony, which was nice. It's so much fun seeing the familiar faces that I used to teach at elementary school. Last Saturday there was a joint ALT birthday at a private venue, which included drinks, live music, themed cakes for each of us (mine was strawberry!), and a balloon drop at the end. It definitely makes the list of epic birthday parties in my lifetime.
So, onto more good news: after a long, cold, miserable winter, spring is finally showing itself. Matt and I made plans to visit Kyoto last weekend, since we haven’t left our town since the Yuki Matsuri in February (mainly to save money)! The main draw to Kyoto was of course, sakura (cherry blossoms).
So, onto more good news: after a long, cold, miserable winter, spring is finally showing itself. Matt and I made plans to visit Kyoto last weekend, since we haven’t left our town since the Yuki Matsuri in February (mainly to save money)! The main draw to Kyoto was of course, sakura (cherry blossoms).
Friday, April 6, 2012
Two Truths and a Lie
1. Our parents are awesome for sending me things to supplement my upcoming kindergarten Easter lessons. Thank you, thank you! (And thank you for the lovely birthday gifts, Mom!)
2. My hair is really freaking long now.
3. It's warm and sunny! (Hmmm, about that.)
Not much happening here. I could blog about the crazy shenanigans of last week's farewell party... or my oh-so-exciting days of no classes for weeks on end... but I'll spare everyone the details. This weekend something is finally happening! It's my birthday next week, and many of the ALTs in my area are getting together for a group party for all the April babies. That's going down tomorrow night, and we'll even have our friends Orrin & Joy stay as houseguests! Next, we'll head down to Kyoto City for 2 days to celebrate some more and get out of the cold, desolate inaka.
I. Can't. WAIT. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter! Any big plans? As usual, I miss my holidays dearly, but at least plan to celebrate with the kids soon.
2. My hair is really freaking long now.
3. It's warm and sunny! (Hmmm, about that.)
Not much happening here. I could blog about the crazy shenanigans of last week's farewell party... or my oh-so-exciting days of no classes for weeks on end... but I'll spare everyone the details. This weekend something is finally happening! It's my birthday next week, and many of the ALTs in my area are getting together for a group party for all the April babies. That's going down tomorrow night, and we'll even have our friends Orrin & Joy stay as houseguests! Next, we'll head down to Kyoto City for 2 days to celebrate some more and get out of the cold, desolate inaka.
I. Can't. WAIT. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter! Any big plans? As usual, I miss my holidays dearly, but at least plan to celebrate with the kids soon.
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