I was asked to renew my contract today....dun dun dun. I have to decide what to do by Oct 16. This means...if you have any feedback for me-reasons I should renew/reasons I should come home...please let me know. I can use all the help I can get making a decision like this!!!!
PS- I gave in and bought a new train pass. BUT I was told by my student who works for the station that if my old pass turns up, the station will reimburse me if I show them both passes. So...maybe someone has just forgotten to turn it in yet? Haha.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
One of THOSE days
and by that I mean where you want to run off to the bathroom and cry every 10 minutes. Kind of like what I did...
I knew it was probably a sign when I woke up to a ginormous zit on my forehead (TMI, I know). My train pass expired yesterday, so I had to buy a new one for this month this morning (costs about 50 bucks). I get reimbursed from my company for travel expenses, and since I am basically running on fumes until my next payday, I just took money out of my "Tokyo funds" (when I was paid last, I put aside money for Tokyo knowing I would spend it otherwise), and planned on putting the money back when I got reimbursed. Anyway, I bought the new pass, rode the train, went to work, and was in a decent mood, when I realized I needed to give my manager my pass and the receipt so I could get my money back. I went to my purse, found the receipt...but no pass. I checked my pockets and purse about 10 trillion times before concluding I had lost the pass. My manager called the station as well as our building and put my information in, in case someone returned it. The thing is I was somewhat hopeful because people are actually honest here and tend to turn in things they find rather than steal them. Also, my pass is kind of useless to most people, as it can only be used to and from MY station which is only one stop away. It also has my name on it. ANYWAY no one turned it in so far, and I have lost hope, because I think if someone honest had found it, they would have turned it in by now. So I am now out of 50 bucks which I really could have used. Sigh. The problem with my mind, is when something bad happens to me, it likes to then dig up every bad/sad/insecure thought or feeling that possibly exists within me even if it is completely irrelevant to the situation at hand, also I felt like more and more is being asked of me at work, and sometimes it is like "I CAN'T DO EVERYTHING!!!!!!" and just so frustrating/exhausting to think about-- so all that made for a very unfun day...including me having to excuse myself to the bathroom to calm down so I could be socially acceptable to students. =/ Like I have said before, having something like that happen back home is bad, but dealing with it in a foreign country is way worse and harder. You are just so helpless! It's really difficult! I decided to walk home and self reflect lol. I'm giving the "honest" people of Jland one more day, and then I am forking out another 50 bucks for a new one. Boo. Oh, and I also now have to give a presentation to everyone at a work conference in October regarding being successful for a sales thing we do, and now it has been decided that it will be videotaped so all the J staff in the region can see my "ideas" as well. Too bad I don't even have much to say! I am just wondering how I am going to fill the 10-15 minute time slot they gave me (that's a LONG TIME to stand in front of everyone and talk!!!)! Is this a reward for being successful??? Haha.
I knew it was probably a sign when I woke up to a ginormous zit on my forehead (TMI, I know). My train pass expired yesterday, so I had to buy a new one for this month this morning (costs about 50 bucks). I get reimbursed from my company for travel expenses, and since I am basically running on fumes until my next payday, I just took money out of my "Tokyo funds" (when I was paid last, I put aside money for Tokyo knowing I would spend it otherwise), and planned on putting the money back when I got reimbursed. Anyway, I bought the new pass, rode the train, went to work, and was in a decent mood, when I realized I needed to give my manager my pass and the receipt so I could get my money back. I went to my purse, found the receipt...but no pass. I checked my pockets and purse about 10 trillion times before concluding I had lost the pass. My manager called the station as well as our building and put my information in, in case someone returned it. The thing is I was somewhat hopeful because people are actually honest here and tend to turn in things they find rather than steal them. Also, my pass is kind of useless to most people, as it can only be used to and from MY station which is only one stop away. It also has my name on it. ANYWAY no one turned it in so far, and I have lost hope, because I think if someone honest had found it, they would have turned it in by now. So I am now out of 50 bucks which I really could have used. Sigh. The problem with my mind, is when something bad happens to me, it likes to then dig up every bad/sad/insecure thought or feeling that possibly exists within me even if it is completely irrelevant to the situation at hand, also I felt like more and more is being asked of me at work, and sometimes it is like "I CAN'T DO EVERYTHING!!!!!!" and just so frustrating/exhausting to think about-- so all that made for a very unfun day...including me having to excuse myself to the bathroom to calm down so I could be socially acceptable to students. =/ Like I have said before, having something like that happen back home is bad, but dealing with it in a foreign country is way worse and harder. You are just so helpless! It's really difficult! I decided to walk home and self reflect lol. I'm giving the "honest" people of Jland one more day, and then I am forking out another 50 bucks for a new one. Boo. Oh, and I also now have to give a presentation to everyone at a work conference in October regarding being successful for a sales thing we do, and now it has been decided that it will be videotaped so all the J staff in the region can see my "ideas" as well. Too bad I don't even have much to say! I am just wondering how I am going to fill the 10-15 minute time slot they gave me (that's a LONG TIME to stand in front of everyone and talk!!!)! Is this a reward for being successful??? Haha.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Iki
Well, despite the report of thunderstorms and typhoons, I decided to bite the bullet and go to Iki as planned. I am glad I did because once again the weather prediction was pretty off. It did rain a bit and was overcast, but nothing too dramatic. We were still able to do a lot, just not the beach thing. So I am planning to go back at some point in the future to get the rest of the island experience. Sunday morning, I took a ferry from Hakata to Iki. It takes about 2 hours, so I took some photos of the journey and psuedo nap on the deck. Then, my friends met me at the harbor (they had gone over the night before). Last time they went, they made friends with some local guys, so the guys were really nice and drove us everywhere and paid for a lot of things for us. Anyway, we then went fishing! We caught a lot of fish, as well as TONS of fugu (blowfish). Obviously you can't eat fugu unless you are trained how to prepare it, so we had to keep throwing them back...at first it was exciting to catch a fugu because we could make them puff up (and by the way, they really look like frogs), but after the 18th time of catching a stupid fugu instead of an edible fish, we were over them. The fisherman who took us fishing just started tossing them on the bottom of the boat. It was really fun though, and we later BBQed the fish and also made sashimi with some of the larger ones. It was great eating fresh fish you caught yourself! We also wanted some other stuff for the BBQ so we went to a butcher to get meat. The nice thing about being on a rural island is everything is so fresh. You can't just go to a grocery store and buy prepackaged meat. Japanese beef is excellent...but also VERY expensive. We wound up paying about $90 for the meat!!! It was kind of worth it though, it was like butter.
The next day we were going to go to the beach, and then maybe an onsen (hot spring). But, it was raining all morning, so one of the guys we made friends with came and picked us up and took us to onsen. It was my first time. It was a great experience, and totally relaxing. There are all these natural pools of water in different temperatures, and the water is full of minerals so it is really good for your body/skin. Me and my friends had the entire onsen to ourselves, so it was nice considering you are naked (men and women use different onsen). The feeling of going from a really hot onsen to a cold one and then to a sauna was just really incredible for my body and also very therapeutic. I recommend them to everyone =). Then, we went to lunch, and then did a little bit of sight seeing before heading to the ferry terminal. I just couldn't get over how green the island was! There is a giant rock that is the shape of a monkey. It is completely natural, so it is kind of crazy! I just wish the weather was a bit sunnier so the water would have been more blue, but what can you do?
Next weekend I am off to Tokyo! I can't believe how busy I have been lately! It's a lot of fun though =)
You can see Iki pictures here. I did my best to caption them.
The next day we were going to go to the beach, and then maybe an onsen (hot spring). But, it was raining all morning, so one of the guys we made friends with came and picked us up and took us to onsen. It was my first time. It was a great experience, and totally relaxing. There are all these natural pools of water in different temperatures, and the water is full of minerals so it is really good for your body/skin. Me and my friends had the entire onsen to ourselves, so it was nice considering you are naked (men and women use different onsen). The feeling of going from a really hot onsen to a cold one and then to a sauna was just really incredible for my body and also very therapeutic. I recommend them to everyone =). Then, we went to lunch, and then did a little bit of sight seeing before heading to the ferry terminal. I just couldn't get over how green the island was! There is a giant rock that is the shape of a monkey. It is completely natural, so it is kind of crazy! I just wish the weather was a bit sunnier so the water would have been more blue, but what can you do?
Next weekend I am off to Tokyo! I can't believe how busy I have been lately! It's a lot of fun though =)
You can see Iki pictures here. I did my best to caption them.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
PS
I will be camping here, Iki Island, this weekend! Who knew gorgeous beaches were only a 40 dollar, 2 hour ferry ride away ;)
PS-I just found out in Oita Prefecture, which is a gorgeous part of Japan about two hours away that is famous for onsen (hot springs), there is an "African Safari" animal park, and you can hold and feed baby lions and tigers!!!! I will be heading over there as soon as possible ;)
Monday, September 8, 2008
Nothing too special
going on over here...but just felt like writing a little something...
My weekend went by way too fast! We had a school party on Saturday. We hadn't had one since my welcoming, so it's been a while. I may have already explained how parties work in Japan, but whatever, I'll explain again. There is never just one party. We started the first party at a small izakaya (Japanese restaurant/bar), and it was kind of cool because everyone paid 3500円 (about $35), except us because we are special, and it was all you could eat/drink. As in your table could order literally anything they wanted on the menu. So it was a good opportunity for me to try some foods I have been putting off for various reasons. Like, Motsunabe. Nabe is like a kind of stewish meal that is cooked on the table in front of you...motsu is cow stomach =) mmmm. Hence why I wasn't so into trying it before, but everyone kept saying how delicious it is, so I finally made a table order me some. It wasn't so bad. I usually hate intestine/organ stuff, but this didn't have the same texture so it was OK. Ok, I am way off topic. Anyway, we played a game that I concocted. It was a "bingo scavenger hunt" where the teams had to ask other teams if they had the items on their cards (like in their purse/pockets/whatever). We made it ridiculously hard by putting the most random things on ever--like a bottle of honey for example, but somehow people got bingo. Then, we headed over for the second party, at a different izakaya. Usually after the first party, the crowd gets halved, but everyone was having a good time so maybe 75% of the original party went. The second party is always a bit more relaxed because we, the staff, aren't as obligated to socialize with everyone. However, I had a blast running around drinking and eating with different tables and taking funny pictures with them. Then, we went to the third party, which usually has like four-five people, yet we had around 12-15 (this is now maybe 2am), and kept eating and drinking. By then I was tired and out of money so I went home, but a bunch of people still carried through to a FOURTH party to sing karaoke until the first train was running. Anyway, our students are great. Japanese people sure love to drink--even if they are horrible at handling alcohol. It was a lot of fun. It's things like this that I like about Japan and wish existed in The States.
PS- Speaking of America--this election is kind of getting silly. Maybe I am just getting the news in a weird way here in Jland, but the coverage/topics that are covered are more like TMZ/Perez Hilton material than a reputable PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
My weekend went by way too fast! We had a school party on Saturday. We hadn't had one since my welcoming, so it's been a while. I may have already explained how parties work in Japan, but whatever, I'll explain again. There is never just one party. We started the first party at a small izakaya (Japanese restaurant/bar), and it was kind of cool because everyone paid 3500円 (about $35), except us because we are special, and it was all you could eat/drink. As in your table could order literally anything they wanted on the menu. So it was a good opportunity for me to try some foods I have been putting off for various reasons. Like, Motsunabe. Nabe is like a kind of stewish meal that is cooked on the table in front of you...motsu is cow stomach =) mmmm. Hence why I wasn't so into trying it before, but everyone kept saying how delicious it is, so I finally made a table order me some. It wasn't so bad. I usually hate intestine/organ stuff, but this didn't have the same texture so it was OK. Ok, I am way off topic. Anyway, we played a game that I concocted. It was a "bingo scavenger hunt" where the teams had to ask other teams if they had the items on their cards (like in their purse/pockets/whatever). We made it ridiculously hard by putting the most random things on ever--like a bottle of honey for example, but somehow people got bingo. Then, we headed over for the second party, at a different izakaya. Usually after the first party, the crowd gets halved, but everyone was having a good time so maybe 75% of the original party went. The second party is always a bit more relaxed because we, the staff, aren't as obligated to socialize with everyone. However, I had a blast running around drinking and eating with different tables and taking funny pictures with them. Then, we went to the third party, which usually has like four-five people, yet we had around 12-15 (this is now maybe 2am), and kept eating and drinking. By then I was tired and out of money so I went home, but a bunch of people still carried through to a FOURTH party to sing karaoke until the first train was running. Anyway, our students are great. Japanese people sure love to drink--even if they are horrible at handling alcohol. It was a lot of fun. It's things like this that I like about Japan and wish existed in The States.
PS- Speaking of America--this election is kind of getting silly. Maybe I am just getting the news in a weird way here in Jland, but the coverage/topics that are covered are more like TMZ/Perez Hilton material than a reputable PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hmm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/2449462/Japan-earthquake-Fears-as-fire-hits-northern-city-of-Hachinohe.html
EARTHQUAKE!!!!
I just officially experienced my first Japanese earthquake tonight.
Except, it wasn't all that exciting. Literally a milisecond before the shaking started, I heard a loud boom from the apt above me, so I figured my obnoxious (more to come on that another time) neighbor dropped something ridiculously heavy. BUT when my friend who lives across town messaged me and said his entire apt building was shaking, I realized it was an actual earthquake. Obviously because of above explanation, it wasn't very big. More like an aftershock...but that makes me wonder if a) a bigger one is coming? or b) There was a big one and we just got the end ripple of it. Guess I'll have to wait for the news tomorrow...
Except, it wasn't all that exciting. Literally a milisecond before the shaking started, I heard a loud boom from the apt above me, so I figured my obnoxious (more to come on that another time) neighbor dropped something ridiculously heavy. BUT when my friend who lives across town messaged me and said his entire apt building was shaking, I realized it was an actual earthquake. Obviously because of above explanation, it wasn't very big. More like an aftershock...but that makes me wonder if a) a bigger one is coming? or b) There was a big one and we just got the end ripple of it. Guess I'll have to wait for the news tomorrow...
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