More baby pics!

I know, you must all be thinking "jeeeeez... more baby pics? You'd think the kid was hers!!".... and yeah, I admit that even though I havent met the kid yet, Im enormously proud and excited every time I get a new installment of pictures and updates. Its weird, especially for me. Im NOT the type of person to go "ga-ga" over babies at all, but Julia just warms my heart! Maybe its her smile and her incredible blue eyes! I think the fact that shes related to me also helps, haha!


Here is my mom and Julia. At 6 months she really likes to practice standing up!


Ok, let's hear it! "Awwww..."


So, Heather (her mommy) says that she's outgrown the infant bath and the laundry room sink is now her bath haven!


I hope she doesn't find out that Im posting her baby bath pics online! It could be some serious blackmail material later on... hehehe....


Like I said... her eyes are gonna stop people in their tracks!


She learned how to wave "hi" and "bye bye"!


Im told that those are prunes on her face.... Glad I wasnt the one to change THAT diaper!!

New developments!

So after the enormous excitement that was Thailand, we're now back to the same old hum drum that is a normal working person's life. However, there are a couple interesting tidbits worthy of a blog post!

The weekend after we got back some friends and us all got together to go celebrate my bday in Osaka for the night. There was nothing especially spectacular but it was a great time anyway!

This weekend a friend from college who lives and works in Tokyo, Kotaro, came down to the Kansai area with a friend of his! We havent seen him since last August so we decided to take a trip to Kyoto and see him. They'd just arrived on the overnight bus, which Ive heard is a total nightmare, and so were sleeping the day away and would meet us for dinner. Well Sunday was a gorgeous day -- blue sky, sunny and upper 70s (I think) so we didnt want to miss it and decided to go see the Fushimi-inari Temple. In English I think it would be Temple of 1000 Gates (??). Anyway, its a couple stops out of the city so its kinda secluded. The most famous thing about it is the fact that there are trails all through the forrest all covered in torii gates (the red gates that are always at the entrances to shinto shrines). Its also the temple featured in the movie of Memoirs of a Geisha when Sayuri is running down through all those arches. Anyway, it was by far my favorite temple to date. There were a lot of tourists there but we kept climbing up the mountain and took trails that not many others were taking so at times we were the only ones around! It was so peaceful, serene and, in a sense, spiritual to be in the forrest and just hear the birds chirping and the river gurgling. It really made me long for a place of my own, or our own -- somewhere ideally in the forrest but near the water as well. Who knows if thatll happen, but its my dream! It would be the perfect place. I actually just wanted to cop a squat somewhere and lay back, relax and meditate.... but I dont think Adam would have wanted to wait around.... oh well. I took loads of pics which I will try and get up ASAP. Another unique thing about these temple grounds was that people had tiny little restaurants and shops along the way. There were also shrines where you could light candles and be blessed. The restaurants sound like theyd be tacky, but they werent. People actually lived along these trails and just set up shop there to provide refreshments for the visitors.... which, I might add, was very nice! These trails weren't flat. In fact, they were up hill/stairs most of the time, so refreshments were very much needed! It was such a pleasant experience I didnt notice how much we were climbing.... however, my calves have been letting me know each day since!

After the temple, we decided to go back to Gion and see if we could see any geisha since this time I had my real camera with me. We saw a few, and snapped a couple pics, but then had to leave to meet up with Kotaro. It was really nice to see him again and meet his friend (whose name I cant remember for the life of me. shes chinese-australian, like Liv, and very nice). We went out for falafel and then to our favorite bar in Kyoto, A-Bar. Its teeny tiny, looks like a log cabin inside with just a bunch of big tables. They place you next to anybody and its a great place to get to know people. Its really cheap and has great food, two big plusses in our book!

Anyway, tonight we're meeting up with Kotaro and his friend again, and then tomorrow we're heading to Kobe for the Re-contracting Conference being held from Weds through Fri. It should be a lot of fun.... at least thats what we're told. Although, since most of our friends are leaving this year, we wont know many people. I guess this is a chance to make some new friends! (I hope!)

We also were accepted for the Tokyo Orientation Assistant positions which is really exciting! It means we're in charge of all the Group A Nara JETs coming in in July. We tell them how great Nara is, how wonderful the JET Program is (Ill have to embellish a bit...) and then take them out drinking one night. Besides that, though, we're required to give presentations on certain subjects and help them get to and from the airport and then back to Nara. So.... its a free trip to Tokyo and will be loads of fun!!! We also get to go up in mid-June for a planning meeting and then again in July so Im super happy about that!

This year, since all the current AJET managers are leaving Adam and I have decided to take over with a couple other people. AJET is the Association of JET and there's a group in each prefecture who plan events and activities for JET members in that prefecture. It should be a lot of fun but also a ton of work. Ill probably end up being the Nara AJET Prefectural Representative who is in charge of getting all the emails from the national AJET and distributing them and then visa versa. Also... I dont know... Im not entirely sure what I will be doing, but it should give my life here an extra kick so maybe I wont be as bored as I was before. It will also keep us connected and in tune with everything going on. Who knows? It might even look good on a resume! And no, its not a paid but a voluntary position :)

I think thats about it... Ill try and get some pics up soon!

Quick Overview of Thailand

Here is the first half of our trip to Thailand... a quick and dirty overview! Like I said before, Aaron did a much better job at summing up our adventures pre-Bangkok, so I will still advertise for it! (link on the right "Aarons blog"). However, I felt like I should still write a bit about it! Sorry if its a repeat! As for pictures..... well....... Im really exhausted from this weekend, and honestly, Im feeling kinda lazy, so if y'all could just go to the pictures link and see for yourself, itd be wonderful! Thanks!

Adam, Aaron and I all decided we needed a little break from the Japanese life and what better place to do that than Phuket! As it was the beginning of the rainy season in Thailand we were expecting it to be rainy, of course, but to our pleasant surprise it hardly rained at all! However, it was super hot and humid, pretty much like Japan in August.... yay.... But, we spent most of our time on Patong Beach where we lazed around on the beach, tried to get tan but ended up getting very, very burned! Aaron slathered on oil while I slathered on sunblock, but after playing in the very warm water and jumping in the waves, I promptly forgot all about my skin and forgot to reapply the sunblock.... Payback for being stupid I guess! Adam was the smart one, always under the shade of the beach umbrella!

Anyway, we took a few excursions! One day we decided to rent a car and go exploring. We went to a national park area (aka jungle) where there was supposedly a waterfall that we hiked for over an hour to find and couldnt! Aaron is accostumed to driving in Japan, so for him driving on the left side was no problem at all. However, as this was a new experience for Adam and I, it was a bit nerve-racking! With Aaron in the passenger's seat playing driving instructor, and me feeling like I was 15 all over again with a tendency to hug the outer line, things got a little interesting! I think I almost took out a biker, a pedestrian and ran over the curb a couple times while turning left.... luckily, nothing bad happened, but there were a LOT of close calls. It was a good thing we opted for the automatic. Had we gotten the manual I would have either been doing all the driving myself or have had to teach both the boys how to drive stick... on the left side. Honestly, I think it would have been a bit too much!

We also took an island tour around the Phi Phi Islands which included snorkeling! That was my favorite part, since every time Id been snorkeling before, it was either too dark, too murky or there just weren't any cool fish! This time, though, was fantastic.... especially for those of us who don't need glasses to see farther than 3 feet (sorry guys!).

The boys also went to a Muay Thai (aka Thai Boxing) match, which they said was really interesting. I guess there were a few matches at the beginning with little kids fighting! Supposedly they start out early and stick with it for life. They said the kids were even more vicious than the adults!

While we were there, we ran into a dutch guy who has owned a restaurant there for awhile. We ended up talking about the tsunami and how it impacted the island. He said that the residents themselves dont talk about it much and dont seem as affected or sad as we might think they would. According to him, Patong Beach was getting really dirty and trashy with all the tourists and the food carts all over the beach. When the tsunami it, it washed everything away and, according to the people there, its actually cleaner and better now than before. I guess it just needed a good washing! He told us that some people died, and of course that was sad, but that the residents accept the tsunami as something natural that just happens sometimes. I thought that was really interesting. Im sure the situation was different in other places, though.

Over all, and despite our adventure in actually getting to Thailand (we got stuck in Beijing for 24 hours... nightmare to say the least) and the atrociously hot and humid weather in Bangkok, the trip was glorious and a much needed and much appreciated vacation!

My Ring!

A one carat ruby set in a silver band, with cubic zirconium on the sides. I was told you NEVER EVER set diamonds in silver.... interesting. Whatever. No one but an expert would be able to tell that they arent diamonds set in white gold, so Im happy! By the way, this is NOT an engagement ring. Its just a birthday present from Adam. Although I do wear it on my ring finger since its the only finger it will fit on, and people at work already think we're engaged so its convenient in that sense...

The reason this all came about is because on our last day in Thailand (Bangkok), we decided to go to the Grand Palace to check it out, take pics etc. But as we were nearing an older gentleman walked up and asked me if thats where we were going. I replied that it was and he said that unfortunately the palace was closed in the morning because it was a national buddhist holiday. However it was to be open at 1pm for tourists and foreigners. In the meantime, we should take advantage of the holiday cuz all the other temples were free to visit (where they would cost on other days). We should take a government sponsored "tuk tuk" (ie. glorified motorcycle that carries 3 people in the back) for 40 Baht (about 1 dollar) that would take us to all the temples we wanted for as long as we wanted. He then told us about how this one week was the week that the export jewelry shops had a special deal going on. This one week they were selling not to companies, but opened their doors for personal buyers.... ie, normal people for promotion. What they would do is sell it to you at cost, before the 200% - 500% tax was put on them to sell to companies. This means you could get jewelry for about a 5th of the price sometimes!!! So what people do is come and buy a nice set for about $3,000 and when they get back home, sell it to a jewelry store for up to $7,000! Not only did they just get a free trip, but they made money on top of it!! Some Thai students who study abroad pay for their education this way as well. Its incredible! We're definitely thinking about saving up some cash for the next time this happens. We could make a lot of money, or just get a free vacation. Anyway, we hadnt really planned on buying any jewelry, but the tuk tuk driver would get gasoline coupons for bringing us there, so since he was really nice and helpful and he needed the gas, we said ok.

Ok, Im getting ahead of myself. That happened to be our last stop, so Ill back up and fill you in on the inbetween events. The nice guy who stopped me at the beginning happened to be a law professor at the Bangkok University, spoke excellent English and not only mapped out the whole day for us, gave us information, but also made sure we got into a governmnent sponsored tuk tuk (they were only out that day specifically for taking tourists around and showing off the temples!). It was awesome! When we got to another temple a Belgium guy started talking to us and giving us loads of information about the temples, different areas of the city, and ALSO told us about the export stores.... then at the next temple ANOTHER middle aged thai started spouting off all this info and told us about the export stores.... we were a bit creeped out in the end by all this, especially since it was all completely unprovoked! We were starting to wonder if we had giant signs on our foreheads that said "Stupid Tourist. Please Educate." It was really weird...

Anyway, like I said, we ended up at the jewelry shop only planning to look at stuff and make sure our tuk tuk driver got his gas coupons. However, when we started looking at the stuff, a lot of it was absolutely gorgeous and when they mentioned they had stuff in silver too and that it was much cheaper, my ears perked up! Thailand specializes in rubies and sapphires since theyre mined there and so that was their largest selection. I loved both but when I saw this one ring, I fell in love. we looked at the price and it was about 6,000 Baht which is about $150. The guy then told us that it would sell for about $500 in America! Adam then turned to me and said, Happy Birthday, and paid for it right there! I was so surprised!! And very very happy! Aaron also bought a ring for his boyfriend, Tsukasa, which was also really nice.

The tuk tuk driver then wanted to take us to a silk export shop since he got coupons there too, and we agreed. I didnt get anything there, but Adam got about 3 silk ties for about $12!

Anyway we had a great time, ended up with awesome pictures and some cool gifts! All in all it was an incredible day.

The flight back was all in all uneventful, mostly due to the fact that Adam shared a couple of his sleeping pills with Aaron and I so we all slept like the dead on the way back. For sure the fastest flight Ive ever been on!!! Although, I was still recovering from my terrible sunburn (basically an outline of my bikini top... ie the cleavage area, and my shoulders too) so I was flaking off all over my clothes and was extremely itchy. The boys kept making fun of me for looking dangerously diseased and even more so when I would scratch at it and flakes of skin went fluttering all over (seriously disgusting!). Aaron said that if I was a super hero, my flaking ability would be an excellent super power.... a couple scratches and POOF! Id disappear in a cloud of dead skin and could make my getaway! We giggled about this for awhile in our exhausted delirium and when I asked then what my super hero name would be Adam blurted out "super crinkly ass......" ewwww.... I personally thought "super flake" would be better... or maybe "super crinkle".... whatever. It was funny at the time and kept us amused for the rest of the waiting period before our flight.

And now here I am at work, with a mound of homework to correct, the warm sping breeze blowing lightly in from the window behind me, and things are back to normal. Ill fill you all in on some of the middle of the trip (ie. parts Aaron didnt mention) and put pictures up as soon as I get the rest from him.

So stay tuned!

Thailand News Coming Soon!!

Hey all! Well Ive been thinking about writing a blog about our adventures here in Thailand while we're here, but Aaron beat me to it and his is acutally much funnier than I could have ever made it! Sooooo, Im promoting his instead. Please go to his link on the right side of this page titled "Aaron's Blog" or go to this site http://furio1981.blogspot.com

WARNING!! He uses colorful language at times and I would NOT recommend it for anyone disapproving of raunchy subjects. Its hilarious though and I love it. So, there's my disclaimer.

By the way, Adam bought me a gorgeous ruby ring for my birthday!!! Ill post pics up as soon as I get back!

Easter Pictures of My Lil' Cousin!

Julia with her mommy (Heather)!


















With her daddy (Bill)!












Tryin' out her legs??















I sure hope my future baby is this cute!















Big smile!!




















"Ahhhhh.. Wait.... what was that again?"

Sakura, Sakura, la la la la...

Unfortunately, I dont know the rest of the words to the song above... Oh well. Anyway, March did not cease to be interesting and in fact, it continued right on into April! The first few days we had a couple of visitors from Ishikawa come and stay with us. I met Shaffer in the Seattle orientation and we became friends there. He brought his friend Scott with him for a few days of spring vacation to enjoy Nara and go sight seeing.

So the first day they got here we went on the "temple tour" of Nara which of course included the Todaiji Temple and the famous (yet quite mangy) deer. Shaffer felt the urge to feed these creatures and then realized why that wasnt such a splendid idea after all! They're like goats in the sense that they'll eat ANYTHING, and I mean that literally. We found one deer chewing methodically on a plastic bag... and then another knawing on the metal chains... It was very sad and evident that something was wrong in the deer community, especially considering how much they get fed by tourists and how fat they are. Strange...



Anyway, we had a lot of fun with them and are now determined to visit them in Kanazawa up on the Ishikawa penninsula. Shaffer will most likely have a house party soon, which should be a lot of fun since he lives pretty much on the beach!!

Classes are starting this week and I'll be starting on Monday! Finally! I have all new JTE's and I think it will be a wonderful year. In Japanese schools teachers can be switched to different schools with no more than a couple days notice. Usually this isnt a huge problem, but sometimes they'll be switched to another city a few hours away. In these cases, I think they have to just pick up and move, they dont really have a choice in the matter. Kind of strange to me. And every year teachers teach a different grade level and are in charge of different activities etc. (always within the same subject of course). However, since the arrangement in the teachers room (staff room) is arranged according to which grade level you teach, they have to switch desks as their assignments are different. One would think that they would jsut pack up their things and switch desks with someone else, but no, thats not how it happens. They actually MOVE THEIR DESKS! It was the craziest thing Ive every seen! A whole half hour of utter chaos as desks were moved into the hall, vacuum cleaners were sucking up dust bunnies left and right, and other desks were scooted from one end of the room to the other. I tried to take a picture with my cell phone camera, but it didnt turn out so great.

So, after all that, I have a new neighbor sitting next to me! He's a big guy with 70's style glasses, and thinning hair. Definitely does not look like a standard math teacher! His English though, is really good which is a nice change, although I kept thinking he sounded exactly like the Godfather when he talked (even kinda looks like a japanese godfather..). This was even funnier when he told me that his favorite English movie was The Godfather! He told me he watches them all the time and practices his English etc. I think hes watched the movies a little too often.

Last weekend we celebrated Hanami which literally translates to "flower viewing" in honor of the cherry blossoms that are now in full bloom! We first went to Yoshino Mountain in southern Nara which is really famous for its Sakura blossoms. But, it was too cold there and they werent in full bloom... darn. That didnt stop us from having a good time though and we rented a little platform overlooking the whole mountain. It was still beautiful and the weather was really nice. We had a huge spread of food and drink. Unfortunately, as the drink was consumed the voices got louder, our laughter more raucous and I think we drove away the couple next to us.....oops! They also have special icecream this time of year. Cheery blossom flavor, mountain vegetable flavor, chestnut flavor, which were all delicious believe it or not! (Yes, I splurged and tried them all.... hey, it was a special gastronimic experience I couldnt pass up!) I forgot my camera that day, though, so I bought a disposable one which I will develop, put on a CD and then transfer to my shutterfly... Ill let you all know when that happens!


But, I did bring my camera on Sunday, our second day of Hanami! This time we went to the Takada River which is lined with Sakura trees! It was gorgeous and Ill put some pics up to show. Aaron went a little nuts with his picture taking, so there are many "artistic" ones of me, and of Adam and I.


Most of them turned out good, and the others just made me feel pale and fat...ugh...oh well! Anyway, the weather was nice and warm and the people-watching was EXCELLENT!! I dont think Ive laughed so hard in months!! There werent as many people there that day, only Adam, Sam, Aaron and I. But whatever! I think it was better that way!




Sam and Aaron looking as cute as always!!









OK, just look at this guy... Adidas jacket with cowboy boots?? We dubbed him Green Sock guy... He had on green striped socks underneath these cowboy boots!







This lady... I dont know... I think she was going for the Cher look with her pants... Ridiculous!








One of the few artistic pictures Aaron took of my and my favorite! Im laying my back under the sakura tree--very happy and at peace!







One of the many trees that look like cotton candy! Breathtaking! Too bad the sky wasnt very blue!







Lit up at night, they had more of a mysterious beauty.

Plum Blossoms and More

So like I said in the previous post, my predecessor was in town and introducing me and helping me break the ice with some of the teachers. Well Friday night I went to a dinner party with her and some of the other current and former teachers at my school. I was a bit nervous at first but after everyone there (japanese) had a couple drinks, they made a 180 degree transformation from the normal quiet, and rather boring business people Id known at work, into well..... very normal, interesting, funny and talkative drunk people!! It was great!! And the best part was that since Japanese get drunk so fast and easily, I didnt have to drink very much at all! They were making jokes, I was making jokes back, we were talking in a strange mixture of Japanese and English and Kansaiben (dialect here). They got a real kick out of me trying out my new Kansaiben skills... seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the world! Which I guess if you think about it, would be funny had the situation been reversed. Think of a Japanese exchange student who can barely speak English trying to say "whoa awesome man!" or "thats, like, way cool!" Itd be hilarious! Ok, the example I gave isnt EXACTLY the same, but the result is! Anyway, one of the former teachers was actually a current teacher at Adams school, so at the end of dinner, we called Adam (who was currently at a British bar in town) to come and join us. He did, and we all ended up at another pub where Adam got to practice his Japanese and they got to meet the "more outgoing and talkative" Adam ;) So, the whole night was a blast and I was able to see a side of my co-workers Id have never seen before. And to top it off, Adams co-worker brought us fresh homemade bread! It was marbled and had walnuts and golden raisins in it! Delicious!



The next day we went to Osakajokoen (Osaka Castle Park) to see all the plum blossoms in bloom. They were gorgeous and I took some pretty nice pictures. It was also one of the warmest days this year so far, so that made it all the better!





See? I didn't even need my wool or down jacket! Yaay!













We saw some bright pink trees and some white ones. I had the impression that they went from white to pink as they bloomed, but I could (and probably am) completely wrong. There might just be pink ones and white ones! Whatever, they're still gorgeous!




We also spotted many interesting outfits on peoples' dogs, this being the winner for the most ridiculous! I mean Ive seen doggie outfits from tutus to neon green puffy vests to baby doll dresses, but never had I seen such torture as sunglasses on a dog. And theyre not even human sunglasses! They were actually made for the dog! Now, Im not a dog expert, but I really have a strong feeling that dogs DONT NEED SUNGLASSES! Honestly, people!! Come on, now... Whatever, theyre Japanese... that says everything!

That same night was Sams going away (aka going back to Australia) party and lots of us got together in Yagi for some dinner, drinks and karaoke! The night was a blast and there are some good pics that came out of it!



Take a REALLY close look at this Engrish Menu. If you have to, click on the picture and look in the middle under the flavors of cyuhai (chuhai = japanese style spritzer). Look again, really closely. Now, answer me this. What exactly would a "cock" flavored chuhai taste like? I mean.... I have some ideas, but what worries me is HOW they got this particular flavor! What are they doing to our drinks in the back room?!?!?! This is rather worrisome, is it not? After careful consideration, we thought maybe, just maybe they meant to write "coke"? Even then, a coke flavored chuhai would be disgusting and strange... In any event, this was either another case of electronic dictionary non-wisdom, or the person that wrote this failed English class! (or was maybe learning the wrong kind of English?) Whatever, you decide!




Our table... someone does NOT know how to take a good group pic...








The other table with Sam there in the front eating Japanese spaghetti. The Japanese woman to the right just happens to be the most gorgeous Japanese woman Ive ever seen and also happens to be the wife of our fellow friend and JET Andy Sowter (on the left, hidden, with the baby). Their daughter is very cute as well, as most mixed children are. But wow, I was floored when I saw her. The pic doesnt quite do her justice.

So yeah, I could put some random karaoke pics on here, but Im really tired, I ran a few kilometers today, my shoulders hurt and the rest of the pics are on my shutterfly account which you all can access if you click on the link to the right! I couldnt put all the pics here cuz this is already an insanely long post. Hope you all enjoyed!!

Misc. March Madness Pics!

Adam recovering in the hospital after his operation










Aaron gave me a cookie to give to this adorable baby deer in Nara Park!










And obviously all the other deer want a bit of the cookie too! Oops!










These are prayer lanterns for each of the current Maiko (apprentice geisha) in Gion.










Closer look. I think they're beautiful!











Ok I know its blurry, but the night vision on my camera is really touchy (and I was moving...). Anyway, Im calling on the Shinto gods to come and listen to my prayer!

Hernias, Surgery and Chaos!

Wow, yeah I know its been a long time since Ive last posted, but this last week and a half has been really chaotic!

On the 14th (aka last Tuesday) Adam went into the hospital for hernia surgery. The medical system is different here than in America. Usually after a simple procedure like this he would have been out the same day or maybe the next day at the latest. But, here he was required to stay in the hospital for 4-9 days!! I guess thats where they get all their money! Anyway, instead of doing a local anesthesia (sp?) they did a spinal anesthesia. This means that they ended up poking a small hole in his spinal cord. In America they tell you to stay on your back after this for 12 hours, but here they only had him lay down for 6 hours. The result of this? A week long migraine that no amount of pain killers can help! Because he didnt stay on his back, the hole didnt close up so spinal fluid continues to leak out when he sits and puts pressure on his spine..... great huh? I feel so bad for him!

Anyway, his mom, Regan has been here since the 12th and has been taking care of him and kept him company in the hospital during the day when I was at work. So that was really nice of her! Hospital food here was quite different! Very japanese in fact. Tofu blocks with soy sauce and green onions, mushy rice, occasional miso soup, black sea grass salad (ew...) and natto (double ew...). I guess it was a 1000 calorie a day diet, ouch.. So I would go to the convenience store and get him some other goodies to supplement the meager proportions.

Not only has this whole situation been a little stressful, but my predecessor (the girl that was the ALT before me) is in town and so we've been trying to meet up and talk. Shes shown me more about my school and its teachers than Id ever known and gave me some helpful tips on how not to lose my mind! (Thank you Sam!) Also, she invited me to dinner with her and some other teachers from here to help break the ice a little. As hard as it may be to believe, Im actually really shy around the people here and they hardly ever go out of their way to be friends, so its been tough. I think this dinner on Friday will help! Yay!

Adams mom will be leaving tomorrow night which is kinda sad because it was really nice to have her here, but itll also be nice to have everything back to normal. We ended up having some wonderful talks and bonding moments on the nights Adam was in the hospital so that was really cool. I really appreciated the company! Thanks Regan for everything! She also brought us looooooooads of toothpaste, deoderant, toothbrushes, allergy medicine and other goodies we cant get here, so that was awesome!

Yesterday, she and I went into Nara to meet up with Aaron and his friend who's visiting and went sight seeing. It was fun because I ended up seeing places I hadnt seen yet and the weather was really comfortable so it made everything all the more pleasant. Also, when we went to see the Daibutsu (the Great Buddha) I was surprised by how much I knew about it! I had been on a tour there waaaaay back in August or September when it was still dreadfully hot and sticky outside. They told us all about the history of the Todaiji Temple and the Great Buddha and I hadnt realized until yesterday how much I had actually retained! I was very surprised and happy since I dont seem to retain anything lately. After that, Aaron, his friend Ashleigh and I all went to Kyoto where we saw the lantern festival (not nearly as cool as the one here in Nara). Then, while eating dinner discussed at length how much trouble I have subtracting in my head. I seriously have a problem with it. Adding is fine, subtracting is just way too hard for some reason. But whatever, at least I can tell everyone all about the Great Buddha....!

I have some pictures to add to this but since Im at school, I cant upload them... itll have to wait until later.

Oh! One more thing. We have finally downloaded Skype! It took us forever, but we finally have it! Unfortunately, we still dont have a microphone or a headset, so.... as soon as we get that (hopefully this weekend) then Ill be able to call other Skype members (like Katy!!) for free!!!! Calls to non-Skype members cost a bit but usually not too much. So yeah, Katy I promise Ill get a headset this weekend to be able to talk to you! Im sorry its taken so long! This week has just been really off the wall.

Ok well, sorry this wasnt too interesting! Ill try to have something weird happen later to talk about!! haha! And Ill add the pictures soon!

Theory on Japanese Society

As most of you can probably tell, Ive been a little bitter lately and, in general, quite miserable. I havent been able to exactly pinpoint this growing ball of frustration until just this last weekend.

A few posts ago, Aaron wrote about how frustrated he became during a staff meeting because all the teachers were speaking keigo and the meeting took about 20 times longer than it should have. Keigo is the polite form of Japanese and used to only be used to talk to the emporer... right? Or is there another uber-polite/humble form for talking to him? Anyway, thats beside the point. Keigo is the humble way of speaking and is only used in meetings and extremely formal situations. There is no equivalent in English. Verbs change and vocabulary is different. Its hard to explain but basically there are a bunch of fluff words you use to humble yourself and your opinions which cant be translated and really dont mean anything at all. Basically, you say a lot without really saying anything at all. Could it get any more annoying?

Ever since this post of his, Ive been observing their society and the way they present themselves and things in general. While Adam, Aaron, Tsukasa and I were all in "Diamond City" (the big mall in Yagi) it finally hit me. Japanese culture is "All Show, No Substance", period. Ive yet to find an example that doesnt fit this. I will explain a few that do, however. Keigo is one example and leads me to believe this concept has been in their culture for a very long time and has since been severely exacerbated. Everything is pomp and show but when you look behind the curtains you're bound to be disappointed. For example, when you buy what looks like a normal package of cookies, you would expect to open this package and eat the cookies directly out of it. Well, here you open a package of cookies to find that EACH INDIVIDUAL COOKIE is INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED!! (excuse me? but, are you kidding me??) Who the hell eats only one cookie?? Everything is packaged insided of another package at least 2 times! Its the most wasteful thing Ive ever seen. (Japan has actually taken 1st place as the most wasteful -- ahead of the US!) When you buy something at a store, they wrap it up, put it delicately in a plastic bag and then tape the bag shut with their own store brand tape (ie, tape that has the store's name on it). I have yet to find a logical reason for this besides making it very difficult to open your plastic bag without tearing it. When I bought a snazzy new umbrella the other day (Yes, umbrellas are a fashion statement here. If you dont have a cool one, you're doomed to be frumpy), I stood in line and watched 3 clerks concern themsleves over this guy who was buying some mini-plants for someone as a gift. When they finally wrapped up his plants twice and graciously thanked him for paying, they turned to me. One girl took my umbrella and set it on the counter while asking me if I wanted it gift wrapped. When I gritted my teeth and said, no thats ok, the other proceeded to tape a piece of green paper around it (complete with the company tape or course). The last girl then dealt with the money. Since I placed a 10,000 yen note on the counter in a little dish thats reserved for the money, she picks it up with 2 hands looks at me and says, "10,000 yen?" uhhhhh, yes.. I did just put it there...(since this is a mainly cash society, me paying with the equivalent of a 100 dollar bill is really not a big deal). Anyway, my point is, this would NEVER happen in America. They'd just give me my damn umbrella, take my money and thank me for shopping there and it would have taken half the time. Theres so much friggin ceremony that goes into every single little thing they do! Everything is just so fake and superficial. "All show, No Substance."

Not only that, but the honor system is just assumed here. Had I been a thieving person, I could have stolen loads and loads of stuff from every store because nobody watches and everyone just pays. Everyone obeys the rules here and no one questions authority. I think thats what gets me most of all. No one questions authority, ever. People might grumble about it to each other, but will they stand up and speak their mind? Never. They tell us that if we need help on the street, like say in an accident or we get mugged, we should yell "fire!" instead of "help!" because no one will come unless its something that threatens them. They are so non-confrontational that its seriously detrimental to their society. They dont have any balls, at all. Honestly. Its really starting to get on my nerves seeing as how Im really not like that at all and if I could speak Japanese I would be saying what I think all the time. Im starting to feel so rebellious here and keep thinking to myself, "no wonder committing suicide is such a popular way of dealing with your problems!" I keep wondering if this lack of confronting authority is a recent phenomenon, as in post-WWII. Ever since they lost the war they've been focusing on being peaceful and non-militaristic. Maybe they went too far and created a sheep/blind faith society instead. I don't know. I'm not an expert. This is just an idea. Comments?

Ive also been second guessing my decision to recontract for a second year. If Im so miserable and everything about this place pisses me off, why do I stay?? Well as sad as it is, the money is awesome. Im saving so much money right now its crazy. I keep thinking, if we stay for one more year and keep saving the same amount of money, we might end up with around $20,000 EACH in savings!! How crazy is that? The thing is, we're not being frugal, we pay all our bills, I pay my loans every month, we travel to various different and exotic countries and we just bought a brand new computer! How could I pass up another year of that? My sanity might get a little shaky here and there during the next year, but to secure a good foothold in my future, I'd like to have that money and Im willing to put up with the temporary insanity.

I feel almost guilty for feeling this way about their culture, but I guess I cant like everything. It works for them, kinda so whatever. They dont realize it at all though and maybe thats better? Is ignorance really bliss here? Dont get me wrong, there are plenty of things that need to be changed about every country, and things that piss me off about every culture, including my own, but not nearly as much as here.... It saddens me.

On a random note, I think Im back on eating pork (!!!). Only hot dogs and bacon though and those very, very, very sparingly. Me dealing with other pork products will make mine and Adams lives here much easier. No, I will not eat pork chops, they gross me out. Nor will I eat ham or any other type of pork I dont like. Except for hot dogs and bacon, which are the only 2 pork products I actually enjoyed, I will continue to be picky about it... sorry!

Also, I think Im going to pick up knitting. Ive been wanting to learn how for some time and ever since Katy mentioned the fact that shed started to do it to cure her boredom, Ive thought it was a great idea. Whats more, Aaron knows how and is going to teach me!! So, now instead of losing my eyesight reading all day at work, Ill be knitting... hopefully...

Geishas Galore and Graduation Woes

Sorry its been awhile. Ive been meaning to write ever since last weekend, but have had absolutely no motivation to do anything but sit and stare at the wall, contemplate the inner workings of the universe and fantacise about being anywhere other than at work. However, since Ive been nagged a few times by certain people I wont mention *coughaaroncough* Ive finally convinced myself its about time.

So last weekend was half interesting and half disaster! Aaron was supposed to come over but ended up losing his wallet which was a ginormous drama in and of itself (for the full story on this please see his blog http://furio1981.blogspot.com which is the link on the right under "Aaron's Blog"). So, since our plans for the weekend were screwed we decided to go to Kyoto, see a temple or two, bar hop til the wee hours of the morning and then crash at a love hotel. For those of you not yet informed, a love hotel is a pay-by-the-hour place if you know what I mean *wink wink nudge nudge* and usually each room has a different crazy theme. Since we hadnt gone to one yet, and also hadnt really celebrated our 4 year anniversary, that was the plan...

Well, the first half of the day went alright. We decided to see Kyomizudera which is the temple of the holy water and also where Japan decided to join WWII against America. As we hiked up the million and a half stairs to the temple (all temples are on a humongous hill with a gazillion stairs) we rounded a corner and all of a sudden were practically face to face with a group of about 7 geisha! Never having seen one before, let alone in a huge group, I was pretty thrilled with this and whipped out my camera phone. (This happened to be the one day I didnt bring my real camera with me...) Adam was even amazed by this sight, saying it was really rare to see one at all, and especially in a group. We think now that they were on some sort of photo shoot. And they actually werent geiko (the full geisha) they were maiko, who are the apprentices. You can tell the difference by their age (younger) and their hair. Maiko usually have more hair pieces and they also have a bun with a red....something in it. Anyway, that pretty much made my day right there!









Then after that we went to Gion to see if maybe we would spot any more geisha since it was around dusk when they head out to their appointments in the tea houses. NOTE: GEISHA ARE NOT PROSTITUTES!!! THEY DO NOT SLEEP WITH THEIR CLIENTS. THIS IS A MAINLY AMERICAN STEREOTYPE AND NOT TRUE. Well we saw lots of people gathering around this small little alley snapping pictures left and right and figured we had found it! We had!







Despite what it looks like, they are SUPER fast! Especially considering the tightness of the kimono around their legs and the height of their platforms. Sorry about the low quality pictures. Im kicking myself for not having brought my real camera.

Anyway, after that we went and had a not so good dinner and some good big beers. We went to a few bars, met a girl who used to be a political cartoonist for a newspaper in Ulan Bataar (capital of Mongolia where Adams brother lives) and then decided to get some sleep. Well, this is when the trouble started. ALL the love hotels were full!! So we thought we might as well try the business and regular hotels since we were getting desperate for somewhere to sleep. Every single hotel turned us away saying they were full! Even after we just saw them selling a room to someone as we walked in. They said everything was full and shooed us away. We werent even drunk. Just very very very tired and desperate! We had the money to pay for a night in a ritzy hotel but none of them would take us. And it was all becuase we were foreigners. Even though we were speaking Japanese... our nationality, or shall I say the color of our skin, kept us from having somewhere to sleep that night. So, at 2:30am with no where to go, we curled up in a corner of the train station with all the homeless people and tried to sleep. Let me just say that after a little while we envied the bums. At least they were prepared with sleeping bags, blankets and cardboard. It was freeeeezing!!! The first train in the morning was at 5:18am. It was the longest 3 hours of my life...! An unforgetable experience.

So yeah... turned into a crappy weekend, but this week has been ok. Ive been able to get off work early a couple days due to graduation ceremonies. I attended the one at my school yesterday and let me just say that Im glad I graduated in America. It had to be the MOST boring and sterile and dry ceremony Ive ever been to. Long speaches, followed by long periods of unexplained and complete silence... I swear we had to stand up bow, and sit down at least 15 times! They sang what I assume was the national anthem, and then the school anthem. Instead of going up to the stage to get a diploma they all just stood up one by one as their names were called... and then that was it! I would have had trouble staying awake had it not been so cold I could see my breath! It was freezing! My opinion... that was NOT a ceremony at all! Where were the smiles and then cheering and the laughter and gaiety that follow a huge acheivement... I guess its just another one of those cultural differences. Interesting to say the least. Later, they asked me what I thought about it so I said, "It was very different than ours. Interesting" and that was it.

I know Ive been really negative lately but I think its just donning on me how much I personally clash with the culture here. We're told to be culturally sensitive, which I am on a day to day basis. Ive even adapted a lot of their funny mannerisms like pointing to my nose when referring to myself or bowing and nodding constantly during a conversation. Im very polite and humble in public, and yet I know itll never be enough to be accepted. I might as well be doing it all in a bright colored clown outfit! They will always assume Im a stupid foreigner, who doesnt know anything about their culture, cant speak their language and, therefore, its automatically inferior. I get gawked at walking to school every day by people walking their dogs. EVERY FRIGGIN DAY!!! They see me all the time and still they stare open-mouthed as I walk by. Some have even crashed on their bicycles because theyre so surprised to see me. Im constantly scaring people if they dont expect to see me. Even though theyre really friendly and helpful at times and my coworkers are really cool, Im just getting tired of being stared at and being SOOOO different. The thing is, I dont feel as different as they perceive me to be. The times I realize it are when I myself see a foreigner and my attention is drawn immediately to them. We stick out like sore thumbs here... I'm getting tired of it and I just think I need a break...

Bad breath and deoderant...

So a common topic of conversation lately has been the Japanese people's really god-aweful bad breath! We've noticed that their ental hygiene probably hasnt changed a whole lot since the middle ages and assumed this was the reason they had such terrible teeth and bad breath. When I say terrible teeth, I literally mean stickingout every which way, gray gums, brown gunk in between their teeth, and sometimes gray and rotten teeth. Yellow and brown are very common colors. We also noticed that their toothpaste doesnt have any flouride in it for some unknown reason. This of course doesnt help matters much. This leaves us foreigners who are meticulous about their dental hygiene (ie. especially Aaron and me!!) painfully desperate for flouride toothpaste from home!! (hint hint!)

What we didnt know, however, and that I just found out yesterday, is that Japanese never brush their teeth in the morning!!! (pause to gag and catch my breath....) They believe that you only brush your teeth after youve eaten (Ive only seen some brush their teeth after lunch...). Im not saying you shouldnt brush your teeth after every time youve eaten. Thats the ideal thing to do. But do they NOT smell their breath in the morning??? Do they NOT see the brown gunk and feel the cavities and see their rotten teeth? Do they not know that when youre lying horizontal your stomache acid and bacteria from your dinner come up sometimes and are the reason for bad morning breath??? The time your mouth is the absolute nastiest is in the morning! EWWWWWWWWWW!!!! I have to say, after learning this, so many pieces of the puzzled snapped into place! THATS why my teachers breath smells like ass! Thats why my students have rotten teeth! I often thought that my teachers just had natto for breakfast every morning (natto is fermented soy beans that smell like dirty feet).

Anyway, I told Aaron and Adam about this and although they were quite disgusted, both said that it made a lot of sense...

Another thing weve been talking about is deoderant and body odor (I know..pleasant topics, huh?). The deoderant/anti-perspirant doesnt work on us here. Its so weak it might hide the smell for a couple hours but thats it! So were also very desperate for American/western anti-perspirant (hint hint again...). However, despite this problem of ours, it doesnt seem to be a problem for the Japanese. Ive not once noticed a Japanese person with bad body odor before. Even in the hight of summer when they HAD to be sweaty.....nothing! Honestly, I think Japanese just dont smell as much as foreigners do. We stink next to them! They also dont wear loads of smelly lotions or perfumes like we do (probably cuz they dont smell....). But, yeah, for some reason, their bodies either pass the toxins out in some other way (through their mouths perhaps...!). And no, its not because their diet is any better than ours. It might be slightly better, but they have PLENTY of processed foods and fast food restaurants for their bodies to have plenty of toxins in them. For example: they have hamburgers you can buy in the bread/snack/sandwich section of a convenience store. Not refrigerated. And you just stick it in the microwave and heat it up.. or not i guess. Now, for meat not to have to be refrigerated and still be "safe" to eat not only scared the crap out of me, but should scare the crap out of the people who eat it! Think of how processed that hamburger must be. I bet its worse than a twinkie!! You know that has to be really bad!

Anyway, those were my recent discoveries... I thought they were rather interesting. And those hints were serious by the way. We really do need toothpaste and deoderant!! Adams mom is coming next month though, so hopefully shell be bringing some supplies!

Naked Men Pics!

At the izakaya.











Andy, Lizzie, Luke and Vinh











Oh I love fundoshis!! Adam had to tape up his tatoos since they're strictly forbidden in festivals. They're a sign of the Yakuza (japanese mafia).






Adam, Luke and James warming up!









Andy and Adam. The red and yellow tape signified Nara JETs so they could try and keep track of each other.









I was loving this festival way too much!









What? Me try to peek? No way! Mr. Blue Backpack there wasnt letting me, though...








Adam and Vinh... warming up maybe? Displaying their friendship? Showing a new side of themselves? Who knows... funny though!








The temple where all the men gather... the human mass is small here...








Liquid Humanity... The black part in the middle is the medic team going in to save someone.