Super new super!

I met my new supervisor today, and he seems great! He's nice AND friendly! He told me all about his two kids, showed me their pictures, and we talked about how I've taught their classes and they liked me. :) The best part is he doesn't seem shy or intimidated by me (which really, why should he be). My last supervisor guy was REALLY nice, but he was shy around me (I think because he didn't speak any English - not that I ever speak English with the Board of Ed people - or I'm a foreigner, a young American woman at that). Anyway, he never talked to me except when necessary, which made me shy, too. But the new guy, Mr. Narita, has already talked to me more this morning than Mr. Tanaka did in 8 months! I think this will work out nicely!

In other news, I'm going to Tokyo Thurs afternoon to spend the weekend reciting poetry under the cherry blossoms. Well, kinda. I'm staying with my friend Lisa who's studying abroad there from Cal and I do plan to see the blossoms, but I probably won't recite poetry. Probably. ;)

I know I still have to update on the Hiroshima leg of my trip and post my 600 photos, but still no internet at home (or work, since I'm at the BOE for 2wks). Hopefully the modem will come soon!

Miss you!

セーラちゃん(^O^)/読んでくれてありがとう! <3

It's a small world afterall...

I met a man from Chico today! He was the JET in Christy's town like 13 years ago and he came back to visit with his family. I met him tonight and it turns out he was born and raised in Chico! His mother works/ed at Chico State, he went to Chico High (and gave me a hard time about being a PV alum), and most Chico-y of all, he asked me if I missed "amonds" - and started the infamous "amond"/"almond" argument when I replied that I very much miss the "almonds".

It was soooo weird to have such a "Chico" debate here in Akita! It really is a small world! :)

now it's a headless bunny!

I forgot to say I'm watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (dubbed in Japanese) on TV. It's pretty fun - better than my other option (dubbed Titanic). It's a hoppin' Sat in Akita! :P

Choco!

You know your mom loves you when she sends you a chocolate Easter bunny even when you're 22 and living in Japan! Plus it's the good, solid kind from Shubert's... and the big size, too! That's a lot of love. :)

internetless :(

now theyre saying the internet is going to take another week or 10 days! apparently the electronics store where i signed up forgot to put in the order!! so ive been waiting for nothing for 5 weeks! im so mad and frustrated i really cant think about or ill explode. gah!!!!!! (>_<)

Bye Bye, Hiroshima!

I'm waiting for my flight back to Akita now. Sorry I sort of stopped blogging a few days ago. First, my phone battery died and then my travels and visiting Ryuta didn't leave me with much free time! Anyway, I'll fill in the details later.

Six (+) prefectures in six days has been great and I was able to see/experience SO much, but I'm also looking forward to my own bed! I'm on the tail end of this cold and pretty tired. Thankfully, I have the rest of the week to recover, as I'll be sitting at the Board of Ed doing nothing everyday - except planning my next trip! :)

on missing trains

The bad thing about Japan is that all subways and trains are ontime 99.9% of the time, so one minute of indecision - what platform was it? how much is the ticket? - will cause you to run down the stairs just as the train pulls away. It's a sad feeling. In America, everything is slow, so that moment of indecision will cost you nothing. You'll probably be early.

But the great thing about Japan is that the trains are 99.9% of the time on time, so when you miss the train you almost accidentally got there early enough for, the one you were planning for will come 15min later. Plus, this time you'll be early enough to get a seat. :)

Departing Osaka (GREAT Mexican food for dinner last night and slept in a capsule hotel) for Himeji (big castle).

that would have been bad!

i got on the train and then realized i forgot to get my bag from the locker! i had to jump of and run back to get it. twenty min til the next train - glad to have all my belongings tho!

Nara

I've only been here for 2hrs and I've already decided I have to live here.

tourism

I just got off the train and went to the tourist derk to get a map. I was all ready to ask in Japanese and the lady started speaking English to me! That never happens in Akita! She gave me a map and directions to the main sites and was really helpful! Being a touristy tourist in these cities is fun. :)

Memoirs of a Kyoto Trip

My time in Kyoto has come to a close and I'm exhausted! I spent most of the yesterday around the Gion district (aka the geisha area). It's one of the older districts so it's full cool alleyways and shops and shrines.

The rain cleared up just as I arrived so I met up with Juls, dropped my stuff at the hostel and went geisha hunting! Just kidding! We went Buddha-hunting is more like it, as we went from temple to temple. We went to one with a giant buddha statue and got a stick of insense with the entrance fee (a mere 200\!). We took pictures of each other adding our incense sticks to the big pot thing and while I was posing, I burned a hole in the sleeve of my jacket from an incense stick. Real smart. Then we got to go inside the big Buddha, which I thought was neat (how many of you can say you've been IN Buddha?)

We also went to Kiyomizu Temple. It's very famous- built on stilts on a hill so there's a great view and it has magic fortune-bringing spring water you can drink (I did!).

Famished and feeling sick, we headed back to the station for a late lunch (Italian) and a break. But we didn't rest long! We caught a train to the Inari Shrine.

It's famous for the hundreds (maybe thousands) of orangey red torii gates that line a path winding way up Inari Mountain. We hiked the path for a good hour up to the top of the mountain so we had an amazing view of Kyoto. Walking through these gates immersed in the woods and mountains was an amazing experience. I love how in Japan, even amid booming urban centers like Tokyo and Kyoto, you can find these fantastic natural sceneries.

After all this hiking, I was exhausted and feeling sicker, but I kept up my spirits and caught a subway to Sanjo (sort of a nightlife area) to meet my Berkeley friend Chris for dinner. It was great seeing him for the first time since Sept (last trip to Kyoto) and we went to this tasty Thai place. I had some spicey chicken and basil dish that cleared my sinuses. Oh, you might not know, but as a rule, whenever I travel to a bigger city, I try to eat as much international food as possible because we don't have many options in Akita. Anyway, after dinner, we took some purikura and said goodbye. We might meet for dinner in Osaka tonight if the timing works out.

Off to bed at the hostel, where I slept on the bottom bunk in a room with 8 beds (only 4 decent backpacking travelers + me though). It was clean and convenient - and cheap (2500Y).

Today Juls and I checked out, had waffles (yes!!) a place in the station. Then we bought 500Y unlimited ride bus passes from the cute old lady in a tiny booth and went to Heian Shrine. It has an AMAZING garden that will be even more fantastic in about a week when the cherry blossoms bloom. It sucks we're just a bit too early, but I'm hopingto catch them in Hiroshima.

Anyway, after a lunch at starbucks, I'm on the train to Nara! bye for now. (^-^)/

Good Morning!

Greetings from somewhere near Fukui (look it up)! It's about 7:30am and I've been on this train since about 10:30 last night. I had a bunk and managed to sleep most of the night (maybe 6 or 7hrs) but there was a lot of tossing and turning. Trains are bumpy!

Anyway, I'm reclining in my bunk and watching the countryside slip by. Japan is SO beautiful! I think most Americans think of Japan and picture the craziness of Tokyo (or some samurai tea house). Let me tell you, Tokyo and the other cities have some magic, but most of the country isn't like that. It's full of rice fields and beautiful mountains, modern houses built with traditional archetectural details and train tracks that stetch endlessly in both directions. I'm a country-loving kid so I'm sure I'm a little bias, but the Japanese countryside impresses me WAY more than the Tokyo public transit system (which is pretty amazing in its own right).

I love traveling by train!

行ってきまーす！

I haven't updated this in a while because I still have no internet at home (it's been 4 weeks), and tonight I'm leaving on a five day trip in southern Japan. I'm taking the night train to Kyoto, spending Thursday there, Friday in Nara and Osaka, Saturday in Himeji --> Hiroshima, and Sunday-Tuesday in the Hiroshima area.

I'm really excited! I'm traveling with a fellow Akita JET and I'll be meeting up with Berkeley friends in Kyoto and Hiroshima. I bought an extra 1GB memory card (for only like $18!) to supplement the 1GB card I already have, so be prepared for looooots of pictures upon my return - assuming I have the internet capability to post them!

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a quick update on what I'll be up to the next couple of days. I think this trip I'm going to try something different with the blogging. Instead of one long post when I get back, I think I'll try to post as I go via cell phone (I'm a really fast thumb typer since it's been my main source of email/internet for a month). We'll see how it goes!

Aside from the no internet thing (I'm still waiting for them to send me a new modem), everything's going well here. I hope you're all healthy and happy! Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Easter! :) (neither are celebrated here)

Alright, off I go! (^^)/

Spring Sensor

Spring is here! I can tell! Even thoughit snowed this morning, the birds are back, and the rice fields are starting to poke out of the snow... I can just tell. :)

Other good news: I got my computer back. They replaced the logic board - whatever that means. It works and my laptop is super clean! No grease smudges or crumbs... :)

But still no internet until the new modem arrives. boo. oh well.

Spring!!