They missed out

I went to the beach today to take a walk. I walked here. From the far end, to that hump in the middle and back. I figured for my first try I shouldn't go all the way down to the other end. Specially since I was by myself. I had friends in the vicinity, and my cell on me, but still. It was fine. A little tiring, but good.

After I hung out on the beach with people until sunset (not this one, but still, you get the idea). Which was beautiful, and rare because we were able to see it go all the way into the water, which doesn't happen often, but the last 2 times I've been to the beach at sunset (the only 2 times I've been to the beach at sunset) it's happened. Maybe I'm a good luck charm.

After, no one wanted to go to dinner with me, and they missed out!! I went to the Wafute, the Japanese style resteraunt and I had a four course meal (for only $13). It had maguro don (raw tuna over a bed of rice), tempura (lightly fried, it had that leaf, 2 shrimp, an eggplant, and a japanese pumpkin), shiro miso (a white kind of miso soup that I think tastes funny), and fresh, cooked at my table, tofu. I mean it came out and there was a fire under it, I was told to wait until it goes out and then to eat it with a spoon fresh tofu. It. Was. Heaven.

So yeah, people missed out. And I started another book today. For several reasons. 1) My amazon.co/jp order came in and I paid it at the conbini (because you can pay for everything from amazon orders, to concert tickets, to plane tickets at a convinence store!!) and just 2 hours later amazon was telling me it was going to ship and should be here around Friday :) 2) I started and finished InterWorld (I love Neil. I still do). 3) Because I can. Because, I can. Hehheh. I love eating books. If only it wasn't so expensive. At least a few people around here have some books I can borrow. Oh, and you know how I've always said that I need some kind of stamp to show that they're my books if I loan them out to people? Well, now I've got a stamp with my name on it in Japanese that functions as my signature here. Dude.

Oh, and you may have noticed that I took 2 of my pictures from a flickr account called thingsimade. Yeah, that's Stu. He's married to Janine (or J9), my fellow ALT. You should look through their fotos for some good Miyako shots. Ignore the party photos though :P Actually, you could look through all of my new flickr contacts to see a bunch of Miyako fotos. Just not Kirishima, cuz he's stuck in ATL. But we love him anyway.

2

Author's Note

This is a work of fiction. Still, given an infinite number of possible worlds, it must be true on one of them. And if a story set in an infinite number of possible universes is true in one of them, then it must be true in all of them. So maybe it's not as fictional as we think.

. . .

It was a rehash of the lectures from Practical Thaumaturgy, or what we called "Magic 101." "'Magic' is simply a way of talking to the universe in words that it cannot ignore," our instructor had told us, quoting someone whose name I've already forgotten. "Some parts of the Altiverse listen--those are the Magic worlds. Some don't and would rather that you listened to them. Those are the Science worlds. Understand that, and the whole thing is kind of simple."

Of course, "kind of simple" is a relative concept in a school where even the remedial classes would give both Stephen Hawking and Merlin the Magician nosebleeds.

--InterWorld
Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Good eats.

Oh, and I have pictkors

New Adventures.

New Adventures.

So on Friday I got home and my computer wouldn’t turn on. I gave up and was going to try to take my new scooter out to try it. I got all geared up and ready to go, got downstairs and couldn’t find the starter. I looked all over for 30 minutes, it just wasn’t there. So, dejected I go back upstairs and try to fix my computer. Nothing. And then I had to go out to the BOE’s welcome party. Fun fun.

Actually, it was fun. I’m apparently really good at just not thinking about my problems when I can’t do anything about them.

On Saturday morning I woke up and had the brilliant idea to boot my computer into the Windows partition. Which worked. I then installed skype and called Jason. Who walked me through (ahead of time) what I needed to do to try to fix it. Weeee. I hate playing with code. At least the computer booted into the code. It’s all better now, and Stu gave me some tips on what I should do to maintain the problem not happening. Yay. I spent the rest of the day waiting for my laundry to dry, because I accidentally washed all of my (unmentionables) instead of just most of my (unmentionables). Smart, Kim. I cleaned up, a little, and I put together a shelf (Nick had bought it at some point, and never put it together), so now I have a bed side table, with shelves. Then Kirsty invited us all over for dinner, which was really nice of her, fun and tasty.

This morning I could have gotten up and gone and played in a volley ball tournament, but if I did, I would have gone in the water at some point, which I really feel like doing; swimming in the ocean, working on my tan, but it’s Obon. And call me stupid for actually giving a whip about local customs but if the locals say you shouldn’t go swimming for a few days because the spirits of their dead ancestors are coming out of the ocean to come visit and they’ll drag you down if you go swimming, forgive me, I’d rather just choose not to go swimming this weekend.

So instead, I gear up in jeans and take my scooter for a ride down to the beach instead. I didn’t even bring my swimsuit, which was a good thing because was it HOT!!! But I made it there on my new scooter! I think exhilarating doesn’t cover how it felt. And because it only goes up to 50k max (it’s really happy at about 35) I felt very comfortable going the speed limit for the first time (my car wants to go soooo much faster). It was really nice. I hung out on the beach for a bit, then came back.

On my way I stopped by a grocery store and when I got out I couldn’t get my scooter to start (I think I had the gas on the wrong setting, but it’s really hard to see, because it looks different than from the manual), but this nice man helped me. It was awesome.

Now I’m pretending to clean up, in case people come over later. It’s not going very fast. I don’t have places to put most of this stuff.

Okay, now back to cleaning and Charlotte’s Web.

So my friend Damien had this really great idea. He was complaining that when we talk on these online forums that we speak about things that the people who we think are reading know about. Maybe things outside of the online community. And because of this, sometimes things are really confusing. So he had the idea that today we should all write a new beginning. Introduce ourselves and say a few things so that people will know who we are. Here's my take.

HI! My name is Kim and I'll be your host this evening. I'm currently 26 (although I don't feel nearly that old) and I'm living in Japan on the JET Program, you should check it out if you have a college degree. It's a pretty sweet deal if you can stand children. I'm specifically living in Miyakojima, Okinawa. I'm the luckiest person in the world.

Back home in the states I've left a boyfriend, Leo, who is being amazing about the fact that I'm on the other side of the planet. Or he has been so far. Don't want to jinx it. He works for a small production studio back in Atlanta. His boss is Santa Claus.

I've also left 3 cats, whom I miss more than anything else, mostly because I don't think they understand why I'm gone. They are, in order of acquisition, Luce, Ferris, and Shadow Cat. Browse my pictures, you'll see them. They're amazing cats.

I also have a mom, dad, and little sister, Natalie.

Before leaving for my adventure of the lifetime, I got a degree in Creative Writing from Georgia State University, with a minor in Japanese (which has been sooooo helpful here). After graduation I took two years to get my brain-space together and work at Green Acres Elementary, which was amazing, and I miss those people every day.

I'm very religious, but very non-denominational. And no, that's not just among the Christian strains. And yes, I would love to have a conversation with you about religions. Just so long as you don't feel the need to make me believe yours over anyone else's.

I love to read and watch tv and movies. Anything to do with new and interesting stories, really. My favorite genres are young adult, fantasy, and sci-fi (and any combination there of), because real life is depressing and why would you want to read more about it. My favorite authors include: Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Orson Scott Card, Steven King, L. J. Smith, and Frank Herbert, among many others. I really dig manga and anime too. Right now I'm phasing Naruto again because I found out that you can stream them for free from a site online. Happiness.

My mom has always said that I'm on a different path than everyone else, and I've been really feeling that "off"ness lately. I'm going the same direction as everyone, I'm just a few miles to the side, so I see things in a bit of a different perspective. It hurts a lot of the time, but I'm still glad to be here and be me.

And, I guess because I always feel like I'm boring and don't really have much else to say, I'll open the forum. Anyone want to ask any questions?

Oh, and I got my computer fixed. Thanks to Jason. Who is awesome.

computer problems, trying to fix

Today I . . .

Today I . . .

Slept in

We stayed out really late last night because 1) Julia was in town (she is Sam’s prediceesor) and we wanted to say hi 2) because people were fun to talk to 3) because the bar didn’t kick us out 4) because we could. We’re still on summer holiday, so I could have done the early shift or the late shift. I cam in about 30 min before lunch because I thought I had to cooridinate with Jonathan, but I found out later I didn’t. So I got there a bit early and spoke to people before they left for the day. It was good because I actually wanted to get some work done.

Ate lunch at the iinkai with a bunch of Japanese people and spoke with them a bunch

I’d figured I’d be late and we’ve been spending sooo much money lately I stopped by a conbini after the party last night and got some bento (premade lunch). It was kinda pathetic, but it looked okay. So at lunch I found out that many people just bring their lunch and share with everybody. I tried some burdock salad (wasn’t called that, but I don’t remember the Japanese name. Some mishuyo (or something like that) that goes on your rice), some lotus root, which I love and they gave me a parfait, even though I did the polite 3 times I didn’t really need it. I was so stuffed, I’d only eaten breakfast an hour before. But it was really nice to talk to them in Japanese and try to get to know them a bit. I can’t remember their names for the life of me, but they don’t know mine either, so I think it’s okay.

Dealt with my apartment contract

After lunch Jeff, who passed his driver test today, woo hoo, went with me to the rental place and helped me turn in my paperwork, pay for this month’s rent a little early, and tell them to tell the landlord that the toilet runs constantly. He was really nice to help me.

Found a lost package

He also went with me to the post office to try to find a package that I didn’t get any notification about (when I was cleaning Justin’s apartment later I found the slip in his mailbox). Lucky that it was still there, and that Mom had sent me the custom’s tracking number. The first time they looked they said they didn’t have it. Woo, I have sunscreen.

Actually did work at work.

After post office we went back to work for a half hour, for appearances, you know. We were suppose to be there for 3 hours and we’d left early to do stuff so going back was The Right Thing to Do. And because I actually wanted to go through my schedules again and see how many classes I’m set to teach each class, decide how quickly I’m gonna go though the syllabus, which classes I’m going to skip over stuff because I feel like later stuff would be more important. Some classes I’m meeting with 20 times, some classes I’m meeting with 4. Big difference. I didn’t get finished for about an hour and a half, to the point when they asked me, aren’t you suppose to go home now? And I replied that I wanted to finish what I was working on. Or kinda, I think I got my point across anyway. I knew I wouldn’t do it if I’d gone home. It’s really nice to work in the morning with everyone else, but it’s also nice to be there in the afternoon when it’s quiet and you can actually work on stuff.

Went out and had sushi and tempura, Japanese style

By the time I got home, I was soooo not hungry, but Amy and Kirsty called and invite me out, and I really want to spend time with people. Try to get to know them. Prove I’m not as weird as I seem. (although maybe by spending more time I’m doing the opposite) And it was good food. Instead of getting the massive meals they have at Wafute (the only Japanese food restaurant in Miyako) I ordered some little things from the back and ended up with an order of omelet sushi (Mom, even you would love this sushi. A sweet omelet over rice. And that's all). And some tempura. They gave me some fish, shrimp, pumpkin, some kind of meat, and that really nice leaf that we had in Tokyo. Jeanelle, do you remember it’s name? It was just enough food, and really tasty.

Went over and really cleaned Justin’s apartment

I’d lived there for about 2 weeks when I first got here, remember? And when I moved out I totally didn’t feel like cleaning, so I just did it today because he’s coming home tomorrow.

Took a 45 minute shower

Heaven.

Am about to go out for a farewell party for Atsuyo and Alan.

Written yesterday.

Word Bubbles

Yesterday was very exciting. I went shopping. I bought a new piece of furniture for my kitchen at the used store for only 4000, which is a steal for how big it is. And it has wooden tops (the rest is metal) and a place to hang cups or something and a plug so that I can plug in things into like an AV cart. It’s really nice. And I have a microwave. And an oven, except that’s also the microwave. I also bought a standup thing to hang my laundry on because it’s been raining just enough everyday that I really need to keep my laundry inside and the thing I had was not strong enough for a whole load of clothes. This thing is. I also got a very nice new fan that is not covered in rust and dust and that I can’t clean well because the rust holds the dust. I also bough “groceries” for the first time since really coming here. Instead of just buying a few things to get me by for today. I bought some curry, that is good for an “oh, I don’t have anything to cook” kind of meal as the package really keeps, and some tofu, and some salmon that was a really good price. And some edamame for a healthy snack that I really wish I’d remembered a few minutes ago before my snack of packaged popcorn. And yogurts for breakfast. Good times.

Today we went around and shopped for bikes for Amy. I was really considering buying one, but after really thinking about it, I don’t see as much of a need. It’s just another thing that might break, and I have the car and the scooter, and my own two legs. I don’t want to deal with chains and brakes and tires on top of all that. So I think I’ll be just as happy to not spend the money.

Speaking of my own two legs, that’s how I’ve been justifying buying dinner out several nights a week. I figure it helps if I walk there and back. Last night I actually made it out to San Goya and tried something that the waitress couldn’t explain and I couldn’t understand. It turned out to be tempura fried (I understood that much) whole garlic. It was really interesting, and tasty :D I also found out that they do tempura with the salt mixture instead of the dipping sauce. Good to know. Really tasty. Not really filling so far a meals go, but didn’t feel like paying more than the 650 for dinner, so after I WALKED to San-e and bought the afore mentioned groceries. And an onigiri, which made the meal still be under 800 ;)

Oh, and did I mention today is payday? I celebrated by spending the “last” of my start up cash on an amazon.com.jp order. In theory I should have enough books to make it until Christmas, especially since school is starting up and I shouldn’t have quite so much free time. But I don’t have TV and haven’t really felt like watching much on the computer, so reading is my big entertainment. And shipping is free.

You might be asking why “last” was in quotation marks. It’s because when I transferred money to yen, I did it out of my American account by just adding two zeros on the end to get the yen I wanted. Now, the yen does not equal the dollar, so if I had, say $800 from my last paycheck, and I told the international ATM that I wanted 80000yen, then I would get my 80000yen and still have about $150 in my American account. Happy day for me. It’ll be really tricky when I start to send money back home. I have to watch out for the exchange rate.

Mmm, I think I’m gonna go for a walk now. Like a real walk. Remind me, I need to make an actual post about HOW things are different here from the main land.

Ah, well. Party on.

Naha

Naha was fun.

The 6 of us flew on the same flight, the Muni’s, me, Teresa, and Amy, the Ken’s Kirsty and Sam, and the German CIR David. We got there just in time for the Ken-JETs Kirsty and Sam to be just a few minutes late for the conference, but it wasn’t a big deal. Apparently we took one of the first flights out of Miyako, so they couldn’t really have been there any earlier. We also saw Kugai-san (my BIG boss) on the flight, but I don’t really know where he got to.

When we found the Kencho (some kind of office building) we Muni’s had about an hour before we had to meet the assistant governor. During the meeting we sat in a conference room and some of the guys played with the microphones in front of them until the meeting started. It was really nice to see some of them again, and I’m sure some of them felt the same way, because some of them are the only Native English speakers on their islands.

After the long long meetings (because they were meetings, they were long) we were released to check into our hotels and have a fun evening. Our hotel was soooo cute. It was the August Inn (or the オーガスト*イーン). We each had our own rooms, which was nice, but we were only there for that one night. The shower was positively claustrophobic. The sink actually overlaid the shower and I bumped my hip on it every time I tried to rinse off. But other than that it was really nice.

That night we met up with the Ishigaki people and Nick at a wonderful Indian resturant. I had lamb, which was divine. Lamb in a spinach curry sauce with the biggest nam you’ve ever seen and a samosa. After we went out to a Canadian bar for drinks and I ended up in Veronica’s hotel room just talking for a bit before crashing.

The next morning we got up again for checkout and more conferences. These weren’t so long because they started later, and had a short break in the middle. I sat in on the talks about teaching in elementary school and living on an outer island. Perhaps everyone is feeling the way I feel about Miyako right now, but I’m really happy that I was placed here. I keep on looking at other situations and going “wow, I’m lucky.” Like, wow, I’m lucky that I didn’t get placed on an island with only one ALT on it, and wow, I’m lucky I didn’t get placed in a large city like Naha.

That night was the first night we were in the new hotel, which was Japanese style (bathrooms at the end of the hall, showers downstairs, and a hard futon to sleep on, but hey, it’s not that different from western style, and the green tea in the room was free), and good for the price. We went out and met everyone at Beer Dome for an all you can eat and drink get to know you party. A Naha JET names Cadisha was hosting and she was really nice and fun. It was buffet style, which was good for the 50 or so people who showed up. The Ishigaki people had to leave that night (because the camping trip was canceled due to a typhoon that didn’t actually hit us). We had fun and socialized and played bingo and sang karaoke. It was really fun.

The following morning we got up and instead of going down to the port (we were going camping on Tokashiki Island) we rented a car and drove up to Montabu to the Aquarium. It was a really long ride, but it was really scenic (once we got out of Naha, which is huge, and the “highway” has traffic lights, and a speed limit of 50km, sometimes 60km (31 or 37mph). The fish tank was fun, we saw whale sharks, and it had a lot of neat fish in it that I had never seen before. Sam was just in ecstasy because she’s actually a marine zoology major and really enjoyed telling us what every fish in the big tanks were, and how interesting they all were. Really fun.

The Aquarium itself is in this Marine park type thing, so after we paid to go to the Aquarium part we walked around the free exhibits like giant sea turtles, manatees, and dolphins. The was suppose to be a dolphin show, but when the sky started falling we decided to leave and get dinner instead.


Jonathan, the current block head for Miyako warned us, “if you go to the Aquarium, make sure you get pizza. You don’t need to know the name of the place, everyone will know it. It’s kinda hard to get to, but you’ll be fine.” And it really was. Really hard to get to, little one lane but two way streets with no street signs and just occasionally a “ピザ->” sign. It was up at the top of this really big hill so we watched the sun go down over the ocean eating really really good pizza, pizza with actual mozzarella cheese. It was really lovely.

During this day I also had a moment with Amie, who we both looked at each other and said, “wait, don’t I know you?” We spent several minutes going over where we’d been and who we knew and couldn’t figure it out. She’s a second year JET from Canada. It makes no sense.

On the way back to Naha, I got really tired and crabby, but it wasn’t that bad. Then sleep again, and the next day we got up and went shopping. We found Uniqlo, which felt kinda like Old Navy, some really fashionable things, some really cheap things. I picked up some plain teeshirts for work, and a few tank tops, because it’s so bloody hot.

Then we met up with Nick again, and he accompanied us to the airport (had nothing better to do, and the train ride was only 230yen). We made those stupid photo stickers at the airport, they’re really cute. And we almost missed our flight because of it, it’s so easy to fall into island time. Oh, we don’t need to go through security until 10 minutes before the plane leaves, really, it’s okay. What? We only have 5 minutes to take off? Ah, it’ll be fine. Oooo, it was harrowing.

On the flight I was so relived. I really felt like it was so nice to be going back home. This really is an amazing place. It was really nice to go back home and just be home. But I really need to continue to tidy up. I need more places to put things. Like just two more pieces of furniture. I think I’m gonna stop by the used shop today or tomorrow.

Then because I didn’t have any food in my house (I was out of town for 4 days) so I decided that I really wanted niku don, but I didn’t know of any place to get it, so I decided to go to an izukaiya called San Goya, where we’d gone our first night there. But it was closed. So I went to “that place that I went for lunch with Mike that time” and it had . . . niku don. So I was very happy.

This was written this morning. Today was eventful, but I must talk about it later. Sleep now.

Gone to Naha

For a conference. Be back on Sunday. Not taking my puter.

by the way

This is my phone. It's the red one. I have no minutes on it, so it's basically for emergencies. That whole "Japanese phones are cooler" thing only applies if you want to pay for all of your services . . . .

Nothing like

picking up that lamp in the corner saying "ooo, I bet I could use this as a night light so that I don't kill myself walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night" to have a 3 in palmetto bug fly at your chest. Yep. Nothing quite like it. Bug spray is on the list of things to buy tomorrow. If you sqwish them the eggs apparently get everywhere. I was nice and let it out the window. I think we were both relieved. Off to bed then. Nice, big, tall, squishy bed of happiness. mmmmmm :)

Things I find amusing.

You can get both febreeze and simple green here. You can’t get long size sanitary napkins. You can’t get a soft bed.

Last night was the first night I slept in Nick’s old apartment. My apartment now. I seriously disliked sleeping on the futon. I might have done better sleeping on the couch, which is nowhere near comfy. But I made do, or tried to. I’m apparently allergic to something in his futons. So today I felt it well worth the cash and bought a bed. It’s this cute little on sale twin size (although they call it a single, which makes much more sense). It’s really hard, but the softest in the store, and the cheapest. Score. I expected to spend around 30000y for it, but it came out to less than 20000, so I felt very justified in buying a new futon to go on top of it, to make it more sqwishy. I’m very happy with it right now. Although I really wish that I could have found some green sheets. Ah, well. White will work for now.

I also purchased some small trash cans from the 100y store, one for in the bathroom, for those feminine things. One for right next to my bed. Well worth it. I also bought some file holders for the important papers. Again from the 100y store. From the department store where I bought the bedding I also picked up a bath mat, because the one in the hall gets soaked everytime I take a shower (the shower hits the door and slides under it to soak the hall), and the rug out there was literally just a rug, and got soaked and never dried. This one has a water resistant bottom, and is small enough that I can hang up after a shower to dry.

I’ve also been rearranging. I took down every single sliding door in the apartment. They just closed off the space (from me and me, and we get along very well, so why would I need the separation?) and blocked the air flow, and right now, air flow is very very very very very important. It’s bloody humid. And hot. I moved the kitchen table so that I don’t have to lean over it to reach the light switch, and put it right in that beautiful air flow, so that when I sit down to eat, I get that air flow. I think it’s brilliant.

Speaking of the kitchen, I figured out yesterday that Nick didn’t have a microwave. At all. I found one at the MakeMan for about 13000, which is not bad, considering that it has a convection oven function. I think I’ll have to wait until next payday to buy it though. And I’ll have to get something to put it on.

So my house is still a mess, but more of a me kind of mess than just my stuff everywhere kind of mess. And I’m very happy with the progress.

New Places, friendly faces

So Mick left yesterday, Nick left today, and I’m finally moved in.

Last night we went out for the big welcome party. First bowling, then all you can eat and drink for 2500, then karaoke, then I stumbled home at around 1:30. It was a really fun night. Alan actually freestyle-rapped to part of the Eminem song. Really fun all around.

This afternoon I packed up and moved my stuff out of Justin’s place and into mine. It still doesn’t feel like mine, yet, like I’m just a guest, but it doesn’t feel bad. There’s just a lot of Nick’s stuff (that’s my stuff now, but he bought it, you know) and not nearly enough of my stuff. For decoration so far, I’ve bought a cup (a big cup), a pink plastic container for the bathroom, and a hair catch for the shower. So that room is looking more like me, but the rest of the house isn’t. I desperately need a bathmat.

On the other hand, I started reading City of Bones a few days ago, just finished it. Really good young adult, although I’m really upset with the author now. It’s another one that I’m gonna need to buy when the sequel comes out. Grrr, these really good authors. It makes me wish I had my library here, but I know that would just be foolish.

I drove today for the first time all by my self. It was scary, but doable. I think I’m going to drive to work tomorrow, just so that I don’t arrive for the big meeting with the mayor all sweaty. Speaking of, there are things I have to do to get ready for that, so I think I’ll go procrastinate some more and do different, slightly more productive things than type.

Cheers all.

Yay!!

Internet works!!

Moving.

Well, Nick's gone as of this morning and I'm packing up to move next door. I'm gonna try to plug in my computer and hopefully the internet will magically work, but fingers crossed. If not, it "should" be on sometime tomorrow. More details later.

I gots car

I gots car. So yesterday we started the paperwork to make Nick’s car my car, but it didn’t work as quickly as we would have hoped. “Today the person you need to see is in Irabu” (the other island you need a ferry to get to). So today we finished that up.

Then we met with a friend of Taira-san’s at the iinkai (the building where I work, it’s short for some kind of government building, I think) and I got insurance as well. So I can drive my car. Sometime next week I’ll have to get together with Jonathan and change the scooter over too. The car paperwork cost me 35y because my name was too long and she had to use a different piece of paper. Silliness. The insurance wasn't that bad either. Only 33,900 for the year. And it covers accidents with other cars, poles, cats, dogs, and even if my friends get hurt in my car. Not too shabby. Although I didn’t pay the extra to allow people who are younger than me to drive my car. Sorry, Nat, when you come to visit, you’ll have to walk everywhere until I get off. But when Chris and Marnie come, Marnie can drive Chris around. :D

Last night we also met Kirsty (from Scotland, then Massachuttes, then England) (“KARS-tee”), who is really nice. We took her out to Sangoya, the place I went the first night, and then we found a place to play darts at some random bar. It was fun. Her apartment is pretty nice, too. Again, you can tell who is taking over for girls and who is taking over for boys.

Today we did stuff with cars and housing. Apparently all of my paperwork will happen tomorrow morning at 10 at Nick’s apartment for the housing stuff. Which means we won’t be going anywhere in the morning and I can sleep in. Yay!

After dealing with insurance guy, I was on my way to walk home, but decided to try to find the grocery store. Which I only knew where it was in reference to coming from my house, but I was coming from the iinkai, and I Didn’t Get Lost. It was an amazing moment. To celebrate I treated myself to some too expensive fresh pineapple. Which is lovely.

Oh, and because there have been things that I’ve been wanting to talk about, and haven’t gotten around to them in other posts, in no order or introduction:

The portion sizes are HUGE here. Enough food to feed an army at every meal. They are so big that they actually have doggie bags!

There’s a billiards place (where we took Amy her first night) that is 800y per hour. The table is huge, the room is huge, and there aren’t any poles to hit, unlike most of the pool halls I’ve been to back in the states. It’s really nice.

I’ve been reading a book since I got here, one that I packed in my luggage to have here in case the box of books didn't’ get here in time. It’s called the Warrior Heir by Chima. It sucks. I really hate her writing. The story’s okay, I guess, but I really won’t recommend it to anyone. The really bad part is that she teaches at university, and so she’s teaching new writers to write like her. And it’s just really really bad. I mean if you can see the “twist” from more than 200 pages in advance (young adult, only 500 pages in the book), then you know it’s not done with finesse. Sigh. But I need to finish it, because, like I said, the story is decent. But I really don’t feel like paying money for the sequel.

As many of you know, I really am not good friends with the dark. And Justin’s apartment is so very . . . foreign (lots of stuff just on the walls and piled up and just lots of stuff) that with the fan on (so that I can sleep) stuff moves and it makes me think that there are terrier sized rats in the walls. It wasn’t bad until about 2 nights ago. I think my apartment will be better, because it is my apartment, you know? My own stuff. But I slept with a light on the other night.

That’s the news for now. More as the story develops.

Afternoon is the loneliest time.

Afternoon is the loneliest time. Especially because now is when I have the time to sit down and talk because I have about an hour and a half to kill before going out for dinner, and it’s 4 am where y’all are. It really sucks. After I try to get all of my housing settled out I think I might start going to the inkai for the late shift so that I can Talk to people in the morning. But for now we have to get started in the morning to get everything accomplished.

Did I mention on my drive yesterday that we saw a dead snake on the side of the road? I have pictures, but my camera cord is packed away somewhere, so I don’t think I’ll be uploading anything until next week after I can unpack. During my drive I also almost hit a few baby birds who decided that the middle of the road was the perfect place to learn how to fly, a crab, and a large shell (snail or hermit crab, couldn’t tell which one). And yes, the wind was horrendoius, so walking out to the end of the cape was kinda scary. I wouldn’t go out to the edge by myself, but when Mike and Nick came with me it was really pretty and neat. The waves were at least 3 feet high, but waaaay below us on the cliffs. It was the first instance where it really hit my brain that I was on an ISLAND. It really made me respect the ocean, it being literally on about 300 degrees of all sides.

Also there’s this old legend of this local woman who was in love with the lord of Miyako and couldn’t be with him so she threw herself on the cliffs there. There was a shrine set up in her name. And a giant rock that was thrown up there about 300 years ago by a tsunami. I’m told I shouldn’t worry about tsunami though. If it’s a small one, no worries. If it’s a big one, no worries. Very dark humor, but I get the idea.

After the boys went to expensive dinner, and I went to the combini for a 200y meal so that I could afford the 1600y Transformers movie ticket. It was out of focus, and the sound was wired funny, and it was a small theature, but it was Transformers, so I was happy. I don’t think I’ll be taking Leo there when he comes.

Today I got up EARLY, then realized that I didn’t have to get up for another hour, which stunk. But after a productive hour at the inkai (I was coping down my schedule of schools in the planner) Nick picked me up and we went to see my last 3 schools. It was nice, and in most of those smaller schools I have English rooms. The A/C, you ask? What A/C, says I. But we can open the windows and I may get a fan for the ones that I actually have a classroom for, to put right next to the window and oscillate around the room.

Next we picked up Teresa and met Mike at this Chinese place that was not back, but everything was less than 480 a plate for the lunch special and the portions were huge. I could have easily packed up ½ and taken it home before I started, but I didn’t. The egg drop soup was made with what tasted like cream corn. It was divine.

We dropped Teresa back off at the inkai to finish her day’s work and we started out to one of the not so pretty beaches so that we could just walk around a bit, it’s still too windy for volley ball. (apparently another typhoon is hitting Ishigaki Island, but missing us) But we never made it. I got pulled over.

It was really confusing because he just had his lights on and was speaking over the loud speaker and I couldn’t understand him, but when I did pull over he asked for my license, which was fine. Turns out my brake light was out. So we went directly to the hardware store. Nick bought me new lights and changed it out for me. I also bought a toilet seat converter while I was there. I’m so happy with that purchase. Justin already has a converter, which has been lovely, but Nick has a Japanese style toilet, which is not. I can, and have, use them, but I really prefer to be able to sit down. Especially in the middle of the night.

We also drove around and set up the gas to be put in my name starting on Saturday, and I went to the two video rental places and got rental cards. Weeeee. They had Happy Feet. I thought about renting it, but I think I should wait until next week. When I should theoretically have more time to sit on my bum. Which, surprisingly enough was the name of one of the teachers I met at the beach the other day. Bum, as in your bottom. He teaches at a private school.

So, today was adventurous. We made it back to the airport in time to greet Amy and David (DAH-vid, he’s German :D), whose plane was about an hour late. Winds, again. And now we’re gonna take them out to soba later, which is less than 500y a head, which is nice. Apparently a big bowling party will ensue on Saturday.

Mmmmm, that’s it for me. More later, I guess. Party on.

East Coooooast!

So, apparently the typhoon that is going to hit us has just preceded to make the weather nasty. Or at least that’s what some people are saying. Personally, 10 degrees cooler and a killer wind is perfectly fine by me.

This morning Teresa and I joined the last day of Jonathan’s summer classes. For 10 days he taught 2 classes of k-1 and 2-3 for one hour each. It was really fun. The kids were really genki and Jonathan taught me some new games to play. Ai-chan wanted to take me home :D

Afterwards, since we were in the area, we went for some of the best ice cream in Miyako. They grow their own fruit. We couldn’t walk around their gardens because it was raining so hard (literally sideways, but nothing near a typhoon full force, more like the heavy thunderstorms we get back in Atlanta, but no thunder). We waited out the worst of the storm and then he took us to the 100yen shop and Best 1. I’m gonna be lovin’ those stores when I get settled into my own place. For now I just bought a big cup (430mL) so that I can pour myself a glass and sit down for a minute before I have to get up and pour myself a new one, some things to make the drain not stink, a febreez air freshener, some paper towels (Justin has nothing to clean up spills), a cheap rain wear set (for if I get caught out in the rain, it folds up like a poncho, but has pants), a 500yen piggy bank (when it’s full, it’ll be 100,000yen), and a folding fan. Good for starters. I also know where some things are if I need to get them after I see what’s left in Nick’s apt. Really nice morning.

After, I came home to find Mike wanting to go to the beach for more volley ball, but the wind was so nasty we didn’t make it there. Instead Nick, Mike and I went to the east coast of the island and hit the touristy scenic spots. (I think) we started at the circle and drove the east of the coast to the light house at the south east tip of the island. We walked out to the edge and because of the typhoon the waves were amazing. Then we walked back to the car and drove through (I think) the middle of the island home. It was really nice. I drove. :D



Now, I’m chilling at home waiting to meet up with them again to go see Transformers at the local theater. Weeee.

So what have you been up to?

So what have you been up to? Me, well, yesterday was very relaxed, which was really nice. We got up and Mike came home with some passion fruit and ice cream and told me to eat because he’d bought it for me. Then Janine took me shopping for a bit, I now (kinda) know where the grocery store is, and mostly where things in the grocery store are. It was really nice.

Afterwards we went to brunch at the Tokyu Resort restaurant. It was really expensive, but a great buffet. I stuffed myself on waaay too many sweet things. After, Janine dropped me off at the beach to meet up with a bunch of other people. I went swimming and swimming and swimming. I chatted with a teacher who asked to be called “Bum” as in your bottom, and two nice girls whose names I can’t remember (I guess Bum is just so much more memorable) but it was nice. I actually got across the term “rusty” in Japanese because they’d never heard that term used that way before. I am iron, time is the water, and my Japanese has become rusty. It was really awesome.

After the beach Sam got dropped off with me to talk to her family on Skype, then we walked the 5 minute walk to her place (really nice apartment, very feminine), had a few beers and dinner and I helped her figure out what was wrong with her internet. (The modem wasn’t plugged in, but if it were me, I probably wouldn’t be thinking so logically either. It did take me 2 days to find the internet here . . .) She’s really nice and easy to get along with (or at least I found it to be so). Since we both can’t cook, we’ve talked about having dinner dates where we try to learn together.

After, I walked home in the dark, but there was nobody really around, I guess everyone goes home early here, and like I said it was only 5 minutes. I kept my key out, ready to turn it into a weapon if necessary, but it wasn’t. The biggest occurrence was that Junior High kid on his bike, he bowed to me as he passed. Even with it being so close, I’m sure there’s a short cut, I just don’t know where it is. Something to be explored in day time, I think.

Now, I have gotten up early because it is my first experience with walking to work. Hooray! I’m leaving myself 30 min, maybe it won’t be so bad. I did walk past it a few days ago while I was exploring.

Oogamishima

Hello all. Once again I talk to you from paradise.

Yesterday we got up early to go to take a ferry to Oogami Island (“big god” island) to go snorkeling. It was my first time ever doing so. The waves were really hard, because of the recent typhoon in the area, I guess. But there were lots of fish, and when you got really far out there were lots of colors in the coral. We even saw a sea snake!! And, even better, it didn’t come up to say hi!!! I was only out there for about an hour, because it was so hard to swim in those waves, and I was feeling a bit sick because I’d swallowed so much of the ocean, but it was fun. Afterward I went back to the picknick site and I hadn’t realized that it was such a small island (population: 30. Maybe?) so I hadn’t thought to bring a drink, expecting vending machines. Stupid me. But Atsuyo (a friend of Jonathan, the block head here, visiting from Kobe) wanted to try to find a store too, so we went adventuring. Her English was a little better than my Japanese was so we communicated very well in both languages. But to get to the store we had to walk up this BIG hill, which sucked. Then we found what we thought was a store, but there was noon there and it looked like a house so we kept on walking. Then we found this big sign that said “great view. Don’t climb on the God.” We walked up the hill, and up the stairs, and up some more, and up some more and finally found the top. On the way we saw some of those really big black spiders that Nick had warned me about. Yep, the size of your hand. The body the size of your thumb. Really creepy. Atsuyo said she’d email me the pictures, so I’ll try to get them up later. At the top we could see for miles. It was soooo very pretty all around. You really didn’t know where to look! And we saw the big rock that was the god. We thanked him for the lovely view and for keeping the spiders out of our faces and climbed back down. Once we got back into “town” we heard some voices and asked them where the shop was. They said it was right behind where they were and this little old lady walked down with us and let us into her shop. She sold us some drinks and asked if we had some time. We said we did so she made us some takoyaki, some grilled octopus with onions. It was the best tako I’d ever tasted. It wasn’t too chewy and was perfectly seasoned. Then we chatted with her for a bit. Turns out she’s more than 84 years old! She was so lively for someone so old. It was really nice. Then we went back down and met up with the rest of the people and caught the ferry back to Miyako.

We decided that lunch would be a good thing, so we stopped by this little place out of the way. On the way to that we had to get gas in the next town over, so we went over this really long bridge with some really great views. For lunch I had tofu scramble (tofu and veggies) and it was really nice.

Then we stopped back by the house. I chilled for a bit before going out for a walk. I didn’t get lost and figured out some new ways to get to my house. I really need to go out on my scooter or bike or something so that I can get to know the roads. But I guess that’ll come with time. I did find this really old run down temple (with two spiders, one that I didn’t see when I was walking back the first time and had missed literally by about an inch). It was surrounded by trees and really nice, but it looked like it wasn't really tended anymore.

I got back home around 6 and laid down for a nap. Three hours later I tried to get up to go to a party, but just couldn’t. I slept until 7:30 this morning. It felt really good. Hopefully I’ll be more on time after that.

This morning I talked to Leo and wished him happy birthday (because it is here, but not there yet). And I got to see my Luce and Shadow Cat. I cried. I keep hearing noises at night, probably just the fan blowing things around, but my first reaction as I’m asleep is that it’s probably the cats getting into something, then I remember there aren’t any cats here . . . . Then I get scared cuz I don’t know what it would be, until I remember the fan.

Well, I should probably get going. Love and Peace!

Contact info

Since this is a public forum, I don't really want to publish my new phone number, but Leo and my parents have it so if you want to just call me (when I'm at home and my computer is on, which is not too often, but we can still try) then contact them. I love you all!

Comments

Please feel free to leave random comments. Wither you are commenting about something in the blog, or about something that it randomly reminded you of, or something that you happened to see today, or something that you noticed in the place where you are reading this, or some random thought that comes into your head, anything would be nice. I like hearing from all of you and commenting is a great way for me to feel like I haven't lost that connection with all of you. It doesn't have to be long. Any word would be appreciated.

New Occurances

So yesterday we went to the Inkai for the first time. The BOE was on the 4th floor of the main government buildings. All of the government buildings are on the same building because this is just a small city. We got there around 9am and met everybody and had to do a small introduction. Then we had a bit to stand around and then we met Kugai-san, the BIG BOSS. Kugai-san was in a flowery Hawaiian style shirt and sunglasses. I thought he was wearing the sunglasses just because he could and it really helped me to relax. Turns out he just had cataract surgery, but whatever. We had a nice chat in his office with the other ALTs that were there, with Nick translating for us. He seems very laid back and pleasant.

While we were at “work” we went downstairs to register as Aliens. Its gonna apparently take us a couple of weeks to get our cards, but we have a piece of paper that says that we are registering. However, because we didn’t have the cards the 3 hours after work were filled with a lot of walking with nothing accomplished except I actually know where work is in comparison to my house. We found out that the only place we can get bank accounts is at the post office, everywhere else didn’t tell us no, but just looked very worried and unsure until we said, “oh, that’s okay, we’ll come back later.” Because apparently the Japanese don’t like saying “no.”

So we went to only one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and played beach volley ball (I sucked, but at least I tried) and swam in the ocean (clear, blue, and stupid strong current). It was a really fun couple of hours. Then we went to the airport to pick up Sam. When we got there, her plane hadn’t even left Naha yet, so we killed an hour at the coffee shop upstairs. When she came in we welcomed her and she went to see her apartment and we went back to ours to get ready for a barbeque on the roof. On the way back home we stopped by the supermarket, which looks a lot like Publix, but very different food. I thought I got some oranges for breakfast, but they turned out to be grapefruit, which is just as nice. Oh! But I left them in the fridge at work! I hope they’ll be okay for Monday . . . We grilled out, and I just about died at 11 so I went to bed.

This morning I actually slept until the decent time of 6:30, and talked to my family, which was really really nice. I also talked to Leo a little bit, but he was still at work, so he couldn’t talk long. Oh, and got to say hi to Tia.

At work we only stayed about 1 hour before embarking back on the hunt for things we need without an alien registration card. Turns out we got bank accounts that can be used all across Japan (weeee). We also stopped by Teresa’s leasing office to start her paperwork, and the cable company to try to get her internet turned on. Then we went back home and I decided that I really didn’t want to go to the beach today too so I stayed home. I’m really tired, but more than that I’m just kinda hot and wanted to just sit somewhere nice in the A/C. So after a soujourn down the main drag in front of my apartment (lots of nice, touristy shops. I saw many of your Christmas presents sitting in the windows) I ended up in Mos Burger (although I can’t eat anything cuz we’re having pizza in just a few hours) where I bought two drinks to cover the fact that I’ve been here for about 3 hours. The A/C is wonderful, the music is soft and poppy. The staff has been nice, so far.

So far I’ve tried to create a budget and wrote this post (it’s about 6:15p now). My budget didn’t come out as nicely as I would have liked, but much of that is because I don’t know how much things will cost. Like my cell phone, which I feel I should have one, but I don’t know how many minutes I’ll need. Or maybe I should get a prepaid and just see how I use it. I really wish I could see the plans in English, they’d make so much more sense. And I don’t know how much my electricity will be, because Nick is really careful with his electricity and doesn’t mind the heat. I really do. As the plan currently has it I only have around 30000y left for savings. That should be a much higher number, but like I said, we’ll just have to see how it turns out. And hopefully some of the rainy day funds will turn into more savings, on top of the retirement fund and growth fund, which are budget items. I think for my growth fund I’ll just send it home with all of the other money I’m sending and ask my parents to use it to buy savings bonds or something similar. Right now that’s set at just 4000y, which is small, but with the massive interest, it would be worth it. I wonder how small an amount can be to put it into a roth IRA?

. . .

Is it bad that it’s only been a few days and I already want people to come visit me? I’m happy, and I’m healthy(ish) (oh, did I mention the horrible cold I’ve had since last Friday? It’s made the plane rides SOOOO much fun. I’m actually a little worried that I’m getting a bit of an ear infection on my left ear.) but it would be really nice to share some of this experience with someone I know. So who’s up to coming? It’s not THAT expensive (laughs). My apartment (which I can’t live in until next week, but after that is nice) is much bigger than I thought it would be, so I could probably easily put up one or two people for a decent bit of time comfortably. More I could always put in the tent on the roof? What do you say? Come visit a bit of the island paradise? Swim in the warm seas, see plenty of fish, eat the great food? Fresh mangos . . . ? No?

Sigh, I don’t actually expect anyone to come so soon, but it would be nice . . . I think the first time I get to see people would be September, and I just realized that I won’t be teaching until the second week, so I should probably have my trip ahead of time . . . hmmmm. I wonder because I only have to work for 3 hours during the holidays if I could just work for 6 hours for 2 days and take two days off . . . I should ask Taira-san when I see her next. And I need to ask Chris if earlier would be okay . . . I really want to see people. Damn is that going to be an expensive plane flight. Maybe I could buy it ahead of time and save some money. There’s a JAL office somewhere right around here, maybe I could ask for a cheap flight :P.

Mmm, I should probably head back to the apt. Janine should be picking me up soonish for pizza, and it should have cooled down enough outside that I won’t drip inside Justin’s apt. I don’t understand why it builds up soooo much heat! Nick says that it’s because there’s another building right in front of Justin’s and not in front of mine so that mine is waaaay cooler even though it’s smaller. Also my plumbing works better. And the layout is nicer (I think) because the bedroom isn’t tucked away in a corner away from the A/C. I think if I were in Justin’s apt I would have to (buy an A/C that actually works) put my bed in the living room right under the A/C and use that tiny back room as an . . . I don’t know. Work room? Excersise room? Storage? Something. As is, I don’t think I really need that much space. It is just me. And most of my stuff I left at home.

Request

Those of you who were thinking of sending me care packages. I need more sunscreen. Preferably Aveeno Active Naturals, at least spf35. I'd like both the regular lotion and the spray. And lots of it. It's amazing how you go through the stuff when you have to wear it everyday, several times a day. . . The flat rate box is the cheapest way to send stuff.

woo

found internet.

Walking around

So, since I was awake and had nothing better to do with lack of internet, I went for a walk. The water place isn’t open until 8 (7:30 now) so I asked a nice lady for the nearest convenience store, which is apparently on the same street. After finding it I walked down to the end of the street (not very far at all) and came back. On my way I saw:

A Basken Robbins 31. This is so not good for my diet.

A Mos Burger, in case I need a similar taste to home.

A nice man who greeted me with “morning” and was so surprise he stumbled when I replied “ohayo gozaimasu.”

3 cats, and yes, Jeanelle, I have pictures of all of them. The first came down the steps of my sudo-apartment. Grey tabby. The second was marking a store’s sign with his face, orange stripes. The third was a KITTEN, again a grey tabby. His head wasn’t even the size of my fist. More like a golf ball. Sooooo cute. None of them would let me get close, and they are all so SKINNY. Remind me how much I don’t need a cat?

A fish food place that may or may not have sushi.

A suviner shop where I see many Christmas presents in the future.

2 convienence stores.

A fuji film store.

Tons of vending machines.

The moon.

A dog.

2 adorable children, all by themselves, neither a day older than 4.

And lots of other really nice people.

For breakfast I popped by the conbini, and was hoping to get an ume onigiri, a rice ball (although it’s really more of a triangle) with a pickled plum inside, but the only thing with an ume in it had other kanji I didn’t understand on it. The clerk explained that it had nori inside. I don’t know what nori was, but it tasted like an ume with inari sauce on it. He asked me if I wanted to heat it up, and I asked if that was normal. He said yes, so I did. It wasn’t bad, but I think I might try a different flavor next time.

Then I came home. I have another hour before I have to be ready to go to work. I might go for another walk in the other direction.

Yesterday was . . .

Wow, it is just hot here!!

Okay, yesterday started early, because I couldn’t sleep. This morning it’s about 5am, and I slept good until now, but it’s just so hot (and I nervous about tomorrow) that I’m having trouble going back to sleep. I haven’t even gotten under the covers yet. :P

I can see what Julia meant when she said on her blog that it was just so hot that she cut all of her hair off. Seriously concidering it . . .

Okay, yesterday. Got up early and had breakfast with Marnie and Chris. Chris left first for Niigata at around 8. We hung around and saw her off. I cried. I’m not really upset though, it was just like America; I’m going to miss not being able to see her whenever I want. I think we’re planning to get together in September at her place, before it gets too cold. And there’s a National holiday, so maybe I’ll be able to take only one day off—leave on Friday, after school and travel all day. Spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday (holiday) with her, then travel back on Tuesday and work Wednesday.

After Chris, we went back to Marnie’s room for a little bit and hung out with her roommate, Laura, who will be joining Marnie in Wakayama (she’s really nice too. Honestly, I haven’t met anybody except that guy on the elevator who wasn’t nice). I set up my Skype account to (almost) be able to accept and receive calls, it was really complicated. And I would be trying to talk to people now, but . . . I’ll get to that.

When Marnie had to leave (I cried again) I went to the AJET room to pick up a neat book that might help me when I’m stuck with a teaching idea. I also talked to this nice Hawaiian guy who is the AJET treasurer. He was nice and friendly. After I met up with some of my Oki-JETs and hung around until 10 when we departed for the airport.

On the bus I sat next to . . . I want to say Masahiro, but I know that’s just wrong. He’s one of the important enough to come to Tokyo official Okinawa boss people who doesn’t speak the best English. I practiced my conversational skills. It was nice.

The biggest problem of the morning was that on the bus Ann realized she’d left her suit in the closet. They called the hotel and because Mas~~~ will be come back to Tokyo to escort the Group B JETs, he’ll just pick it up then.

And we were almost late for the plane. After we checked our bags we were told “meet here at 12:30” and broke off into groups. Veronica and I decided that the Italian place would just be funny to try and Gabe, our PA from Naha (he was on that video), joined us (he wanted something not fish). It took longer to eat than expected and we were the last to arrive. But everything went great. In security they never asked me to take out my passport once. And my bags were over weight and no one cared.

On the plane I sat next to Melody from South Africa who talked a lot (and you know how I love to talk) before passing out, and Veronica who proceeded to just pass out. I took out my “Idiot’s Pocket Guide to Living on a Budget” which I’m about ½ way through now. It was really helpful and at some point I have to ask all of the “what am I expected to need money for” questions. I’m totally down with that. Melody was awesome when we had a bit of turbulence. She was totally okay with me just gripping her arm and continuing to talk normally.

In Naha we met Taira Noriko-san, my supervisor, and apparently all of the Muni-JETs’ supervisor here in Miyako. She walked us back through check in (we had to go out to get in), oh wait. Before that I was welcomed to Okinawa and handed a fruit juice that kinda tasted like lime, and a beer. Okay, we had to check in again (Teresa had soooo much stuff :P ), then rush to the gate. Taira-san called somebody and met up with her, I can’t remember her name, and she waited with us, but she was much more front on the plane itself. The plane to Miyako was smaller than the one to Naha (which took 2 hours and 40 min~) and only took around 35 minutes, but was some how more comfortable.

Flying over Miyako for the first time was something kind of magical. It was so pretty, and the scale of it! It looked bigger than I had thought in my mind. When we got off we immediately knoticed a difference. It was so much quieter. And there wasn’t an escalator to get downstairs. And there was only one luggage convayer. And the bathroom had only one stall (and no soap) and reminded me of the ones on the train, you know what I’m talking about Jeanelle? Where you had to press a button to make the big sliding door close, then another to make it open?

After we collected our luggage we were greeted by about 7 people and a huge welcome sign. I was welcomed home and we were wisked away to our respective apartments. Nick is still living in my apartment until the 11th so I’m next door in the bigger but hotter apartment of Justin, who is visiting . . . somebody. It’s defiantly a boy’s home, though. I’m also staying with Mike who was a JET here 2 years ago (he’d stayed for 5 years), because he has nowhere else to stay and it really is big enough. And Nick vouched for him and he promised not to steal anything or rape me. :)

He’s suppose to be back by now and sleeping on the floor, I’m kinda surprised that he’s not. So I’m sitting on the bed with the AC on and two fans directing the cold air at me, pouring sweat. But that’s okay, whenever I get up to go to the bathroom I just turn the shower on my legs and arms and feel much better. The thing about the situation that kind of upsets me is that Justin apparently turned off his internet so that if I want to talk to people on Skype or email or whatnot I have to do it in front of other people at their houses. Which I was really looking forward to calling a few people and just bawling so . . . I’ll figure something out. Ask politely for Nick to go chill out somewhere else while I interwebs or something.

Nick is REALLY laid back. This whole island time thing is really going to bug me at first. I was told by Mike that I should have brought two extra suitcases with me. One full of a sense of humor, and one full of patience. See, Leo? I’m gonna have to learn patience! But it should be okay. I’ll get used to it, and maybe become more leanient if people show up at my house late :P

But anyway. Like I said, no internet, so I’m just typing this now for future use. And the computer is producing enough heat that it’s uncomfortable. So I’m off to bed and I’ll try to talk to y’all later. I love you all!

PS: Oh, that’s why I’m awake! The sun’s just come up! Weee, normal awaking time. If I continue to do this, it would be awesome because in theory I could talk to all of you! It’s like 7pm right now over there.

Can’t sleep, so more detail. At the airport we were met by a lot of people, who I’m not going to remember all of, so I’m sorry. There was Nick, Janine, Mike, Mike who is visiting from Kyoto, Jonathan, some other guy, and maybe someone else? Ken, Teresa’s predecessor wasn’t there, but shrug.

After we went to the apartments. My apartment was again bigger than I thought. Oh, and my car’s an automatic :D. My bedroom alone is 6 tatami mats, each of which is about 2 x 5 ft. They are arranged in a little circle with one in the middle. I have a large closet full of futons with space for clothing (and some old teaching material). The kitchen is huge. There isn’t a sink in the bathroom, but that’s okay. Justin has one of the converters to make the toilet a western, and it’s wonderful so before Nick leaves I will be picking one up.

After chilling for a bit (and sending out quick “I’m Alive” emails to family) we went to some restaurant that is on the same street as my apartment. We had a bunch of different things for apparently only 300y each. I had some tea (yeah, detox) and some mango juice (oh! My new love) and I found out that I don’t like goya (apparently very famous in Okinawa, good to know). Everyone else when out to play pool afterwards and I died a happy death in my bed. I guess I got about 6 ½ hours of sleep, and I feel good so . . . ah well. I’ll probably adjust to my usual lethargic self when I can settle in and have my own bed right under the AC.

Oh, and I’m not allowed to drink the water because it will give me kidney stones, but this water shop right next door sells 2 liters for 30y on Tuesday.

Day 3 and morning after

Okay, so it’s 2:30 in the morning again, and my brain is running so hard that I just can’t get back to sleep. So lets try to do something with it, eh?

This morning we went to seminars—I went to this really good one about teaching in Elementary school, and then another really good, but different one about teaching in elementary school. Then one on driving that had some useful information, but they were so rushed they didn’t explain things very well (verdict: I’m SO glad I got my motorcycle license ahead of time.)


We also had our prefectural meeting that afternoon. It was mostly us meeting Gabe (my new PA) and him telling us that we have to meet in the lobby at 10am (I’ve heard some groups leave at 4:30) and that Hawaiian shirts and slacks is considered business attire for Okinawa. Woot.

I’m so over the luggage weight limit for domestic flights. Apparently it’s 15kilos. I was over that before I left the states, and then they gave us ALL of these useful BOOKS. Hmmmm, hopefully it won’t be a problem.

After the meeting we had to go ahead and pack our bags and send them downstairs. They just have to be ready to go to the airport on the bus separately from us. Many of the prefectures have to send their luggage ahead of them (like Chris and Marnie), and they say that it’s worth the 1000yen to send it, but no one told us that would be the case ahead of time, so I just have my carryon, and my laptop bag. My carryon is down stairs right now, and somehow I’ve got to pack up all of my toiletries and clothing I wore today into my laptop bag. Ha. Ha. Ha. Nope. But we can repack at the airport before we get on the plane to Naha. 1pm flight, no idea the flight number. We’re flying ANA because they’re the only ones that do. Then after a 2 ½ hour plane ride we have an hour layover before going back to Miyakojima.

After the meeting, Chris, Marnie, Veronica, and I went out on the town! Or just found an Apple store because somehow my adapter didn’t get packed (the one that makes my Mac book a 2 prong instead of a 3 prong) and I have NO idea where it might be, so I went ahead and bought the universal adapter set so that if I go X I’ll be able to take my comp.

After the Mac Store we split up, because Marnie needed a bag, Chris wanted to hit a 100yen shop, and Veronica needed a universal power adapter (for whatever, not just a computer) and an electronic dictionary. Marnie and Chris stayed in Shibuya to do all that (our hotel is in Shinjuku, 3 stations down), while Veronica and I went to Akihabara in hopes of finding a shop still open that sold electronics. Veronica apparently took Japanese in the past, but her program focused more on the reading and writing, where as GSU focused more on speaking, conversation, and GRAMMAR, so she said she was very relieved that I was there to ask directions, as questions, and double translate for her (in my beautiful broken Japanese) so that she was very happy with her purchases. We went to a shop called Yodobashi Camera (www.yodobashi.com), which had really good prices and was open past 8:30 (which it was by the time we got over there, Akihabara is on the other side of Tokyo than Shinjuku, it took us a little more than 30 minutes). ~8 stories of tons of electronics at decent prices (my dictionary I bought before I left was only 2000 more than what I paid, and I got a really great sale). I also picked up several universal adapters for ~700yen. I figure I can probably sell the extra 2 amongst my fellow JETs and they’ll be rather happy, cuz that’s a wonderful price.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for food. It was my second time eating out (first was the first night’s curry, 650y with drink) and this time I got soba (buckwheat noodles) with ebi tempura (fried shrimp) in a broth for 480y. Beautiful. I love how “fast food” here is so my better and healthier than back home. McDonald’s, eat your heart out :P

Also on the way back we met a very nice man on the train who understood English pretty well and told us that that the train we were on was done for the night. The conductor was speaking such polite Japanese that we couldn’t understand him, so I was very relieved for the man. We had an amusing moment when a mosquito landed on his face and I tried to explain that he needed to slap it. He got the idea after a moment.

After that, I was really not tired, and Chris and Marnie hadn’t made it back yet, and my roommate was asleep so I went to the 47th floor and got some pictures of the city and finally submitted to going to bed. Now, like I said, it’s 2:52am and I’m tired, but not really sleepy. I realized that I just wasn’t going back to sleep when I started acting out my introduction speech in Japanese in my head, so I’m writing this to give me something for my brain to do that’s productive instead of just pissing me off that I can’t sleep.

I’m sooooo nervous. Until this point I’ve had Curi and Maru-ne to help me. They’ve honestly been my security blanket, and I know I’ll be fine. Tonight when I went off and talked for Veronica and myself just reinforced that knowledge, but it will be really hard to be so far away from them. I’ve left messages with their room to come meet me at a particular breakfast in the morning, so hopefully I’ll see them before we leave. Chris is heading out at 9, Marnie’s like me around 10. I’m really much more upset about them leaving then I thought I’d be. But yay for the power of the internet, right?

Okay, I think maybe I’ll take a shower after posting this. Maybe that’ll help me konk out. At some point I need to get my email list together to start emailing all of the people who wont know that I’m writing this. Sigh, even now that I’m here, there’s still too much to do.

Peace love and rock and roll.

PS: I really wish they’d given us some more time in Tokyo to see Tokyo. For those of us going very far away it’s not like we can easily come back and visit on a weekend . . .

Days 2 and 3 (begun)

Wow, have we been busy.

Yesterday was our first day of meetings. In the morning we sat with our prefectures in a large conference room, for about an hour. It was good to get to know people, chat and whatnot, but it was really long and rather hot. After that we had the opening ceremony with dignitaries who had to rush out right after they spoke. Then some Esential Information, and an introduction by AJET (association of Japanese exchange teachers). It went way over time, and we only had a small time for lunch. Shhhhh, I was late coming back, I’d gotten the times mixed up :P. After lunch we had a presentation, a small break and then more presentation. It was really long and I’d been up since around 3 so I was really really tired. After that we had again a smaller break because they were going late and then workshops that you could choose what to go to. I went to Getting more out of your Yen, and then I went to take a 30 minute nap. An hour and 15 minutes later I got up and dressed for the banquet. Afterwards the Okinawa Jets went out to some kind of famous bar and we had drinks and appetizers. The bathroom was scary. I’ll upload the picture shortly.

This morning I missed breakfast so I went to a convienence store and bought an ume onigiri (rice ball with a pickled plum in the middle) and a coffee drink. I was in a meeting all morning learning different activities for the Elementary schools and how they are graded (they’re not :P ) and now I’m waiting for the next set to begin.

I’ve met so many nice people over this weekend (most of them female because I’m less intimidated by them).

Lets see, Lorena is from Atlanta, and I don’t remember where she’s going, but she’s really nice.
Leslie (who I want to call Lindsay) is going to Gunma and is from Atlanta or Saint Luis depending on her mood. She’s amazing and really friendly.
The girl I sat next to on the first plane flight is going to Wakayama with Marnie, but I don’t remember her name.
And I finally met Teresa and Sam in person, both going to Miyakojima, from San Diego and South Africa.
I met Rana who is from Atlanta and going to Nagano. She’s bringing her husband with her in a few months.
Emily, my roommate is slowly talking to me more, she’s going to Okinawa mainland.
Veronica is (a leo) going to the island that’s between me and Taiwan. She’s already agreed to visit Taiwan with me ☺
And I’m sure there were others, but you know how it is :P

Okay, meeting starting. Talk to y’all later!

This was written the morning of 07-07-31, but as there is not internet anywhere except the rooms, you understand how busy we've been by the time stamp . . .