Golden Week - funtastic

This past week was the Golden Week holiday in Japan. It's called Golden Week because it's 4 national holidays all crammed within a week's period. If the stars align alright, most people can get most of the week off of work and essentially take an entire week off of work. However, Golden Week or just GW is one of the busiest times of the year. Most people will travel during this time, over the summer holiday in August, and during New Year's. Prices on flights and hotels will double in price and the waits in lines increase ten-fold because everyone in Japan is basically moving around.

This past GW, I had the chance to take Thursday off which was not a holiday and go to Mt. Fuji and visit Fujikyu Highland, Japan's most famous amusement park! It's not nearly as large as Six Flags Great America, but it's got a fantastic view of Mt. Fuji in the background. They have only 4 major rollercoasters, but they are fun enough to make up for anything. In the picture below, you can see Mt. Fuji in the background of some of the rollercoasters. We went on a very clear and sunny day, so we had a great view and the sun was shining bright. However, it began to rain a little bit later during the day, but overall, it was a great day and we were able to ride everything we wanted to!

The next day, we did some sightseeing around Mt. Fuji and a lake called "Kawaguchiko." This is one of the most famous lakes around the mountain with some of the most beautiful views. Well, take a look for yourself below...

So, this was a nice and relaxing trip to the mountain where we had some great weather and great times.

As of recently, I also began taking Japanese lessons from a local tutor who also teaches some of my friends around the area. I am aiming to take the JLPT N2 level this July and pass this time! 3rd time's a charm, right?! Haha, well I sure hope so! I don't want to sit through that test any more than I need to! I truly do feel that after starting the lessons, I have learned so much and am able to read more kanji than ever. I still have a lot of work, but the studying and lessons are really paying off. In addition, my tutor is helping me with job hunting preparation and resume writing in Japanese. Japanese business writing is a whole other beast in itself and will only come with practice and time.

Well, I have some studying and practice, but I am making progress slowly. On another note, my niece has been going through chemotherapy sessions for the past 4-5 months and has been in and out of the hospital. I haven't been able to see her in person, but through Skype and pictures, she looks like she's doing well and sticking it out. For only being 1 year old, she's super tough and laid back. I know she is on the road to slow recovery and continue to pray for her.

This week has been busy as our sister school in Wisconsin is here to visit for the week. This morning we had the welcoming ceremony and tour around the city, so I went around with them translating and helping out. It sure is challenging to switch between the two languages and translate on the spot, but it's actually really fun. If I expand my Japanese vocabulary, I think I could do a lot better. But with the words and phrases I know now, it's enough to get by and do the job. Well, the rest of this week will be packed with activities, ceremonies, and parties, so I'll be keeping busy!

2013...New Year's Resolutions

2013...later this year will mark 3 years in Japan. I've been here for about 2 and a half years now...and it's crazy to think that I have been here for this time. Time flies by so quickly and I've accomplished so much, yet feel like there are so many things to do yet. Late last year, I got engaged and things quickly changed since then.

I have my work cut out for me this year. It will be a jam packed but fun year with lots of change and challenges. I told my BOE a couple weeks that I was not intending to re-contract, to which they were disappointed. I felt bad, but I need to make the decision for my best interest. As much as I enjoy the people I work with and the working environment, it's time for me to continue to move forward in my life. I plan on moving to the Tokyo/Yokohama area after I finish my contract on JET. I will also hopefully have found a new job to start shortly thereafter. I would preferably like to find a job in the marketing/business field. I will also be marrying my best friend and lover in October! Talk about a fun filled year!

I hope that as I have these goals written down, it will help me to be accountable for them and stick to accomplishing them. I also found out recently that my little niece is going to be battling some difficult treatment for AML for the next few weeks and months. All my prayers go out to her and my sister's family. I wish I could be at home to support them and be with them during this difficult time. But I know that they will be able to go on with their strength and support of the people around them. 2013 will be a busy one!

Bunkasai - October 27th, 2013

My school had our Bunkasai Culture Festival this past Saturday on October 27th. It is when all the students gather to perform and compete in dances, singing, and provide entertainment. Since I started working at my junior high school, they've asked me to do a piano performance during the bunkasai. Two years ago and last year, I played a piano piece. However, this year I wanted to do something different and play a drumset solo. So I set up a drumset and played! It was fun! Check it out on my YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asvKi_KRQKQ

Speech Contest: Victory!

So today was officially the speech contest. I felt pretty good about my 1st and 2nd graders but not so much about my 3rd grade lineup. It was a long day which started at around 7:30 and went until 3pm...filled with many speeches and the stresses of students trying to do last minute memorization and many questions...

Well the day was filled with many good speeches and skits. I thought my 1st graders in particular did a great job! In fact, it was their best performance so far! But...unfortunately they did not even place! The competition for the whole 1st grade division was very tough and the level was incredibly high. The same story goes for my 3rd graders. Neither of them placed...but my 2nd grader is a different story! She is always a very solid performer and I knew that she would do a great job no matter what...somewhere in the top 4. But she did even better than that. She won first place! Yes! I was so happy to hear the news and excited that one of my students would be going to the prefectural level.

It was months of hard work and effort...finally paying off all in a matter of minutes. Well, the prefectural level speech contest will be held on October 12th. Until then, I will be practicing and coaching the 2nd grader.

This is a side-note...I had elementary school yesterday and there were many funny moments that occurred...the one in particular is during lunch with the students. We were all doing stupid human tricks, including me showing the students how I can move my ears. One of the girls (they are in 3rd grade) showed me one of her incredibly long eyebrows...it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life. She has one eyebrow that is grown to around 2 inches long...just sticking straight out from her face. She holds it there proudly and doesn't want to cut it. It's her pride and joy...and soooo funny!! Haha, I just had to document this so I wouldn't forget.

Anyway, cheer me on for my 2nd grader at the prefectural level! I hope she does well!

One week of freedom left

This is my last week of freedom! Well, not "freedom" but summer vacation. After this week, I will be back in the routine of classes, school, and other work. Right now, I just have speech contest practice during the summer which isn't too bad at all. On the days I have practice, I go in from 9-11 am and then I'm free the rest of the day. Some days, I don't even have practice! Living the dream...haha

But anyway, I just got back from a trip visiting Sami in Shanghai, China! It was a great time and we really had a blast. Here's the rundown:

August 17th (Friday) - Take off from NRT at 6:15pm and arrive at Shanghai. We went to club Muse and I saw my friend from college who I hadn't seen since I graduated.

August 18th (Saturday) - Hung out around Hongkou and went to the shopping mall in Hongkou. I picked up a pair of khaki slacks. For lunch, we got these flaky pastry things with cheese inside. Delicious. Also ate a bowl of delicious/cheap noodles at the shopping mall. For dinner, we ate

August 19th (Sunday) - Went to a flea market and then went shopping in People's Square. Walked on Nanjing Road as well. We ate dinner around People's Square. Delicious Chinese food!

August 20th (Monday) - We went to the French Concession. We ordered custom shirts. I ordered 3 for a total price of around 200 dollars...very cheap! Usually one custom tailored shirt would cost nearly the price of the 3! We went to dinner to a Hong Kong restaurant. Delicious!

August 21st (Tuesday) - We all went to Suzhou, a historic town a little west of Shanghai. We took a train to get out there. We came back to Shanghai in the evening and took it easy.

August 22nd (Wednesday) - Dave and I went to People's Square to continue some shopping again. Sami was at work so we explored while he was gone. We ate lunch at the mall and had the soup dumplings. Then for dinner we went to a Yunnan restaraunt called "Lost Heaven" ....so delicious!

August 23rd (Thursday) - Our last day! We stayed out very late and didn't get to sleep until nearly 4am. We ended up waking up around 1pm and had to leave for the airport right away to catch our 5:00pm flight.

Then on Friday I had an orientation for the new ALTs that came to Japan this past July/August. I had 2 presentations and was still preparing for them last minute. I stayed up til 3am and then had to wake up again at 7am to get to Chiba. Haha...I was on a serious lack of sleep.

Later on Friday evening, we had a welcoming dinner and everyone was out. Some decided to stay out all night and I was talked into it! So I ended up staying out all night on Friday and then on Saturday I hung out with some friends in Kashiwa. Finally on Saturday evening I got home and was able to relax. On Sunday, I headed up to the beach to meet up with a few friends in the Asahi/Sosa area. It was a new area to explore so I wanted to see what it was all about. I met some cool folks and had a great time.

This week, I'd like to make the most of my free time and check out the beaches again while they're still open for the season!

Summer Vacay!

I'm free!!!

So summer vacation officially started last Friday, July 20th. It was the last day of school and the rest is history after that. However, the day didn't start off on the right foot, haha. I slept in for work for the first time ever. I always used to sleep in for school during elementary, middle, and high school. But I haven't slept in for work yet. I usually get to work around 8am. But on Friday, I woke up at 9:36am....haha....and nobody called me to see where I was! Shows how much they actually care about me! j/k.....That day I didn't have any classes so I didn't miss anything. I was a few minutes late to the closing ceremony and then everything was fine after that.

But the day ended and then it was time for the weekend. My friend, Makoto, got married on Saturday, the 21st! He had the wedding at the Tokyo Bay Hilton Hotel, a very nice hotel right next to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort and Theme Park. It was pretty fancy to say the least. So my friend, David and I headed up to Chiba to spend the night and to relax for one last night with Makoto. We were also going to perform the ukulele as a special performance at the wedding so we practiced that a little bit. After chilling, we headed to the wedding on Saturday! It was very beautiful and even though it was cloudy/rainy, it was perfect weather. Recently, it had been hot....like 30-35 degrees C, but that particular day it was around 24 C. Perfect!!!

So we had the wedding and then later that evening, David and I went out for a little after party. Our friend, Will also met us out. We decided we wanted to stay out all night and so we went to a club nearby called Ageha. The biggest club in Japan! It was an alright night and we headed back early in the morning to get some rest in the hotel after being out all night! Heading back to the Hilton was a great way to get some rest after a long night out. One of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in!

The breakfast buffet was also absolutely amazing. Anyway, I got some rest and then I was able to get some amazing breakfast! Afterward, we headed back to Chiba to hang out and eat some lunch. For awhile now, I have been thinking about and preparing to propose to my gf....I know! Such a sudden mention considering I hadn't talked much about it. But I had been talking about it with my parents and sisters since the beginning of June. The last few weekends, I had gone to some stores and went window shopping. Last week, I stepped in to Tiffany's and found some really nice rings for very reasonable prices. I know, Tiffany's! But they actually have some lower priced, high quality items! I was very pleased. So I had the lady order in some rings for me to take a closer look at and they came in on Sunday. So David and Will came with me to give me their opinion and helped me solidify my decision! I am all set with a new engagement ring! I don't think my gf knows about this blog, so I hope she won't find out from this....haha. That would ruin the whole surprise.

But anyway, we hung out and then now I am back and relaxing for a great summer ahead. Cheers!

2 Years now

It's been 2 years in Japan now...I can't believe it! The time has gone by so quickly. I remember the first day I arrived here. It was soooo hot and humid. The sounds, smells, sights..everything was new! I remember stepping off the airplane and feeling tired but happy to have arrived. I was also anxious because I still had no idea what my living and work situation was going to be like in my new city. All I could think about or imagine were the stories from past JETs and advice from other people. I just wanted to know what MY situation was going to be like.

Well here I am 2 years later and things are much different today than they were back then. Here are some of the top things that have changed in my life since being here:
1. Listening/Reading comprehension in Japanese has increased sooo much! I am now a proud holder of the JLPT 3 certificate
2. I have been able to travel to at least 5 new prefectures since being here (Chiba, Tochigi, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Nagano, Fukushima, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi) but I still have many more to visit!
3. I have been able to travel to nearby Asian countries (South Korea, Thailand, and soon to be China!)
4. My organizational skills and class leading skills have increased. I am able to think through for organizing my classes/schools and I am also able to think quickly on the spot.
5. I am engaged to a Japanese woman! I will be getting married soon!

These are pretty big changes/events in my life. Who knows what I would be like had I stayed in the US for the past 2 years instead. Either way, I have no regrets whatesoever of coming to Japan and spending my time here! My regrets would have been much much larger had I not come to Japan at all!

I am loving my time here and want to enjoy it as much as I can. I just wanted to mark my 2 years here as a significant step in my life.

Golden Week Update!

So once again, it's been busy and I haven't been posting much lately. But one of the major things that has happened since my last post is Golden Week. This was in the first week of May, and my longtime friend from America came to visit! As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a very busy schedule and indeed we accomplished a lot during his 2 weeks here! Take a look via pictures!

Our trip started off down in Kyoto. We took an early morning bullet train there...which we just barely made by the way! We got to the station just as the train was arriving to take us up to Tokyo and we had only gotten 30 minutes of sleep the night before...literally! So we both passed out on the ride down to Kyoto. It was a great nap.

 We got there and enjoyed some of the sights. Gus also made some new friends who were drunk at 8am!










Our next stop was Hiroshima. This is us bonding with our new friends on Miyajima, or beautiful island translated. There are wild deer walking all over the island!

 We had to take a ferry to get to the island which was only about a 10 minute ride off the mainland.

 This is the famous shrine in the water...but it was covered up because of construction from a storm that had happened a month earlier...

 We made it to a baseball game! The Tokyo Giants vs. Hiroshima Carp

 Next on the agenda was a trip up to Nikko. There we saw many shrines/temples and also one of the top waterfalls in Japan!

 The last stop was a mountain in Chiba called Nokogiriyama (Sawtooth Mountain). It was a beautiful day outside and a great day for hiking!

 Some great sights from the top of the mountain!

Muddy Buddy

Life has been pretty busy lately. I have been back in the groove of working and getting back on track as the new school year started again this past April 2nd. Before that during spring break, my girlfriend and I made it back to the U.S. from 3/23-4/2 for a short trip back to visit my family and to explore Chicago and Milwaukee. It was a great time! I will update with pics and hopefully videos later!

This past Sunday, my longtime childhood friend (friends since we were 4 years old) arrived in Japan to visit! My gf and I went to Narita to pick him up from the airport. I was so excited for him to come and see what Japan was like...aka the motherland! I have known him for nearly all my life, but there was one side of me that he has never seen...which is the part of me where I'm truly from. We have a full itinerary scheduled out and there was no time wasting as soon as he arrived.

On Sunday night we got back to my house around 9:00 or 9:30pm. We stayed up for awhile chatting and catching up. We also started talking about what exactly we would do during his time here. This is when we realized that no matter how much time you set aside, there never seems to be enough time to fit in all that you want to do. After soon going to bed, I woke up the next morning (Monday) at 6:30am and as I was going to the bathroom he was already wide awake and had notified me that he had waken up bright and early at 4am!

On Monday I went to work as usual while him and my gf went around the city a little bit and enjoyed some fresh sashimi in Katsuura. They also went to a grocery store in the afternoon (at which he bought many many things you cannot find in America). Then on Monday evening we went to a yaki tori restaurant with my friends and gf. It was a great time....we stayed there for awhile and then eventually made it on to some karaoke. So the night began at 6pm and continued on until nearly 1:30am!!! It was a work night for most of us so it was pretty rough the next day (on Tuesday). Gus came to shadow me for a couple classes on Tuesday morning and although he is battling a sore throat and the jetlag, he did a great job getting the kids excited and making the class fun. They had lots of good questions and funny questions to ask. The rest of the trip will be cool as we will go explore other parts of Japan and have no day off! There's no time to waste!

Here is the itinerary as follows:
Wednesday-Thursday: Gus is in Tokyo exploring
Friday: We will be in Tokyo together. I thought there was a baseball game but I was mistaken...no game this night. I will have to tell him my mistake and we will figure something else out to do. Saturday: Head to Kyoto and spend the night there.
Sunday: Finish exploring what we didn't get to see and head to Hiroshima in the afternoon. Spend the night there.
Monday: Finish exploring Hiroshima and then head back home.
Tuesday: I have work and Gus will explore my area and relax/do laundry/get ready for the next part of our adventures.
Wednesday: Drive up to Nikko and explore/hiking. Visit the famous temple.
Thursday: Go do some more exploring and see the Kegon waterfalls.
Friday: Climb Nokogiriyama.
Saturday: Explore Chiba in the morning, then go to Narita to see him off.

Although a 2 week vacation sounds like a long time, it really goes by way too quickly. But we will have a blast and there will be lots of good memories.

The reason this post is called "Muddy Buddy" stems back from a story a looong time ago at Gus's house. We were about 4 or 5 years old and I was at his house. It had been raining a lot and there was some flooding in his yard. His father had us come out to help him drain some of the yard by clearing out the water and opening up some drains or sump pump. I'm not sure on those details, but we were basically in large boots (you know those old LaCrosse boots?) and rain jackets. While we were walking through the yard, I ran into a patch of pretty thick mud which had eventually sucked in my boots nearly halfway up my calves. At this point, I couldn't step forward because both my legs were stuck! As I was yelling for help, his father tried pulling me out but it did not work. Eventually he pulled me so hard that my feet slipped out of the boots, leaving the boots in the mud while I was floating in the air being held by his father. Needing the boots back, he put me back in the boots and got a shovel. He literally dug the shovel under my boots and scooped me out boot by boot until freedom. It's a hilarious moment and his father has called me "Muddy" ever since then. I can honestly say that I remember parts of this from my childhood and although it's not a 100% clear memory, I remember the scenery, the moment getting stuck, and being lifted out of the boots and being scooped out with the shovel!

Well, wish us luck on our journeys!

Takenoko (Baby Bamboo)

So it's been way too long since I've posted anything about my experience in Japan. Well, a lot has happened since winter break. During the holiday, I went on a ski trip to Hokkaido and had quite an adventure. It was a trip with the young teachers around the area and was a lot of fun. I got to fly to Hokkaido a total of 3 times in one trip! Haha...the first time we tried flying in there was a big snowstorm. We weren't able to land so we had to fly all the way back to Haneda. We just had to wait for our destiny....see what we had in store for us. After a full day of waiting, we were able to get on a 2nd flight to attempt a landing this time. This was a flight at 5pm and we got on. We approached Hokkaido and were able to successfully land!

The snow in Hokkaido was amazing...I mean amazing! It was the best powder snow I had ever snowboarded on. Overall, a great trip filled with good food, good people, and GREAT snow!

Then I went on a trip to Mt. Fuji onsen (hot springs) with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. We spent the night in Kawaguchi-ko. Then we went to Shizuoka the next day to visit my grandfather's grave. He actually has 2 tombstones in Japan. One in Nagano and the other in Shizuoka. I did not know that his hometown was actually Shizuoka until this past year. All this time I had thought he was born and raised in Nagano! What shocking news!

Then the 3rd day we met up with some relatives who I had met for the first time that were on my aunt's husband's side. We all had a very nice lunch and enjoyed each other's company. Overall, it was a good new year's. One of my friends who also used to live in Japan came back to visit for a few days so we all had fun hanging out as well.

But to bring you up to speed on what's been going on recently...graduation ceremonies and end of the year events. The junior high school's graduation ceremony was last week Friday. It was a rainy and sad day. The students graduated and though it was gloomy, it was a refreshing next steps for the students. They graduated and will now move on to the next step in their lives.

Since they graduated, the 3rd graders do not come to school anymore. It's been kind of quiet and lonely, but there's still the 1st and 2nd graders so it's not too bad. But classes have been pretty slow. It's the end of the year and not too much going on except for end of the year tests and other organizational/administrative things. The other day on Monday, we began watching the movie "Monsters Inc." I forgot about the movie and it reminded me of the good old days, haha.

Today, I had no classes scheduled as the students had tests. So that meant finding things to do for the entire day. However, my principal came up to me this morning and asked me, "Kento! Today's schedule? What do you have?" I replied by saying that I had no scheduled classes and would be preparing for other classes and my adult conversation class that I have on Wednesday evenings. He then said, "Ok, at 8:45, we go takenoko searching!"

I was actually pretty excited. I had never gone to go hunting for takenoko (baby bamboo). It's actually a lot more difficult than it sounds. In Japan, the season for takenoko is in the early spring. And they can be very pricey as it's very manual to look for takenoko. And you do not always get a lot even after searching for awhile. So we went to a nearby bamboo forest from the school. The process of searching for takenoko is mainly rubbing the ground with your feet and feeling it with the balls of your feet. Those who have done it for awhile will know the feeling and not be fooled by other roots/random tree stumps (as I was many times today). I managed to find one small takenoko that was probably about the size of a large thumb! Haha...but at least I found one. Recently, it's been pretty chilly here considering the time of year in Chiba, so not too many takenoko are around. Hopefully in the next few weeks as it warms up, more takenoko will be sprouting and hopefully I will have a chance to go again and find more this time. My principal found about 4 so we came back with 5 total!

Considering the conditions today, not too bad and a great experience. It was pretty fun and was something I didn't expect to be doing on a Wednesday morning. We spent about an hour out there searching and then came back. Not too bad!

Winter Break fast approaching!

I only have a few more days of school left until I am officially on winter vacation! Wooo! This year, winter vacation is from December 23rd until January 10th...meaning I have 18 full days off for break!

So..."what will you do?" you ask. Well, this week I will celebrate Christmas with my girlfriend. We will make a homemade dinner and enjoy spending time together. We will also go to Roppongi Hills which has a nice light up display all around. We went last year and it was really nice, so we want to go see it again.

Then from the 26th-28th of December I will be going to Hokkaido for some snowboarding! I can't wait! There is a group of young teachers from the area who put together the trip every year and invited the ALTs as well, so I definitely joined. We will be flying out from Haneda on the 26th and come back on the 28th. Then from the 31st through January 2nd, I will spend some time with extended family. I will meet them on the 31st down by Mount Fuji...not actually at the mountain but at a hot spring around the area. I still have to figure out how to get there, haha...but I'll figure it out. Then on the 1st and 2nd of January I will be traveling around with them and visiting some relatives who I have never met before. It will be a cool opportunity to meet some very extended family.

Then from the 2nd through the 4th a friend who used to live in Japan will be coming back and visiting, so we'll all get together and hang out. Should be a great time. Then the rest of the break I will just relax and do things as they come. Take it easy before going into the last semester of the school year! I can't believe that this school year is almost over and I will be going into yet another school year at the school!

It's been a great time in Japan so far and the adventures never stop. I am learning or discovering something new everyday and there's no other experience like the one I am getting during my time here!

Well, more updates to come soon!

Off to Kyoto

So a lot has happened since my last update. I turned 26...my sister turned 30...my nephew turned 2...and a new baby was born into the family! The newest member of the Cavanaugh/Amano clan is a cute little girl named Maia. Her birthday is on October 28th...only adding to the October birthdays in our family! Haha! She is still in the hospital getting her heart condition stabilized and training to get full feedings in before officially going home with Amy and Tim. But besides that, it looks like she's healthy and doing well from the pictures!

The weather here has been unseasonably warm. This past week, it has cooled down, but the temperature is still in the teens (in C) meaning upper 50's-60's. This makes it very comfortable and nice! School has been pretty busy as we are in the middle of the second semester...but the time is flying back very quickly! Thanksgiving is coming up soon and soon after that it will already be Christmas time again!

But the main thing I've been looking forward to this week is my first trip to Kyoto! I will be taking an overnight bus down from Yokohama and my girlfriend and I will get to Kyoto station tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we are planning on hitting up all the famous spots such as Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, Fushimi Inari Shrine, and Higashiyama Streets/Town. We will also play it by ear and see what else we can squeeze in, but I guess these are the priorities. On Sunday, we will check out whatever we didn't have a chance to see and then head to Osaka for a part of the afternoon. Then, it's on the shinkansen back toward home. It will be a short and sweet trip, but busy! I wanted to go during this time because it's famous for the fall season down by the shrines and temples. It may be a bit early and not all the leaves may have changed colors, but this was the only good weekend we could get together to go down.

Well, I'll have more updates after I get back and hopefully have some cool "Momijigari" pics!

Ohh, and happy Pocky day!! 11/11/11!!!

Typhoon Coming!

So today I woke up to a phone call from one of the teachers....No classes today! Why?! Well, typhoon number 15 was on the radar to come to the Kanto region and so it was going to be very dangerous for the students to come to school and go home in the middle of the storm.

Today, there has been on and off rain during the morning. But now, in the afternoon, TONS of rain has fallen and it has become more steady. The wind is also blowing very strongly and it's doesn't look good outside....

Here is a radar of the storm coming our way.

So today I have been at home, relaxing, and just hoping that my house doesn't blow over or flood....haha. Well it hasn't been that bad around here. The places where it hit the worst so far are further south in areas around Nagoya. Down there they've had bad flooding and mudslides...all things that I hope do not happen around the Tokyo area as well.

Well, stay safe everyone and we'll just have to ride out this storm!

The end of Summer break...

So summer break has ended and school is already back in session...and I managed to go through the whole summer without updating! Ooops!

I didn't mean to do that....I was just all over the place all the time and never had access to my blog to update easily or readily. I'll just highlight some of the major things that happened throughout my summer break in this catchup entry!

Well, the first day of official break was 7/21 (Thursday). Tomoe and I took a road trip up to Nagano which was a lot of fun. We visited many places around Nagano such as the famous Zenkoji Temple, around Nagano city, and Togakushi Temple (with beautiful trees and forests). We also made a stop by a famous soba restaurant and ate delicious soba and even indulged in some soba soft cream!

Then the next week I went into school here or there to prepare for speech contest practice. But the main event was on 7/29 when we took off for Thailand! We visited Bangkok first, arriving that Friday night. We met with my friend, Pete who I went to college with. It was fun and we stayed out all night. Then until 8/2, Pete showed us around Bangkok.

On the morning of 8/2 we flew to Phuket...where the white sandy beaches are! That day we got in and had time to explore since we arrived in the morning. We hung out at the hotel and took some time to relax. The next day, we moved in to the main part of town and visited a beach. We were able to take it easy on Phatong Beach and enjoy the scenery and some bodyboarding action. Then the next day we went on an island hopping tour to Phi Phi Island! One of the stops (Maya Bay) was where the movie, "The Beach" was filmed...and it was beautiful!!!! We even got to feed some monkeys on an island and do some snorkeling with beautiful fish.

Then on Friday we flew back to Bangkok where we had one final night and then flew out on Saturday, 8/6.

Thailand was an amazing country with awesome food and fun people. The people there are really nice and laid back. And so many people speak English! It's so convenient! Only 1 person there spoke some Japanese...but I guess it didn't matter because English is better for me anyway!

And the rest of the summer consisted of taking it easy and relaxing. My mother came into Japan around 8/6 and stayed until 8/20. During this time, I helped her with moving my grandmother to another nursing home nearby Yokohama. It's quite a change for her since she had lived in the other nursing home for the past 12 or so years....but my mother and other relatives were all there to support her and help her settle in to her new place. While my mother was in town we got to visit some places around Tokyo that my mother had never been to! We made a day trip out to Odaiba which was fun. We even went to a trick art museum where they had very real looking paintings and when you take pictures with them, it looks like you are part of the action. We also came back to my town where I live and did a little shopping and ate at kaitenzushi! We love going to the sushi place and eating some good sushi.

Then school started back up on 9/1 and since then I've been getting back into the grind slowly but surely. Summer was really nice because it's such a long break....and I don't really have any real responsibilities except for speech contest practice for my junior high school students. The speech contest is on 9/27 so I hope that this year at least one student will place or win! Today, I had elementary school and just finished....but from 5:00 we have one speech contest practice and then I will be finished for today.

This summer has been pretty hot...but compared to last year it is a loooot more bearable! There have definitely been days when it was unbearably hot, but recently there have been a couple cool days which helps a lot! I hope that it keeps getting cooler and things will settle down as I get back into the grind of work here.

Now that I'm back to a regular routine schedule, I'll hopefully be updating more regularly again. The summer vacation broke up my routine and I was all over the place...but now that school is back in session things will go back to normal. That's all for now and will update more regularly!

One year in Japan...

So I have not been updating as regularly as usual....it's been too hot and busy lately, so I feel that I had also gotten a little lazy. But as summer continues on, I will try to update more often.

Anyway, today (July 25th) marks exactly one year since I've been in Japan!!! Last year on this day, my flight arrived in Tokyo (NRT) and I arrived at the hotel in Shinjuku to get ready for our Tokyo Orientation. I remember that on this day, we got to the hotel and a group of us had decided to meet up for dinner. We were all tired, jetlagged, but excited. We went out to an izakaya and just enjoyed the first night in Tokyo. We didn't do anything too crazy since we were all extremely tired from the flight and traveling.

Now it's been one year and I am sitting in my house, on summer vacation with one year's worth of experience in Japan under my belt. I can say that quite a bit has happened and I have learned and become to appreciate a lot of things that I would not have otherwise if I were still in America or doing a different job. It's really amazing how much can happen within one year...while I realize at the same time how little can happen if you don't choose to either.

Since I've been here in Japan, I can say that I am a slightly different person than one year ago. Here is a list of things that I can do/realize now after having been in Japan for one year:

• I can navigate in and around Tokyo mostly without any guidance. I can get to most places without an issue or having to ask for directions.
• I understand a lot more of the Japanese in announcements, daily conversation, and even more professional/business environment Japanese than I ever knew before.
• I can drive a Japanese car very well....(the steering wheel is on the right side and we drive on the left side of the road) I even have my Japanese driver's license now!
• I have been snowboarding in a country besides the U.S.
• I have been able to travel to a neighboring asian country (South Korea) and will soon be making it to another (Thailand!) in a few days.
• I do not feel the least bit intimidated standing in front of a class full of students and speaking or making a fool of myself.
• I am not afraid of talking on the phone in Japanese to try and find out information or to take care of business/make orders/etc.
• I can read a couple hundred more kanji characters than I could read a year ago.

Things that I still want to accomplish or haven't quite gotten used to:

• I still haven't taken the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). I want to take this so that I have some certification on my level of Japanese.
• Travel within Japan to further places...namely Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, Osaka and Kyoto (down in Kansai), Okinawa, and the southern islands of Kyushu and Shikoku.
• Climb Mt. Fuji
• Go to a baseball game in Japan
• Be able to understand Japanese television completely
• There are no clothes dryers here! And no dishwashers!
• There is no parking available anywhere...without an expensive pricetag! Driving is just not the most economical means of travel.
• The summer heat!
• Fruit is so expensive.

But despite these differences, that is what makes the world interesting. These are merely observations and things that I have noticed during my first year here. There will be many more observations and experiences throughout the rest of my time here (which is still undetermined at this time).

Here's to more memories and the things that I will experience and continue to learn!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! It's one of America's biggest holidays of the year, yet I feel so far away from it. I guess I'm on the other side of the world right now, but usually the summertime reminds me of the 4th of July and the events that go along with it. I definitely don't see any American flags flying high around or the sounds of the patriotic music representing my home country.

Well, we had a barbeque this past weekend at my buddy's restaurant so I guess that was the closest thing to a 4th of July celebration while here. Anyway, I wanted to wish everybody a Happy 4th of July today!

The weather here has become insanely hotttt!!! It's not as hot as the peak last year but it's still warm! Everyday it's above 30 degrees C which is close to 85-90 with humidity....which makes it the worst! The humidity is what really kills....no matter where you go, the warm muggy and bad feeling stays with you. Even after a cold shower, the feeling latches back onto your skin as soon as you step out and you're back to square one....sweating, feeling hot, and uncomfortable. Well, at least tonight is feeling a little better, so there is a nice breeze coming through and I'll have my fan running. But that still leaves the rest of the summer with this kind of weather. Thank good I live by the beach! I'll be going swimming quite often!

It's hooooot!

So today was another ordinary day...but with one caveat.....IT'S HOOOT!

The temperature is around 30-32 degrees Celsius which equates to around 86-90 degrees F. Add humidity on top of that and it's not too pleasant being inside without fans and teaching kids all day! Haha, luckily I was at the elementary school today and I can wear more relaxed sports clothes. But no matter what....it's hot! Today I had 2 elementary schools. In the morning, I taught 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th grade at one school while at my 2nd school in the afternoon I taught the 5th and 6th graders. It was a fun day. We played lots of games and they had a lot of fun. However, with all the movement and games came more heat and it made it tiring. But I'm sitting in my house right now with my fan running and the AC on to help keep it cool. It definitely feels a lot better and I'm starting to cool down for the first time today!

This week is supposed to stay pretty warm with the exception of Saturday and part of Sunday. It should cool down but with that is rain, unfortunately....:(. Normally I wouldn't mind the rain too much but one of my buddies is having a BBQ on Saturday and if it rains that day, it will be sad. We can always do the BBQ inside his restaurant as well, but it would be more fun to be able to hang out outside as well and throw around a frisbee or do some summer stuff as well.

Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun today and it was a good time today. The 1st graders played a game called "Fruit Basket" for the first time today. But because we were learning colors, we did "Color Basket." I was surprised, though, because most everybody in Japan knows how to play "Fruit Basket." But since they are in 1st grade and just started school a couple months ago, they wouldn't have too much opportunity to play the game yet. At the end of class, they all said they had a lot of fun and enjoyed it so that was rewarding. Well, time to keep cool and only a few more weeks of class until summer break! Woooo!

Construction

So I have been removed from posting over the past week. I've been pretty busy and haven't been around too much so that's why I haven't had time to sit down and write more regular blog posts. But I'll hopefully get more caught up and get back into the routine. So last week I took the driver's test....and FAILED! What?! So I scheduled to go in again sometime when summer vacation starts because I don't want to have to use more vacation days to go up to the DMV to take the test. It's such a pain, and I failed for such a dumb reason....:(

There is a special course that people who want to get a Japanese driver's license are required to take the test on. It's like a real roadway with a series of obstacles, turns, and other mock things to replicate the real roads...except for a ridiculous part called the "Crank Turn" which is where my fate ended in obtaining my driver's license. So the crank turn is a series of three 90 degree angle turns and not to mention that it is very narrow to get around each turn...and there are poles that block the way so even if you clear the front bumper over the curve and don't go over with your wheels, the front bumper could hit those poles and you could fail on those. So I was doing well going through the test. I was 2nd in line that day which was lucky so I was able to watch someone else go first before I took the test. He did everything like I had read on the internet about what to do before the test. Checking under the car, double, triple, and quadruple checking all the settings and mirrors in the car, and obviously putting on your seatbelt before turning on the engine were all part of the drill. However, this guy had gone through and hit one of the poles in the crank secion which constitutes an automatic fail. We had to go directly back to the starting point and he was not allowed to finish the course.

I was up next. I did all the initial checkpoints, was doing well, and had a lot of confidence....until we hit the crank turns. I went in for the first turn but it was a tight left turn so I did not make it in. I did a reverse which is fine in order for me to get in. Then came the 2nd 90 degree turn....again I had to back up. Then there was the 3rd 90 degree turn on which I had to back up twice....for a total of 4 times that I had to reverse so that I was able to navigate the car through...which apparently led for me to fail! Wow...I was so mad. I can't believe that even though I was able to navigate the car through, that they failed me because I had to back up. I think that even if I had to back up, I should have still gotten full credit because I was able to navigate it through without hitting anything or going over the curve. So....I have to make the trek back there and retake the test. So for now, I'm still just past part 1 of getting my Japanese Driver's License.....Oh well. As the Japanese say....."しょうがない" *deep sigh

Anyway, I am posting this weekend as well because I have some rare time in my house. But this time that I have in my house was not my choice....when nature decides to wreak havoc and cause leakage in your roof and ceiling, it's time to get a new one. So there are a couple of construction guys who are here today to replace the inside roof because there was some water damage to the ceiling. They are also replacing the floor in my kitchen. There are a couple "hot spots" which sink down when you step on them. So I told them about those as well which had been there since I moved in. So they're finally going to fix all of that today. But the only issue was that they needed to be able to come for a full 1 or 2 days because it's a rather large project. But I have work throughout the week....so that meant that I had to be home during a weekend so that they could come to do their stuff. Bummer.....but I'm glad that they'll hopefully be able to get this all done and get this show on the road. Just waiting and HOPING HOPING HOPING that they finish it all today so I don't have to wait around for them tomorrow to finish up.

Until then, I'll be occupying myself with some cleaning in other rooms and watching movies.

Need to swim?

This week has been a pretty normal week so far. I haven't posted since I made a trip out to the driving center to go through the first step of getting my Japanese license. Today was an ordinary day at school where I taught two 3rd grade classes, two 2nd grade classes, and a 1st grade class. It was pretty busy because I had class 5 out of the 6 periods!

But the main thing I wanted to blog about was my gym experience yesterday. In my eikaiwa class there is a member who is very active and likes sports. He is 60 some years old and still goes to the gym at least 4 times a week, goes skiing every year in Switzerland, and wakes up early every morning to do pushups and situps. Not to mention tennis every Sunday as well. So we were talking one day about a nearby gym and I was interested. He offered to take me there with him one time along with another eikaiwa member. So I happily agreed because I wanted to know where this gym was and it would be nice to go and get in the pool as well and get some much needed swimming in. So we went yesterday and he picked me up around 5:30.

So we got to the gym and stretched and hopped into the pool. After swimming the first 2 laps I was already out of breath....hahahaha! I was actually pretty tired and took a 20 second breather, then continued a bit more. But the continuation was in increments of 50 meters with breaks in between each time. Meanwhile, I saw other people in there in their 40's and 50's swimming continuously. The eikaiwa members that I went with were also taking it easy but they were swimming more than I was....I felt....so out of shape!! Haha. But in all honestly, there are two different types of being in shape. There's running and there's swimming. I am definitely NOT in swimming shape! I am much more used to running and would be able to run at a normal pace for a longer distance. MUCH MUCH more so than swimming. But still, I felt pathetic against all these other people. I didn't get a tally on how many total yards I swam, but it wasn't much more than 500. I think the eikaiwa members I went with swam closer to 1000 yards maybe....didn't keep track but more than me! Haha. So I decided that I want to get more into swimming for a few reasons. It is very healthy because you get an overall body workout. Swimming works your whole body, whereas running will work mainly your legs. Swimming is also easier on the joints because it is in the water. Your knees are not being crushed or pounding continuously on the ground or treadmill. There is no risk of shin splints or other such injuries. And finally I won't feel embarrassed the next time I go swimming with other people because I will be able to go longer than 100 yards without nearly passing out.

Haha, so the moral of the story is that even if you think you are in good shape, there will always be a 60+ year old Japanese man or woman who will school you...NO MATTER WHAT!

Step 1 of Japanese Driver's License...Success!

Today I had the day off because in place of having class and school on Sunday, I had today off. It's a random day off, I know....but it's better than nothing, right?! So today I planned on going in to the Japanese version of a DMV. They call it the License Center which is basically the automotive place to take care of things that you would do at the DMV in the States.

So this morning I made my way up toward Chiba city to the License Center in order to first get my American license translated into Japanese. Apparently, you must get it officially translated by the JAF (Japanese Automotive Federation) which is kind of like AAA. So I went and did that and it only took around 30 minutes. After finishing that at around 10:45am I headed over to Kaihin-Makuhari where the License Center is and went there to await what was in store for me in order to get my Japanese License. Apparently, the process is long and painful...and indeed I can see why.

For starters, it was rainy and gloomy today so the trek wasn't as nice, but I guess it wasn't pouring so that was good! Once I made it to the center, the reception desk for changing your license from a foreign license to a Japanese one was only open from the hours of 8:30am-9am and 1pm-1:30pm! Haha....I arrived at the center around 12pm so I had to wait for about an hour before I could even get my documentation to someone to have them check it so I could take the written test. Well, I got to get some kanji studying in so it wasn't too bad. Finally at around 1pm I handed in a multitude of items...

• My current U.S. Driver's License


• My old U.S. Driver's License (expired one)


• My current passport


• My old passport (expired one)


• The translated license provided by JAF


• My alien registration card (Japanese ID)

They were basically checking to make sure that I had lived in America for at least 3 months after having received my Driver's License. After that was all checked and finished, they took me to a room where I could take the written test. This is step 1.

It was an easy test. It was only 10 T/F questions and they were pretty common sense. The only challenge was getting around the translation from Japanese into English...which was not so easy on one of the questions! So during the test, I asked the proctor if he could explain more what one of the sentences meant. I can't remember verbatim what the question was but it went something like this....:

Original Question:

"When driving on a road, large motor vehicles and mopeds must keep to the extreme right and light small vehicles and extremely light ones must keep to the extremely left, when approaching a lane which has a change direction."

I read this a couple times and it didn't really make complete sense to me...so I thought about it a little bit and skipped it. After coming back to it, I looked at the picture which accompanied it and figured it was probably trying to say something like this:

My Interpretation:

"When driving within the lane, large motor vehicles and mopeds are required to drive along the right side of the lane while smaller vehicles such as bicyclists are required to drive along the left side of the lane."

I talked with the proctor while he was giving me the eye exam and he had asked me what was confusing about that question. I told him that the last line of the question didn't quite make sense because I wasn't sure if they were trying to say that when you turned into a lane after making a right turn, the vehicles must be in those positions within the lane, or while it was running normally in the lane. He then was like, "Ohhh, I see. Then if it was confusing for you then it might be confusing for other foreigners taking the test as well!"

Haha, I agreed and kindly offered to write down a cleaner way to word the question so they could correct it and ensure that other people wouldn't make a mistake while answering the question because of misinterpretation. He gratefully accepted. So after I finished filling out the applications and getting my appointment set for coming back to take the road test, I wrote down on a piece of paper a more natural way of wording the question. He thanked me and said they would definitely make the change. I guess I'm becoming a natural teacher! Haha! The only thing that was going through my mind was..."Since I helped you with this...could you please just give me the Japanese License now without having to take the road test?!"

Well, I'm scheduled to take the test next Thursday (the 9th) in the morning so I'll have to make another trip out there and probably have to take some time off from school in order to go. They are only open on the weekdays so I have no other choice.

I'm glad that I was able to pass the test and before having taken the test, I read a lot of blogs and information on there about switching to a Japanese License. I even read online that other people had written that it would be tough to get around some of the questions because of the wording or translations, much like the one I encountered today. My question is, if other people experienced it and write about it online, why aren't the tests fixed into better English now? Those people should have also helped by providing a more natural way of wording the questions! Anyway, I hope I pass the test next week and will not have to make more trips out there!