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!