J. Loseth

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:03:57 GMT

wow. clearly i have gotten busy.

as people may have surmised, things have been pretty hectic here. i visited a city in the next prefecture, hung out with some friends, and started the school year. suddenly i understand the importance of breaks and prep times. luckily i have plenty of those... the teachers don't seem to give me more than three classes in a single day, which is nice. even so, i have to drink a lot of water between classes because my voice gets tired from all that talking.

outside of classes, i've tried two activities, one of which rocks and one of which i'm not so sure of. the first is taiko drumming, which has a lot more in common with dance than i'd expected. it is awesome and fun but hard on my knees--lots of squatting and standing and jumping. i also tried martial arts which was not so fun. i don't intend to go back, but i have to figure out some way to tell that to the people who invited me. i might just say it's too expensive. nice excuse.

i'm pretty tired. i feel busy even without any socializing, which i guess is good? anyway, that's why i'm not writing much, and will probably continue to not write much for a little while. i know i should upload my pictures. trust me, it's on the list.

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:57:39 GMT

i had a new 'best day in japan' yesterday. i went to the nabari nishi senior high school english seminar to help a lot of very brave japanese high school students with their english. it was an absolutely fantastic time. all of the activities were productive, fun, and instructional, and i met some great people in addition to, i think, honestly helping some kids with their english.

my group of kids and me (pic taken on my camera phone)

getting to the seminar was pretty nuts because i missed my local train due to stupidity (i was sitting there when it left, but it was on the wrong track and i didn't realize it was going my way until it pulled out) so i spent the whole morning in a mad dash to catch up with everyone. in the end this involved a sprint for a limited express (more expensive train - think amtrak) for an extra 800 some yen, but i got there on time! this is a big deal because late = very bad in japan, and i'd been frantically texting with my supervisor all morning to try to make sure i got there okay.

we did a lot of great things at the seminar. it was conducted entirely in english, so the kids had to use their skills a lot, which was great for them i think. i got to do my self-introduction three times, which was great practice, and i think the students enjoyed it. at lunch i got to wander around and meet some of the kids in other groups, particularly the group of seniors who are leaving in less than a week to study abroad in the us! i'm really impressed by all of them. i gave my email to several so they could ask me questions and one, a very sweet girl named kaori, emailed me the picture she took with me.

boy do i need a haircut

one of the best activities was called 'around the world.' the kids had to go to different stations where we, the teachers, sat and pretended to be various authorities. i was a london doctor in the scenario where the student became sick while traveling abroad and had to deal with hospital procedures. it was a ton of fun and i think great practice for the kids. in the end, i knew a lot more people, i had a great time, and my group won second place overall for the seminar! i'm very proud of all of them.

today i chilled out at home because i was dead tired after all that running around. i also ache all over for no apparent reason, but it's not really bad, just annoying. the one thing i did do today, as maybe inferred from my previous post, was get my first intense ARRGH GIVE ME FAMILIAR FOOD craving. to solve this problem i went to the store and bought a ton of meat (including BEEF, i don't CARE if it's expensive), spaghetti, meat sauce, a different brand of milk tea i managed to find that is less good but still milk tea-ish, and two glorious, glorious frozen pizzas, one of which i devoured in its entirety. that isn't as gluttonous as it sounds, by the way. japanese food comes in much smaller portions.

later i cooked more teriyaki chicken, which was even better after having marinaded all day long, and all evening i've been watching the broadcast of some kind of world athletics competition that's going on in osaka. it's a track and field thing so far but i'm secretly hoping there will be some gymnastics later.

the very best thing about today, though, is this. know what that is? that, my friends, is the japanese broadcast schedule for nfl games. two words for you.

boo yah.

CURSE YOU JAPAN.

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:21:59 GMT

GIVE ME BAGEL BITES OR GIVE ME DEATH.

wowzers

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:46:20 GMT

holy freakin crap do i have a lot to talk about. i'm just gonna jump right in.

on thursday and friday of last week i went to the all-mie jets orientation in the prefectural capital of tsu. it was, as expected, full of really long boring speeches and presentations speckled with little gems that were actually incredibly helpful. on thursday night i got cranky and did not go to the bar with everyone else, but i was staying with someone in tsu--i clearly had not thought this through. i wound up wandering the incredibly dull streets of tsu for several hours and eventually let a czech-canadian stranger buy me an oolong tea in a nearby bar. i'd expand that story but i have way too much other stuff to get through.

on friday night i left tsu and went to iga, birthplace of ninjitsu, for their obon festival on saturday. one of the other jets very kindly let me stay at her place. we had an awesome night talking and watching documentaries. the festival on saturday was excellent. a ton of jets came and we all had a great time watching japanese dances, both traditional and modern; oohing and aahing at bmx bike trick ninjas; applauding brazilian flamenco dancers; petting hedgehogs for sale; taking pictures with monkeys on display; and wandering through tons of booths full of food, drink, games, and crafts for sale. it was great, i met a lot of new people, and i got to do the traditional obon dance. i have pictures which i might post/integrate into this post later, but for now i'm just worrying about the text. the jet group almost went for karaoke afterwards, but the restaurant we stopped at first was abominably slow so we didn't. but that was okay. i watched a documentary about caves and took a bath. life was good.

on sunday i was invited to go swimming in a river with some of the jets i had met at the festival. we took a train down to matsusaka, home of the famous beef, and were picked up at the station and taken for a 40 minute drive out into the countryside. i think the town we went to was odai, but i'm not really sure. we swam in a beautiful clear river at a spot where it was so deep that i couldn't touch the bottom even when i dove for it. after the swimming we went to another jet's house and had a barbecue, which was awesome, and then i was driven back to the station so that i could take the train home.

i have no idea what happened on monday. i think i was exhausted and busy. i honestly forget all about it. oh, except that i tried three times to give my neighbours omiyage and they weren't home.

but YESTERDAY, tuesday, goes down in history as quite possibly my most awesome day so far in japan. it was a lot of little things. i got to stay home in the morning since the teachers had a meeting, so i slept in and spent some time talking to friends online. i was a lot better on my bike and made it to school without getting off once. i can now look around without losing my balance and falling into things. then, when i was at school, i talked to one of the other teachers. she was really sweet and we exchanged cellphone info, and she offered to drive me to the teachers' party that night so i didn't have to take the train! as soon as i got home that day i gave one of my omiyage to a downstairs neighbour, and then i was picked up by hattori-sensei to get my gaijin registration card (finally!)

THEN, just as i got home (literally as i was stepping out of the car) deacon and his kids drove up and invited me to come swimming in the river! i warned them i had very little time but then went anyway. it was a very quick dip but it was a ton of fun. his kids are abominably cute and the river was really nice. we then high-tailed it back to my place just in time for me to throw on clean clothes and run out to catch my ride. the enkai (teachers' party) was awesome. i tried a lot of new japanese food (i ate tofu without barfing, go me) and talked to lots of people. i even learned some names. after the food a bunch of us went for karaoke--my first time doing it in japan!--and i had a great time there too. all in all an awesome day.

today really rocked too, actually. i didn't get too bored in the morning, i had a great lunch from the conbini, and i got a lot of work done in the afternoon. i pitched some ideas for english club to my jte and had a reasonably good reception, and then i printed and laminated a bunch of pictures to use at nabari english camp on friday. kimura sensei was really helpful. she even drove me to the store to buy laminate plastic. the only sucky thing about today was that THEY STOPPED CARRYING MY MILK TEA AT THE STORE. they don't sell the 1.5L bottles anymore! i was so upset i forgot to congratulate myself on successfully asking after it and understanding the answer in japanese. no milk tea! woe!

so now i am home, where it was 95 degrees with 50% humidity when i walked into my apartment. sweet, sweet a/c, i love you so.

and now my hands hurt, so no more typing. the end!

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:32:53 GMT

i am home from tsu/iga/matsusaki and very tired.

more later.

festivals rock

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:25:50 GMT

today was filled with awesome. it's the 15th of august, which is the anniversary of the date that world war II ended. i'm ashamed to say i didn't know that until i was told. this is an important day in japan, and i'm not sure whether it's coincidence or not, but it falls in the middle of obon, the holiday when the ancestors return and the japanese honor them.

i hadn't been able to find out if there were any festivals happening for obon in my town. i might have mentioned that one of the other jets clued me in to one in iga this weekend, but i hadn't heard of anything for toin. on my way to work every day, i pass the toin shrine (or maybe it's just one of them), and i always want to go in and look, but i never have. today i stopped because something was clearly going on.

when i climbed the slope, there were a whole bunch of people dressed in festival type garb dressing up what i think is a mobile shrine. i took a couple tentative pictures and then turned to go, but one of the men beckoned me back and encouraged me to take pictures from all angles, especially the intricate woodwork designs. i was incredibly proud of myself because i managed to ask him, in japanese, when the festival would start and i understood the answer. i headed off to work, but when the appointed time (10am) came around, i asked and received permission to go see.

when i got there, a small crowd was gathered, and everything was very exciting. the shrine was just getting ready to set out and some very nice japanese people encouraged me to help hold the ropes to keep it steady as it descended the ramp. i took a very small video of the entourage setting out, though i now wish i'd taken another one later because the drumming pattern here isn't the same as the one used throughout the rest of the procession.

from there on it was a slow march through the heat down to the train tracks and back. some people helped by taking a piece of the rope that drew the shrine forward, and men in green wrapped jackets took shifts as the taiko drummer or one of the two gong-ringers on either side. there was always a beat going. traffic was stopped as we crossed major roads and headed down to the train tracks. then we turned around and went back to a small parking lot, where someone had set out ice chests full of cold tea and juice boxes, of which everyone was encouraged to partake.

while the drummers and pullers were resting, the beat kept going, perpetuated by the kids! every kid who wanted to was given a chance to either drum or ring the gong, as they chose. those who didn't know the beat yet were helped by adults. i did think about going up and asking if i could try, but eventually chickened out because no matter how many times i listened i couldn't be confident that i knew the beat by heart. next time, though, i'll ask someone to show me. guaranteed.

just as we were finishing up and getting ready to process back to the shrine proper, we heard another processional from the other direction! apparently another shrine's festival had come to the other side of the train tracks, and i headed over to snap a couple pictures before we headed back to our own shrine. at the end of it all, the portable shrine ended up at the community center at the base of the road that leads up to the shrine proper, and the kids must have kept the tradition going all day because when i headed past there on my way home from work, they were still doing it. check out all my pictures here.

today also marked a new era of bike comfortability, as well as the realization that my bank is just down the street from the shrine! we passed it during the processional, heh. now i know.

i also uploaded some other pictures, so check out the new galleries. i'll try to take more this weekend.

busy, it seems

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:50:51 GMT

it doesn't seem like i've had a whole lot going on, but i've felt pretty busy lately. dunno what's up with that.

today is my last day at work for the week, which is cool. it's been incredibly quiet there this week due to obon, which means i've spent a lot of time studying japanese. not enough, though, to be able to flawlessly text-mail my supervisors from my new cellphone. it took so long for me to decipher the first one and eke out a reply that i actually got a second mail asking if i had received the first. it became a lot easier on the second and third parts of the exchange, though, because i started to figure out the japanese input method, and unsurprisingly it is a lot easier to type in japanese on a japanese cellphone than it is to type in english. there's still the whole problem of understanding the language, but i'm working on that.

tomorrow and friday i will be in tsu, the capital of mie, for the mie jets orientation. i'm pretty excited about that as i haven't been to tsu yet, and this will also force me to use the train lines and get familiar with the ways of getting around the prefecture. then on saturday (i'm pretty sure it's this saturday) there's a festival in iga that one of the other jets (i think a cir) emailed me about to let me know. it sounds really awesome, running from noon into the night, and he said he'd give me more details at the big shebang. i'm really looking forward to it. i just hope i can find someone in tsu/iga/wherever to let me stay the night so that i don't have to take the train all the way back to toin and then back down to iga.

i bought a new bento box to replace the one i broke. this one is much simpler and more utilitarian, because even though i liked the rabbit one i could not justify spending another 980 yen on something i already own. i did put it in the rabbit bag, but i am not using the rabbit chopsticks because it comes with its own chopsticks attached to the top. how great is that? AND it says MICROWAVE OK on the package, so hopefully i will not have this problem again.

last night i also FINALLY bought my own pair of indoor shoes for school so i no longer have to wear the painfully tiny guest slippers. go me! they were also on sale, i think, which was awesome. anyway they were fairly cheap. and i paid my electric bill at the local convenience store, which is really a cool idea. i sort of wish i knew where my bank was. maybe i can get someone to show me how to get there by bike, aheheheh.

yesterday when i got to school the place was locked. luckily someone came along moments later to let me in, but it was just me and that one other teacher all morning. if no one is there today, and i wait several minutes without any new appearances, i'm just gonna go home. no reason to sit outside the school and kick dust.

a final note: sorry to people whose comments i haven't replied to. when i think about my life, it seems like i'm not doing much of anything, but when you actually get down to it i seem to be pretty busy, and my online time is limited. i do read every single comment, as well as all the emails i get, but sometimes i don't dash off a reply. i'll try to be better about that.

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:29:34 GMT

i'm pretty glad i went to work this week instead of taking off. it's naturally very quiet at the office, since there are only about three people there, but it's a good atmosphere to study and i can even get online a little. plus, if i hadn't gone, i wouldn't have gotten my phone yesterday--or rather, if i'd been off traveling somewhere, i would have been waiting longer. i also got invited to a party with the other teachers yesterday. sasaki-san gave me a map and a time schedule for the train and i'm actually looking forward to it.

did i mention that after the absurdly long telephone fiasco, the boe guys who had taken me took me back to school and put my bike in the car and drove it home? it was funny and very sweet of them. unfortunately i left my bento box there, but i didn't really have anything to put in it today since i was too wiped to make any real dinner last night so there are no leftovers. that's the one crappy thing about yesterday: i microwaved the bottom of my box with the lid half-on to cover it, only afterwards realizing that said lid was not microwave safe. it's now warped and has a hole in the top, making it pretty much useless, and that means my box now fails to stack the way it should. i dunno what i'm gonna do about that.

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:41:56 GMT

la la la. weekend was pretty relaxing. it rained last night so the air feels much cooler today. i still feel like i should get out and explore toin more, but i really dislike riding my bicycle on the narrow roads with cars barrelling by. i've fallen off the damn bike so many times my legs are covered with bruises. it's humiliating and painful. i think the place is too big area-wise to explore on foot, though, unless i really wanted to get hot and sweaty and gross all day.

i'm going to go into work this week (for the first three days anyway) despite the fact that barely any teachers are going to be there. i really couldn't find anyplace worth using my nenkyuu for that i could get to on such short notice. i have to figure out how to get to tsu on time (and what time we're even supposed to be there). really not looking forward to that honestly.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:19:03 GMT

i also saw myself on tv, from the interview they had me do as soon as i got into town. i looked fat, pale, and unkempt. this is one depressing night. also, i hate my voice. the end.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:33:59 GMT

apparently i missed some kind of festival in my town. i found it on tv tonight while flipping channels and it looked really cool. my mom says it could be older footage, maybe from before i came, but the weather looks like it also could have been today. if i missed out on something i could have gone to i'm going to be really upset. hell, i'm already really upset. all of the orientations and literature claimed that we wouldn't have to worry, people would seek us out for these, but no one breathed a word of it to me. i even asked at school about festivals and got nothing. did they figure i'd just know? how could i have? ugh.

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 07:58:31 GMT

things are picking up here so i'll make this short and sweet.

deacon and i went biking yesterday and i fell into a rice field. he has a picture somewhere.

rice balls are much easier to make once one butters one's hands.

my house already has a connection setup for mansion-type (that means apartment here) fiber-optic internet, so all they need to do is run a cord when it's time. this will be 70 mbps (or whatever the units are, i forget) rather than 100, but it's still fast as all get-out and will be half the price of the 100-unit connection.

i'm having a friend over tonight for the first time.

another friend and i are going to go to kyoto next week and see what we can see.

i left my bike at school when they came to pick me up to look at the internet situation, so i have to walk tomorrow.

go me

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:49:47 GMT

yet another minor victory i forgot to mention, and one that occurred tonight:

1. i looked up the kanji for "low fat" in my jet diary and matched it to the correct milk carton in the store

2. this beef/peppers/onions/some sauce thing in a box shit that i cooked tonight rocked. i'm saving the box so i can buy it again, though beef is mad expensive so i will probably not have it often. i don't see why i couldn't sub in chicken though, since if i'm reading the katakana right it's meant for pork. i could, uh, be totally wrong though, since i imagine the japanese would have their own word for pork. okay, i give up, i have no clue what that katakana says.

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:01:36 GMT

today was my first actual full day of work. for real, yo. i biked there without a problem and it was pretty short, maybe 10 mins. easy peasy. i met some more kids and said hello. i even took a picture of the school, but just then my camera decided to run out of battery and i hadn't brought any more with me, so i'll have to do more tomorrow. my bento turned out awesome, thankyouverymuch, and i'll post a picture when i stop being so lazy.

i went shopping after school since tuesday is bargain day and i picked up a few things, most notably some sauce type stuff for a stir fry (i think it's supposed to be pork but i'm gonna use beef, so there) and a packet of what i think are herbs for making onigiri. maybe they're dried veggie flakes. i'm not really sure, but i'm fairly confident they aren't fish.

speaking of food, i ate dried squid today. it was revolting, but i was trying to be polite. next time i will politely decline. i did finish it though, mostly. i wasn't about to eat the weird black part on the end.

i have what is basically an enforced vacation next week. what the hell should i do? i don't know this place well enough to know where to go, and i'm sure all the other jets still have school. grr! i might just hop a train to kyoto and see what i can see. maybe i can find a kyoto jet to let me crash at their place.

SUCCESS.

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:03:44 GMT

at last, at LAST i have achieved... SUCCESS!

that, my friends, is some bitchin' teriyaki chicken over rice with salad and milk tea. oh hell yes. i made the marinade, let it soak, broiled the suckers, and it came out awesome! flavourful and tender and yum and not even dry. i win at cooking!

this morning's bike ride was also a success. i didn't go out for very long, but i managed to find the school after one false start and determined that the ride takes 10-15 mins from my house. man, i am gonna have thunder thighs when this is all over. of course right now i have noodle thighs, but i'm working on it. i also was sweating buckets, but i blame both the heat and the fact that i was biking on a major road, so trucks were WHOOSING past me, like, a foot away. sort of scary. i'm gonna see if there's a way with more back roads i can take, because that seriously shaved years off my life. call me a wuss if you want, but japanese roads are very narrow and the trucks come pretty damn fast. i didn't crash today though, which was a plus because i did have an encounter with a wall yesterday that went entirely in the wall's favour.

GUESS WHAT ELSE. i THREW OUT MY TRASH. /successdance. it was getting gross and smelly because it's the burnable trash, so it has all the organic material in it, but i LOOKED on the calendar, SAW it was orange trash day, and PUT IT OUT. if you don't think this is exciting you've either never lived on your own in a foreign country where you can't read the trash separation instructions or it's been too long.

i think i am going to make a name plate from my door, but i should probably wait until i am better with katakana.

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:18:23 GMT

the problem with japan is that i would gladly go through one of their normal-sized juice/soda/milk tea bottles EVERY DAY. maybe two.

dammit i forgot to buy cornflakes.

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:35:51 GMT

this morning i woke up at 4.30 and, on tv's advice, took a 5am bike ride through my town. it was really nice, and now that i've got air in the tires it's a lot easier. i took some pictures and said hello to some people, both of which were good things.

i'm trying a new site for picture uploads: photobucket. i really don't like the layout as much as flickr's, and it's not as easy to use, but flickr wants me to pay them $30 to get more than two sets to organize pictures into, and i find that unacceptable. photobucket does it for free, just in a difficult and confusing format. sigh. guess you get what you pay for.

anyway, here are my pictures of toin, including those i took on this morning's bike ride. hope you can stand the format enough to enjoy them.

by the way...

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:46:33 GMT

how do you spray a wasp nest without getting stung to death? is there some principle here that i'm missing?

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:43:46 GMT

more qualified successes yesterday and today. yesterday was the first time i actually went to work, so to speak, and did some stuff relating to my job, even if that stuff was just meeting people and talking about schedules. kimura-sensei seems really awesome. i think she's my main jte, but she introduced me to several of the other english teachers as well. everyone was really nice and friendly and they all seemed really eager to talk to me, even the ones who don't speak any english. the english teachers all seemed excited to have me and all asked me to help them with their english. the teacher at the desk next to mine saw me practicing some japanese writing and helped me with the stroke order. i learned to write my first kanji! i'm not sure exactly which part means what, but the gist of it is that i can write "today is friday" in japanese. go me.

i got a little tour of the school from kimura, got to sit at my desk for a bit and converse with some people, and got to see first-hand that they all liked the jelly belly gumball machine i brought them. there was a serious dent in the beans which i think is a very good sign. i haven't given out any of my other gifts yet, mostly because i'm uncertain who should get what, but i'm sure i'll figure it out in the time ahead. the other great thing about yesterday was that i got to meet some of the kids who were around practicing their sports over break, and these kids are kind of ridiculously adorable. they were all really excited to meet me and i was pleasantly surprised to find that they want to speak english with me as much as possible. even when i was just walking by outside they'd wave and say "hi!" or "bye! see you later!" in english as i passed. i think it's going to be cool to work with them.

today i did some shopping. i managed to figure out the washing machine and washed my clothes and hung them to dry. i'm really glad i did some washing today because the machine has a really low capacity, so i'm definitely going to have to do wash at least once a week. as for shopping, i got a frame for the picture that deacon gave me, and it looks great on the wall. i also got some necessities: a tea kettle, a potholder, a nail clipper, wasp spray, and my very own bento box! my mom told me i should just use the puke-pink one that was already in the house, but you know what? it makes me feel so much better just to have my own lunchbox in the colours and style that i want. it's dark blue with a little picture of a rabbit and some dark-coloured flowers, and i just love it to death. it's also bigger and will fit more stuff, and it's much better made. yes, i sprang for the matching chopsticks in a little case. don't judge me. being happy with my home and my stuff greatly improves my quality of life.

last night my parents called, which was cool. it was fun to hear from them. we talked about maybe setting up skype for me with a call-out function and perhaps a skypein phone number, since it'd actually be cheaper for them to have me get it than to pay for the international phone cards. it'd probably end up being a san fran number, since my parents have free nationwide long distance. if anyone has a problem with that, speak now or forever hold your peace.

the other thing that happened last night was that i cooked my own dinner from scratch. it was sort of a minor disaster. i was happy with the way i worked with the chicken, since i've never cooked chicken before and i think i did a good job cutting and cooking it, but i didn't know which spices were what so i played it really conservative and the dish wound up not having much flavour. i kinda did this pan-cooked thing with chicken, veggies, and noodles. you could say it was like a stir fry except with noodles instead of rice. the problem, though, was that the noodles i bought turned out to be udon noodles instead of soba noodles, so i was sort of making yakisoba with udon noodles which, as anyone who knows japanese food can tell you, is a big mistake. gah. so yeah that didn't work so well. but yanno, it was actually better reheated today for lunch. meh, i'll figure it out.

i need to look online (while the internet is working) and find some recipes for good stuff to put in a bento. perhaps i will do that today.

edit: ok, i think i'm just dumb. apparently you can do what i did with udon noodles just fine, but you have to rinse them to keep them from sticking together. that'll teach me to cook without a recipe. sigh...

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:03:27 GMT

yesterday was a big success. i did a lot of good stuff, i think. i got my temporary cellphone, so get in touch with me if for some reason you want to rack up an international phone bill. i'm not calling anyone on it, first because it's expensive as hell and second because i got a domestic-only calling plan (because it's expensive as hell) but you folks can call me all you like. after the phone came i took my bike for a walk. yes, you heard right. it took a good ten minutes to figure out how to open all the locks and stuff, and by the time i did, it was getting dark--but that's not why i walked the bike. it feels weird to ride it. i'm not sure if the tires are too soft or the basket is off balance or i'm just out of practice, but it seemed to keep listing to the right and i was really embarrassed to be practicing bike riding with all the japanese people around, so i walked it around the block and locked it back up. then i walked into town (really close) and went to what i'd been told was a hardware or "do it yourself" store, but there was so much more in there than that. it was sort of like a wal-mart except not trashy? that's the only way i can describe it. it had a whole ton of stuff. i didn't buy anything because it was late and they were closing and i wasn't sure exactly what sizes of stuff i needed, but i'll go back tonight.

speaking of sizing, one of the things i have to buy is a picture frame. deacon gave me a really nice print of a photo he took around here, because he thought my apartment looked bare. it was so sweet! i want to get it on the wall right away, but when i got to the store i didn't know the size in cm, so i have to go back tomorrow. still. success. oh and i have to buy wasp spray. yes. must not forget.

my other success for the evening was that after much trial and error i figured out how to use the rice machine and made myself dinner. i took a picture but i'm too lazy to upload it right now, so deal. i heated up this curry in a box thing to go with it, and yeah okay it's in a box, but the instructions were in japanese so it's still a fucking accomplishment. and i washed and put away all the dishes, so there! i win at life.

this morning i had yet another small success: i found a much better wireless signal by moving my computer to the kitchen. in about an hour i'm being picked up to go meet with naomi again (if that is indeed her name). thank goodness i don't have to ride the bike yet.

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:28:28 GMT

today went very well i think. i opened a bank account, withdrew money at the postal atm, and learned how to make withdrawals and deposits to my bank. i figured out where my post box is (right on my door, duh) but i haven't gotten any mail yet for those who were checking the postal system. i can't register for my own mobile phone until my alien registration card comes, but in a few hours hattori sensei is bringing over a rental phone for me to use until then. they're also checking into setting up my fiber optic internet, which deacon recommends. i also got my inkan, the stamp that serves as my signature in japan. oh and i bought postcard stamps, and the guy at the office even suggested i get regular stamps plus extra for the international postage, because the airmail postcard stamps weren't pretty enough. XD all in all, a good day!

i met the staff at the school i'll be working at today. tomorrow i'm going to see my jte (japanese teacher of english) in the morning so we can get a plan together for lessons and stuff? i guess? her english is a lot better than hattori-san's. i think her name is naomi. i also experienced japanese italian food. the pizza was awesome, really thin crust with tomatoes and cilantro, and the pasta surprised me by being very good despite the fact that it had ground pork and mushrooms in the sauce! the mango gelato was to die for.

i think tonight will be my first night cooking for myself. wish me luck! oh, and there's a typhoon coming through, so the winds are getting crazy. i'm keeping my windows open for as long as possible. the breeze feels great!

last but not least... pictures

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:48:10 GMT

last night was difficult but fun. i went out with four guys from the school--my supervisor and, i think, two other teachers. i know at least one is a math teacher (as is my supervisor) but i don't know what the other two do. it was tough at first, since they all have really limited english skills and my japanese is pretty bad, but eventually one of the young guys had his wife and kids come, and his wife spoke much better english (and had a better dictionary!)

i ate sashimi for the first time. i think that means raw fish. it was okay. certainly not something i'd choose, but i managed to eat it all, and there was super good chicken to go with it. the salad had pork on it, which was weird as hell, and the watermelon was amazing. now i understand why people eat that stuff. when it's fresh, it's actually really good. after dinner, they all took me shopping, which was nice because the sweet japanese lady could translate a little. i got some noodles, milk, juice, cereal, vegetables, chicken (which was really cheep! under a hundred freakin yen for a packet of chicken!) and these amazing japanese grapes that i've fallen in love with. they're tiny and really sweet. i spent around 3,000 yen, so we'll see how long that lasts me.

today at ten they're picking me up to go to the bank (hopefully with deacon there) and open my account. i plan to take out 110,000 more yen, which is a little less than a thousand dollars, and with any luck that'll last me until i get paid. there are a lot of confusing expenses that i don't understand. i'm not going to get my cellphone for about a month i think, but i'm not quite sure why. i think it's because that's how long it takes to get my foreigner registration card? i dunno. it's weird. i also have to send the predecessor girl money for this month's rent since apparently she paid it already, but i dunno how much.

i'm a little annoyed at the previous girl, honestly. she left a lot of annoying useless crap behind under the pretense that it would be useful to me, but it just clutters the place and makes me feel like a guest instead of the person who lives here, and because the trash is so confusing i have no idea how to throw it away. i'm also surprised that the closet has no bars to hang clothes. there's one outside on the balcony, but not inside, so i have nowhere to hang my shirts and suits. she also left behind all the stuff she was trying to sell me that i said i didn't need, which i think is really poor form. but you know, i can't really say anything against her, so... yeah. also i need to know how to put air in my bike tires, so someone please explain the process to me. apparently her tires are way too soft and the guys were making light fun of her for it, so i need to know how to do it right so they don't realize i'm as clueless as she was.

lastly, the bedding confuses me. it's a real bed, and i found a bottom sheet, but i think part of it is also a futon? so am i supposed to air it out or what? i have no clue. there are no top sheets unless this package of obnoxiously pink and flowered crap they bought for me is sheets, and i'm not opening it to find out. ellen left a disney princess mousepad, so i can see where they got the idea, but ugh. shoot me please. at least there's an iron for my undoubtedly wrinkled crap. sigh.

that's about it for now. still haven't unpacked down to the camera cord, so hold your horses for a little longer, folks.

omg like whoa

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:19:15 GMT

i am in my apartment in toin mooching wireless of of some hapless japanese person! YAY FREE WIRELESS. it's a little spotty, but sometimes it works? and sometimes is better than nothing. this place is awesome and my apartment is huge and i can see rice fields from my balcony. it's just so cool! i can't talk much because my supervisor is coming to pick me up for dinner in an hour, this time without the interpreter. i hope they get something i can tolerate eating. i'll just smile and nod.

so there's another english speaker in my town! and he speaks japanese. he's a photographer named deacon from california, but he's been here seven years and he came to translate for us today. he's gonna bring me to his dojo so i can see their martial arts classes and maybe join. i'm a little nervous about going out to dinner with people i can't speak to so well, but i guess we'll see how it goes.

my predecessor left a whole ton of crap in the apartment, even canned goods and stuff. i haven't been to the store yet. i don't really know what to get because i'm not sure what i need. maybe some juice? i dunno, this is all so new to me.

pictures will come when i have a little more time.

tokyo nights

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:09:24 GMT

hello people! thanks for watching. :) i just finished my last night in tokyo and took a bunch of pictures of ikebukuro and akihabara. a friend and i went around and looked at shops, people, neon lights, and lots of comic books. the manga and doujinshi are a whole lot cheaper here (obviously). life is good.

tomorrow morning i'm heading out of tokyo by way of shinjuku station at around 9am on a rush hour commuter train. this is crazy because according to our prefectural adviser, shinjuku station sees about 3 million people pass through it... per day. i'm going to be taking a series of trains, including the japanese bullet train, to my new home in toin-cho, inabe-gun, mie-ken, japan. my supervisor and some folks from the board of education will be meeting me at the train, and hopefully i will get my luggage shortly thereafter. what i'm not likely to get right away is internet, so be prepared for radio silence for anywhere from a week to a month. i'm hoping it won't be that bad, but worst case scenario and all, right?

anyway, it's midnight or so here so i've got to get some sleep. wish me luck tomorrow and with the isp. ;)

hello from tokyo!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:15:17 GMT

hello folks!

i got tired of emailing everyone separately about my time in japan, so this will serve as my blog about my time here. i'll be posting pictures, stories, and updates, so stay tuned! feel free to comment either by making a livejournal account (it's pretty easy) or by using the anonymous comment feature, but if you want me to know who you are, sign your name at the end.

you can also reach me by email, jloseth at gmail dot com, or on aol instant messenger at the screenname "jayloseth." hope this'll be enough to tide everyone over until i get pictures up.

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