My Neighborhood

Here are some pictures I took of the area I live in, Toride. Like I have said, it's very boring, but the place is growing on me. Its quiet and the people are nice. Today I had a cute little girl run up to me in the 100 yen shop to practice her English. She was so sweet.

I rode the train towards Tokyo and got out at Kashiwa about 3 stops from Toride. It is a good area to have nearby. There are lots of shops and restaurants and a few bars.

Hanami and the interview

I went to the interview for the privet school first thing this morning. The other girl going for the job (also with my company) was a British girl from London and she actually lives in Richmond!!!!!! I used to live like a few street away from where she lives now!!! SMALL WOLD!! Anyway she was really nice. We will be living and working really close to each other (she is also going to be living in Toride) which is so nice because I really wanted to have a friend out here. I'm so far from all my other pals.

The interview was SO interesting. It was at this really nice all girls privet school. We got a tour of the facilities and wow, they have 2 gyms, an Olympic sized swimming pool, like 5 piano rooms, and the BEST part......a set of traditional tatame mat rooms, with traditional Japanese gardens. It was so beautiful and impressive (they also said that the teacher chosen would receive traditional Japanese training with the other students in that room, learning how to wear Kimono, tea ceremony and so on.

Our boss and another translator came with us to the interview. It was fascinating to see all the Japanese etiquette I have read so much about, actually performed. There is this thing about where you sit during meetings. You must sit in certain seats that define your place in the social hierarchy. When we all went into the room there was this uncomfortable moment where my boss had chosen the wrong place to sit and we all had to scramble around and re position ourselves. It was SO funny. Then the interviewers came in (the principle, vice principle, 2 other teachers, and the head of the English department). We did the whole exchanging business cards thing. There were a ton of people so it was a lot of bowing and arigato-gozaimashita. I collected all these cards and then did not know what to do with them. hehehehehe

They asked us all these question and then the translator conveyed them to the principal and they would all talk about us while we were sitting right there. WEIRD!!

After all those antics I went to Ueno Park for the Hanami (cherry blossom Festival) it was beautiful!!!

Here are some pics from that.

I Leo Palaces are AWESOME!

(I took this pic with my cell phone!!, I am being Japanese in my apartment)

The bike shop just dropped off my new bike!!! They were SO sweet and the owner was such a nice man I am going to buy him a present and bring it to his shop. My bike is so cute!!! I will post pics on here soon. I bought it used for what would be $60.00. It's really nice, it has a basket and a light that turns on automatically when it's dark and the nice old man gave me a lock for free! I have been getting a lot of free stuff lately, I guess because people feel sorry for me (when I bought my phone the sales girl slipped me a phone charger for free. Heehee). Tons of people here in Japan ride bikes. The bikes are so cute out here too. They all look like they were made in the 50s, even the new ones. But they don't have gears, and that kinda sucks.

Well Toride is pretty boring. Not much out here, but I think it is going to be really good. First of all it's really cheap. Secondly the people are so nice out here and they don't speak much English (in fact no one seems to speak any at all) but this is going to be really good for me, I will learn Japanese more quickliy this way. I need too anyway, I feel so lost sometimes. It is really hard not knowing the language. You really take for granted how hard it can be to communicate without good language skills. I am doing my best. Thank goodness the ICs are so helpful and nice. The area is very suburban, a little rural even. I live in a very quiet and uninteresting neighborhood. Some parts of the area are quite ugly even, but it's the kind of place Japanese people live, most Japanese people I would say live in areas like this. The area seems kinda sad to me, but that could be because it is so unfamiliar to me, also it has been really overcast the past week, everything looks kinda ugly when it's overcast. I also don't have any friends yet, so its kinda lonely. But in the sunshine the area will hopefully look diffrent.

My apartment is a 9min walk from the station and a 4 min bike ride. It's not the main station in Toride, but that is about 5min away on the train. East Tokyo is about 40min from here. It costs about 700yen about $6. I will definitely be going into the city A LOT because there is nothing going on out here. I am going to be busy with school during the week and on the weekends I will be exploring Tokyo. It would be nice to make a friend out here, someone to go out to eat with or watch a movie with. Hopefully I can meet someone.

My place is really nice though. Its brand new, I have internet, TV I can also do like a pay per view thing. The place is TINY, but it is plenty of space for me. There is lots of storage space and the bathroom is really nice. I have a big deep tub. HOWEVER…..Let me tell you about Japanese futons. They are nothing like western futons. At home we have futons and they are pretty thick and hard. In Japan the futons are REALLY thin. I bought mine yesterday. My bed is basically on a loft type platform. My futon lays on this platform. It is HARD let me tell ya! I kinda like slightly hard beds, but this is really hard. I am sure lots of the other teachers are having a hard time, because they complained about the hotel beds being hard, and that was a mattress. This is a thin pad on top of a wooden platform!!! I am getting used to it, but I must admit my back is a little sore. Maybe in the end it will help my back, that's what the Japanese say. Another thing that SUCKs about Japan is the trash pickup system. Well it's really great for the environment, but it sucks for me. You have got to sort your own trash, so it all can be recycled. You can only put trash out before 8am, and certain stuff goes out on certain days. It is SO confusing. For example, cans every other Tuesday, burnable garbage on the 1^st and 3^rd Monday, unburnable garbage on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday and so on. AHHH It does my head in just thinking about it!

My cell phone is SO awesome though. Its red and the screen swivels all around. The camera is AMAZING!! And I have all these crazy features (even a bar code reader!!!) it has this finger print reader too, so to turn on the cell you have got to scan your finger print so no one can access your cell but you!!

Over all I LOVE my apartment, I don't love the area, but it's OK. I have everything I need out here so that's good.

Tomorrow morning I have an interview for a privet schools job.

Wish me luck…or wish me unluck, I don't know if I want it or not.

Talk to you soon

what baby eels taste like.....

So I just had my first go at Karaoke here in Japan. It was HILARIOUS!!!!!
First of all EVERYONE in into Karaoke here. And when I say everyone I mean everyone. The people in the line behind us to book a room were a group of 3 middle aged business men, a young couple, and a 6 year old child's birthday party group and this was at 9 at night!!! The lay out is basically like a hotel, you book different sized rooms for like $20 for a hour split up between four. The drinks and food are cheap, and sometimes it's all you can drink.
Well it was a laugh anyway.

OK so yesterday I had a nasty surprise with my lunch. I was eating rice balls, which I love (its a ball of rice with different things inside) I grabbed one with seaweed and sesame, I was munching away in my room really enjoying it when.......I looked down and noticed that one of the pieces of rice looked funny. I pulled it out to have a closer look, it had two eyes and a little tail with fins!!! FINS PEOPLE FINES!!!! I looked closer at my rice ball and saw it was filled with this little baby creatures, they looked like tiny eels!! YUCK! YUCK YUCK!!!! that thing went in the trash and I almost lost the rest of my lunch to the toilet. The food here is really exciting and delicious, BUT it can be really unappetising too. They put raw egg on just about everything. I had it yesterday on my rice and fried chicken. Right now, I am not a fan, but I just need to get used to it. It is the way people eat here.

Two more days of training left. Honestly I will be really said. I am going to miss being around everyone that I have met in training. I also really like the area.

x-rays on the road side

So I learned more about my post yesterday.

I will be teaching in 3 elementary schools. I am so glad about that. I really wanted to be with the younger kids. Everyone says its the BEST!! And I am really glad I only have 3 schools cause some people have got like 10!!!! It will not be too confusing so thats good. I also decided to buy into the school lunch program. It costs 250yen per day, which is really cheap and I will be eating with the kids so that will be fun.
OH! And I was asked to go on an interview for an all girls privet middle school job. This is an honer because privet schools are very selective about who they higher and I was specifically chosen. BUT, I probably will not get it cause they really want the other candidate (this British girl) but they always ask the company for two candidates and I was asked to be the other. So they told me to be prepared to have this job, but not to get my hopes up because I probably will not get it. I go to the interview on Wednesday. I am kinda nervous, but like 5 people are coming with me from the company, along with my boss (EEK!) so we will see. If I dont get the job, thats fine, I just want to do a good job at the interview.

OK so we had health checks done today. It was a hilarious experience!!! They basically set up a hospital in the banquet room here at the hotel. All these Japanese nurses and doctors had different stations and we went around to have blood taken, check our eyes, check our heart and finally.....have a chest x-ray!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH it was so funny cause we had to walk down the street to a bus parked on the side of the road to have it done. Today was a national holiday and the streets were so crowded with people visiting the Senso-ji temple that is right by the hotel and there I was in this bus getting x-rayed. It was weird and really funny.

Last night I went to Roppongi which I really did not want to do, but everyone else was going so I did too. Roppongi is kind of a tourist hotspot and the place were lots of foreigners hang out. But I had a good time anyway.

I think tonight I want to go to Akihabara or Ueno, even if no one else does.

OK well I got to get ready to go to training. Today is when they crack down on us! EEK, its been pretty easy so far.

Ja mata to ne!

the pee pole

I am writing this from Tokyo Japan.
Finally, the trip I have been preparing for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long is happening. I have emailed a lot of people some of this text, but some is new. From now on I will post my updates on here.
So much has happened so this is going to be a long one.
I am staying at the Asakusa Central Hotel, which
is in the really great area of Asakusa. Right around the corner is a temple and lots
of shops and places to eat. AND PEOPLE......there is a Studio Ghilbi
shop, which means there is a shop full of My Neighbor Totoro and
Kiki stuff. I was freaking out!!

This morning I woke up at 5am which was good and had to be at the
training at 9am. I started my day off right by watching a children's morning
show complete with Hello Kitty cartoons!! It was the best EVER! So
cute and the commercials are so funny. Today I had training alllllll
day. It was really overwhelming and tiring. So much info to go over
and so much to prepare for. I signed my contract today which makes it
official. I am feeling really good though. It is going to be a hard
job, but I am going to love it and its going to be really good for me.
I am going to learn a lot, I can tell.
One of the things that is a little over whelming is all the procedure and etiquette we must follow. And there is just all this etiquette you are not aware of. Like we have to do all this stuff at the school to be polite, but it is going to be
hard to remember and some stuff that is just going to be hard to adjust to, like you cannot be sick in Japan. Well you can be sick, but you have got to come to
work anyway. They would prefer you to come in, vomit all over your
desk and then tell you to leave. You can take sick days, but you
better be sick because they want to see a receipt from the pharmacist
saying you bought a bottle of aspirin or they want to see a note from
the hospital. It is a little intense.
OH yeah like today me and this Canadian girl were crossing the street,
but we did not realize the pedestrian sign was on so we just
walked across. We looked up and an old man yelled at us. I felt so
bad, but that is part of living abroad. You have got to make a lot of
adjustments in the way you live and act. It can be hard.

OH I almost forgot! I did something really fun today. At the shrine around the corner you can do this really fun fortune thing for a $1. You shake up the tin can full of chop sticks, then you
pull one out and it has kanji written on it. You make your kanji to
the kanji to a drawer. Inside is your fortune, it’s kind of long and
written in English and Japanese. I kept it. I got the best fortune.
Literally that's what the title was "the best fortune"!! HAHAHA It basically said my life is going to be good. The Canadian girl got a really bad one though so she had to hang it up so it does not come
true.
Also, everything here is cute. Like everything, everything everywhere. Case in point: I have got to give a urine sample. The package of the stick you pee on is SO CUTE!!!!!!! It is called Pee Pole, it has two funny characters on it!!! HAHAHAHAHAH
The stuff in the 100yen sore by the way SO cute, and they have everything you could want or need. They even sell Hello Kitty stuff in there. And the commercials!!! Don’t get me started. There is this one with a girl that runs up to a gigantic lemon and jumps on it and squeezes it and the lemon sort of moans in pain and she just keeps squeezing it. It is so weird and cute at the same time.
The bath tub, when you sit in it comes up to my chin which is so great. In fact everything fits me! YIPPIE! When riding on the train, I reach up and can actually grab on the little handles dangling from the bars, to help you gain your balance. That was really great for me.
WOW I just realize that I am totally experiencing the first stages of culture shock! HAHAHAHAH Which is seeing everything as being great, or better than your home country. Whatever I am enjoying it.
OK got to get in the shower and start my day.

Ja mata to ne!

Good Bye peaches…hello kaki

It's time to go.

I am sitting at my laptop now, uploading some last minute CDs. I am so sad all of a sudden. I have spent the last few days saying good-bye to all my pals. It has just really hit me now that I am going. I don't know, I am just really going to miss all of you. I wish I could bring someone with me. Just one person would do. Anybody. OK…who wants to go…? I finally finished packing. I am taking SO much stuff with me!! I HATE IT! I hate having to lug my life around. It's the worst part about traveling. I feel like I am always having to do it too. I am only bringing the important stuff, but it's still SO MUCH!! Basically its clothes A LOT of work clothes. Then I am bringing a lot of toiletries and medicine that I like. Bringing my laptop and all the accessories that go along with that and my camera and accessories. I am bringing a small collection of classic movies and really that's it! WOW, that's IT! How can that be it! Man I have a lot of clothes.

Gosh, I don't know if I will be able to sleep tonight. I am too excited and nervous.

OK well I am going to go get more CDs to upload (That is one thing you don't have to lug around anymore!! You can carry more media around with you in your pocket NOW then you could in a moving truck a few years back. I definitely love that!)

Talk to you all when I am in LA maybe,

Otherwise…see you in Tokyo!

Ladies of Retirement

OK I watched a really great oldie yesterday.
"The Ladies of Retirement". It was really scary. Well it probably was not that scary, but it scared me!!
Made in 1941 staring Ida Lupino, Edith Barrent (those bug eyes of hers really freak me out!!) and Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein)
Ida Lupino is REALLY GOOD! I want to see more of her films (and boy she made her share of movies!). You never hear about her, but she is really an amazing actress. There is this one scene with her, when she is about to kill her boss, she is going to strangle her and she creeps up behind her and brings the rope up to her face. She freezes there for a second and gets this crazy look in her eye and it is just brilliant.
Interestingly, Ida later became a writer producer and director. She directed her first film in 1949!! There were not many female directors around during that time and she is widely considered a pioneer for women in this field. She went on to direct many TV shows during the 50s and 60s. she was also the only women to direct episodes of "the Twilight Zone". One of my all time favorite shows! And she directed episodes of Bewitched and Gilligan's Island.

I freakin love old movies! What am i gonna do without TCM when I am in JAPAN! Someone help me! I am so dorky!

HEY LADIES!!

*the cheesy music kicks in*
I have been thinking lately about all the cool pals I have here in ATL. I have a lot of great friends. I am so lucky! *sniffle, sniffle*
(I am always friends with the girls who dont have girl friends! Whats with THAT! And I have so many gal pals.)
I am gonna miss all of you so much. But dont worry, no, no... dont cry. There is a really easy way to heal all the loneliness and pain.........COME VISIT ME!! You can stay with me in the closet I will be calling home.









*OH* I almost forgot to tell ya'll that I got the info on my apartment. It is a Leo Palace which means it will be furnished!! YIPPIE! That means I can spend more money on clothes and drinks! WHOOHOO! Its a tiny place but cute and close to the train station.

Nothing

OK so I will be in Japan in one week!!!!!
7 days!!!
I have a lot to do. Most importantly, I got to get an extra pair of glasses! But I have done most of my shopping so that’s good. I have got to thank J for taking me clothing shopping the other day. We went to half off day at Last Chance thrift store. I was great I got some cloths for work and the BEST 80’s pink flats. LOVE THEM! I still need to get more bras though. You know these 36C/Ds will be havin a hard time in Japan! HA!
I got a bunch of Easter candy that I am gonna deal out to all the teachers at my school (you’re supposed to bring presents).

I am excited about my going away party. Beer at Brew House and dancing and The Star Bar. Be there or be square.

I am just excited. I will be in Tokyo in a week. That is so cool.

Toride here I come!!

FINALLY I know where I will be living and teaching during the next year.

Toride City in Ibaraki Prefecture in the Northern Eastern part of the Greater Tokyo area.

Toride City is probably a pretty boring pace. It will most likely have everything I will need (I HOPE!!), but overall it’s probably kinda rural/suburban. But who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.
Toride is a bedroom community of about 113,475. It is on both the Tokyo subway line (the Chiyoda Line ) and on the commuter train system line (the JR Joban Line).
By commuter train its about 40 min from Ueno station and all that eastern Tokyo has to offer such as the burrows of Royogoku (Sumo town) Akihabara (the electronics district) Asakusa (Old Tokyo) and Jimbacho (a district famous for its book shops).

Even though Toride is probably going to be industrial, suburban and blahhh, I am THRILLED to have received this post because of its close proximity to central Tokyo. I will have a quiet place to come home to and work in, but in the evenings and on weekends I will have tons of time to explore Tokyo. There is SO much to see, let me tell ya!!
I definitely did not expect to be placed anywhere near Tokyo. I really thought I would be posted to some place far FAR from civilization. And this would have been OK with me. What is most important to me is that I have the opportunity to see Japan and teach. But I feel really lucky to have been placed in Toride because I am a city mouse and really do love the hustle and bustle. I made a list of all the things I wanted to do while I was in Tokyo for my week long training session. This list was getting longer and longer and I was beginning to feel a little sad cause I felt like I would not have enough time to see and do everything. Now I don’t have to worry about that!!
There are 52 weekends in this year. I will be able to do a fair amount of exploring during that time. Though I have to say, I lived in London for 4 years and there is so much of London I never saw (I sure tried to see everything though). Anyway, a year is not enough to know Tokyo, but its better than the week I though I would have. I am really looking forward to it.

Here is part of my "to do" list for Tokyo:

1. Visit the Yushima Tenjin shrine for the Kami of Learning. This is a shrine that dates back to 458 BC. It is often visited by students who pray for success with there entrance exams. I figure I should pay my respects and start things of right by clapping my hands and ringing the bell for the god of learning.
2. Visit Ryogoku which is a suburb of east Tokyo that is ruled by all things Sumo. The major sumo stadium is here as well as many sumo stables and sumo restaurants.
3. Visit the suburb of Mitaka. This is going to be a VERY important excursion. It is where the Studio Ghibli Museum is located. I CAN NOT WAIT to see it.
4. I definitely want to see a baseball game, and a sumo match, AND I wanna check out Keirin. Keirin is a track cycling race. It’s kinda like horse racing but with guys on bikes, you still bet though. (there just so happens to be a stadium in Toride)

More adventures to come. I can not wait till I am writing you about what it is like to actually be in those places!!