Hi there,
Ok, so an update on the employment situation:
On the 9th I start work for a new English conversation school - yay! I was put onto this job by my current boss, who heard that this woman was desperate for someone to cover a gap between her losing her current teacher and choosing and importing a new one. Wanting to be helpful, he volunteered me. The job is probably a bit further away (in Kurashiki, near Okayama), but it has an awesome little apartment and better pay. I won't know for a while how long I'll be needed for, as it all depends on how long it takes Cindy to find and bring in a new teacher, but I have my fingers crossed it will take her a little while!
As much as I had been trying to enjoy kicking back in Jinseki, and I know I'm really lucky to be living in Japan with no responsibilities and a husband whose well paid job allows us to live well and do a bit of travel, at the end of the day it's freaking boring. There is only so much reading and facebooking you can do in a day. Of course, I SHOULD be writing some amazing book or studying up hard on my Japanese, but having nothing to do saps your motivation and I end up thinking 'I will do it later' and just never getting around to it.
The other big job news, in case anyone hasn't heard, is that JET are offering me a placement for the 2011-2012 year, starting in August. Yesterday I went to our little country clinic for my medical examination. The visit included the nurse standing on a bed to measure my height, sitting around awkwardly in a singlet with no bra waiting for my x-ray, peeing in a paper cup that looked exactly like a drinking cup, nurses wandering in and out of the doctor's office during my examination and the doc having to use his electronic dictionary whenever he wanted to tell me anything! (In NZ I would never think twice about a doc or nurse seeing me shirtless or braless, because you know they've seen it a million times. But here they HAVEN'T, the Japanese have almost no boobs!! Awkward!!)
Anyway, at the conclusion of that awesomely uncomfortable hour or so, I had a text from Jeff requesting I ask if we can get our Hep A & B booster shots at their clinic. I did my best to ask for them and the nurse said 'yes, yes' and ran out of the room. She came back in saying 'no, no Hepatitis C'. I think she thought I was asking if my husband and I had Hepatitis C! I tried again to explain what I wanted, but wasn't getting anywhere, so then I managed to explain that I would come back with Jeff when he got home from work, because he has more Japanese. She agreed, 'ok, later' and they waved me goodbye. I then was going, 'ah, pay now?' 'No, later.' 'Ah, no, pay now.' 'No, later, husband.' Finally I managed to explain that I needed to send the form that day, so they let me pay then and take my form. Phew!
When Jeff got home from work we went back in to try again on the vaccinations, armed with our vaccination booklets and the Japanese work for immunisation (yobou sesshu, if I remember correctly...). It took a while, it tested Jeff's Japanese skills and it required the doc consulting Dr. Google a fair amount, but after a bit over an hour we walked out of the clinic safe in the knowledge that they were ordering in the vaccines for us and we would get our booster shots. Finally!
So now that I have returned all my forms to JET, we are now waiting on hearing where they will place me. If it is too far away - eg. if we can't spend weekends together, I will probably turn it down, but everyone assures us that JET will make a big effort to place me somewhere close by, so we have our fingers crossed. There are three placements coming free in Sera, 40 mins away, so we are hoping I score one of those... Wish me luck!
Cheers,
Charly
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Full time work? What is this thing??
Hi there,
I've just heard from my boss that another English school, also 1.5 hrs from home, is looking for a temporary teacher for a couple of months while they hire a permenant teacher. It would suck to effectively move out of home, staying in a different city all week and only seeing Jeff and my bed in weekends, but it would be great to actually earn some money for a change. I'm about as useful as a pot plant here - I make home a more pleasant place, but I don't really DO anything (yes, I am much more argumentative than a pot plant, but I also cook dinner often, so it balances out!). So I'm thinking I might take this job.
In other news, the cherry blossoms are doing their thing. Unfortunately every time we prepared to go to a hanami party (cherry blossom viewing party, where you sit on a tarp under the trees and get trollied on sake), it was put off because the cherries weren't blooming yet. Tomorrow we are finally lined up to go to a party that will NOT be cancelled because the cherries ARE blooming... and it's pouring with rain, due to continue tomorrow. Where is the negative karma coming from???
Next week Thursday, late, Geoff and Sandra arrive in our part of the country (I say that in the widest sense of the word. It will be a long drive to get them home). We are understandably pretty darn excited about it. Jeff, particuarly, has been getting pretty tired with the pressures of work (people tell me work is a tiring, stressful thing. I wouldn't know :P ), so having friends from home visit will be a very, very welcome change.
Hope you are all well.
Bye,
Charly
I've just heard from my boss that another English school, also 1.5 hrs from home, is looking for a temporary teacher for a couple of months while they hire a permenant teacher. It would suck to effectively move out of home, staying in a different city all week and only seeing Jeff and my bed in weekends, but it would be great to actually earn some money for a change. I'm about as useful as a pot plant here - I make home a more pleasant place, but I don't really DO anything (yes, I am much more argumentative than a pot plant, but I also cook dinner often, so it balances out!). So I'm thinking I might take this job.
In other news, the cherry blossoms are doing their thing. Unfortunately every time we prepared to go to a hanami party (cherry blossom viewing party, where you sit on a tarp under the trees and get trollied on sake), it was put off because the cherries weren't blooming yet. Tomorrow we are finally lined up to go to a party that will NOT be cancelled because the cherries ARE blooming... and it's pouring with rain, due to continue tomorrow. Where is the negative karma coming from???
Next week Thursday, late, Geoff and Sandra arrive in our part of the country (I say that in the widest sense of the word. It will be a long drive to get them home). We are understandably pretty darn excited about it. Jeff, particuarly, has been getting pretty tired with the pressures of work (people tell me work is a tiring, stressful thing. I wouldn't know :P ), so having friends from home visit will be a very, very welcome change.
Hope you are all well.
Bye,
Charly
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Update long overdue
Hi everyone,
No promises for how interesting this blog will be as there is nothing much happening here. Although, I feel like I could give birth to alien spawn and consider it still 'nothing much' when everyone up north is going through such trials. I feel shallow worrying about our little concerns when there are still thousands and thousands living out of school halls, unable to let their children drink the water and without heat, in the freezing cold.
Compared to that, our little ups and downs don't seem such a big deal.
So what have we been up to? Working (Jeff) and not working (me - although I actually did work last week), helping out at English class and trying to save money. That's us in a nutshell!
We were supposed to be at a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party last weekend in Onomichi, but it got postponed because the blossoms are late this year - a bit disappointing. This weekend we were supposed to spend in Hiroshima staying at Nishikawa-san's apartment (or 'aparto' as they call it) for another hanami party. Which also got cancelled, this time apparently because Nishikawa-san and Sonoko-san were too busy. Next weekend we are supposed to have a hanami party in Shobara, but I start to see a pattern here...
Instead, on Sunday we went to Okayama city. We had been told that there was a pub that served meat pies - the food Jeff had been craving since hitting Japan - but it turned out to be a bit of a wild goose chase as they only have them occasionally, for big events. Luckily we had a really nice walk around a huge garden on an island and took photos of Okayama castle. The garden looked a little the worse for wear at the end of winter, but the ponds, moss and plum tree blossoms made us (and by us I mean me) determined to go back again later in the season. It would look very different - but very beautiful - in each different season, so I'm keen to visit often. We concluded our Okayama trip by visiting the book store that has a decent English selection and stocking up at the imported food store (three bags of muesli? Check. Seven boxes of peppermint tea? Check. White chocolate covered pretzels? Check - oops!!). Altogether we had a nice day, even if Jeff was snuffling his way round looking a little like that famous reindeer.
Time for me to go make some lunch now.
I hope you are all keeping well and that NZ is recovering from the quakes.
Charly
No promises for how interesting this blog will be as there is nothing much happening here. Although, I feel like I could give birth to alien spawn and consider it still 'nothing much' when everyone up north is going through such trials. I feel shallow worrying about our little concerns when there are still thousands and thousands living out of school halls, unable to let their children drink the water and without heat, in the freezing cold.
Compared to that, our little ups and downs don't seem such a big deal.
So what have we been up to? Working (Jeff) and not working (me - although I actually did work last week), helping out at English class and trying to save money. That's us in a nutshell!
We were supposed to be at a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party last weekend in Onomichi, but it got postponed because the blossoms are late this year - a bit disappointing. This weekend we were supposed to spend in Hiroshima staying at Nishikawa-san's apartment (or 'aparto' as they call it) for another hanami party. Which also got cancelled, this time apparently because Nishikawa-san and Sonoko-san were too busy. Next weekend we are supposed to have a hanami party in Shobara, but I start to see a pattern here...
Instead, on Sunday we went to Okayama city. We had been told that there was a pub that served meat pies - the food Jeff had been craving since hitting Japan - but it turned out to be a bit of a wild goose chase as they only have them occasionally, for big events. Luckily we had a really nice walk around a huge garden on an island and took photos of Okayama castle. The garden looked a little the worse for wear at the end of winter, but the ponds, moss and plum tree blossoms made us (and by us I mean me) determined to go back again later in the season. It would look very different - but very beautiful - in each different season, so I'm keen to visit often. We concluded our Okayama trip by visiting the book store that has a decent English selection and stocking up at the imported food store (three bags of muesli? Check. Seven boxes of peppermint tea? Check. White chocolate covered pretzels? Check - oops!!). Altogether we had a nice day, even if Jeff was snuffling his way round looking a little like that famous reindeer.
Time for me to go make some lunch now.
I hope you are all keeping well and that NZ is recovering from the quakes.
Charly
Friday, March 11, 2011
Compilation entry (written offline and finally loaded up)
2/3/10
Well, it’s snowing again – that long talked of cold snap is here. So far it’s not cold enough for it to stick around on the ground, though.
Btw, I have dated this entry because I’ve decided to try to be more onto it with my blog updates. As such, rather than writing my updates online (where there is online shopping and facebook to distract me!) I will try to get into the habit of writing a few lines on here every day. Then, when I take my laptop online (happens once a week or so) I can put this straight onto my blog. It’s a good idea, we will just have to wait and see how well it works…
This week I’m making the most of being unemployed (well, not working, anyway). Starting next week, I have two five day weeks and a three day week. I know you will all be rolling your eyes and thinking ‘welcome to the real world!’, but the thing is with the five day weeks, I won’t be coming home at all over that period. I will have to pack a bag Monday morning and not see Jeff or home again until late Friday night. At first it was kinda fun packing my things to go down to Mukaishima, but I am now well and truly over it.
I was only going to work two weeks in March, but I decided we need the money (I took home all our savings to put in our NZ bank accounts, so we are back to square one in Japan), so I decided I will just suck it up and accept that for two weeks I will live out of a backpack, only seeing Jeff in the weekend. We will be grateful for it when we get the pay cheque.
Last night I came with Jeff to the English conversation group, attended by our super-cute group of local oldies. As it is a Tuesday night, I haven’t been able to attend before, so it was fun to go along. Present were the Yamamoto’s/Yamamot-san’s (not sure how the ‘san’ thing works with plural…), who have fairly good English and instigate the group, Fuji-san and his wife, a younger woman whose name I’ve forgotten and – although I would never play favourites – my personal favourite Tokura-sensei. Tokura-sensei is super old, has not so many teeth, HUGE black-rimmed glasses, a ready smile and grows BEAUTIFUL apples which he often gifts to Jeff at language class. He is such a cutie I just want to take him home and keep him. He also has better English than you expect – sitting there quietly, then coming out with an understandable explanation about his daughters and grandchildren.
Fuji-san – the male – (I am always unclear with this Japanese custom of using the last name how to denote if you are speaking about the husband or wife… Which reminds me, I expected to be Mrs Wigg, or perhaps Wigg-san over here, but we are Charri and Jeffu [approximate phonetics] and I almost never have to explain about the different last name thing, although the Japanese always want to know why if it does come up) – anyway, the topic under discussion was our trip to Taiwan. We were required to slowly and clearly, in simple English, describe our trip to Taiwan. The group would listen, then ask questions. The Fuji-san’s go to Taiwan themselves in March, so Fuji-san (male) was asking lots of questions. As Jeff said, “He is very difficult to understand, but he tries so hard I don’t want to be correcting him every time.” Personally I was impressed Jeff was understanding at all. Evidently the group relies on Jeff’s Japanese to help him understand, so much of the time they appear to say what they can in English (key words they have looked up in their electronic dictionary), then say the rest of it in Japanese. Considering yesterday was my first time studying Japanese all year (yes, I’m that slack!), that helps me not at all, but Jeff was getting the gist of things.
Speaking of Japanese study, I was relieved yesterday when I picked up my textbook after a study break of almost three months (yikes!). I thought I was going to have forgotten everything and have to start at the beginning again, but when I tried the exercises I found I knew more than expected. In fact, often if I didn’t KNOW the answer, but simply let my gut instinct pick the correct answer, it was correct. Attributable, I believe, to having heard the language enough that I can pick what sounds correct. That made me feel much better – despite the fact I haven’t been studying, clearly I am taking something in!
And, in that vein, time for me to take my end of chapter Japanese test! It’s open book, so failing isn’t an issue, but I am still hoping I know most of the answers without having to check back too much… Cross fingers!
5/3/11
A couple of things to update…
Firstly, I have had a wee breakthrough on my writing. When people asked about my working in Japan, I always said that if I couldn’t find work I would use the time to try to be A Writer – as I’ve always dreamed of. The reality was that after years of essays and factual writing, my style had become overly analytical and self-conscious. Also, they seemed to be an amazing amount of laundry needing washing, the toilet always needed cleaning, emails needed answering, facebook needing checking… you know how it goes! Anyway, to try to help me knuckle down, Jeff started giving me creative writing tasks, such as ‘write a whole page about one flower’ and ‘write a story about someone’s first taste of ice-cream’. At first this was really hard, but I started to get into it and after a few days I had a burst of motivation to finally turn my blog from my year in the US into a book. It is something I have always talked about, but on Wednesday I finally had the get-up-and-go to make a start! This is big and exciting news and I now feel like a Writer, even if I do start back at work next week and probably won’t write anything again for weeks…
Riding on my high from being motivated, I decided to visit Jinseki Junior High school (the school next door where I spent a week or two in September). I contacted the English teacher to tell him I would come in for an hour or two on Thursday, and what time would be best. His text reply read ‘pmJ’. Ok, fair enough, I thought. Assumedly English classes are in the afternoon. I rocked up about 1:30pm and helped out with half an English class before we were all called to the gym. With a conniving smile, the English teacher explained, “Today is volunteer day. We will clean the toilets. You will follow this student.” Wtf???!!!! Someone clearly didn’t explain the definition of ‘volunteer’ to these teachers!!
Looking like a stunned mullet, I followed my student to the outside doorway. Here a group of five students all stripped down to shorts and removed their shoes and socks. This was a BIG deal because a) it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone barefoot in Japan and b) it was so cold it was actually snowing. The students then ran to the door and indicated for me to follow. I was wearing shorts over thick stockings so, indicating my stockings, I put my Ug boots back on and went to follow them. “No, no!” they cried, unable to let me follow in shoes. One of the girls ran and got the PE teacher, telling her “Stockings, stockings!” and pointing at my legs. “Oh!” cried the PE teacher, indicating for me to follow. She led me down the hall to a largish storage cupboard, ushered me in and shut the door behind me. Not, as I mistakenly believed, escorting me to a different group that DIDN’T involve running around in the snow with bare feet, but so I could remove my stockings in privacy!
When I was attired like the students (eg. Freezing) I followed them outside to some outside toilets. Here I was handed a sponge and pointed at the sink, while the other girls got to scrubbing the squat toilets with pieces of mesh (no gloves or anything fussy like that!!). If this was their idea of spring cleaning, they also had a fairly shite definition of spring! To cut a long story short, I spent the next hour or so helping the students scrub every surface of the toilets (being careful to avoid actually touching the toilet itself), spending the greater part of the time on hands and knees scrubbing the floor with a brush. I was laughing at the absurdity, but was also unimpressed at the English teacher. I’m not sure if he thought it was a good joke, or whether he felt it was educating me on Japanese schools, or whether he was just pissed off with me and being mean. But while I scrubbed the damn floor, thinking of my own toilet at home that really needed cleaning and of my book that I could have been writing, I swore to myself it was the last time I would be visiting that school in my free time!!
8/3/2011
Ok, so the other odd thing that followed that day was my book request. The other ALT and I were discussing this book I had started writing two days earlier. Luc was trying to convince me to publish on my own without a publisher, while I kept reminding him I had to write the things first and that that was jumping the gun a little.
However, the next morning I got a phone call from someone jumping the gun even more – Ken, the crazy English teacher, was calling to ask if his students could have a copy of my book. I tried to explain I had only been writing it for two days – I thought that was fairly self-explanatory – but apparently not so… I have noticed over here that often the problem with second language speakers is a lot gets lost in translation. Not just obvious issues where they don’t understand what you’re saying, but with the fluent ones, they seem to THINK they are understanding what you’re saying, but they are not actually listening to the meaning in your sentence and totally miss the point of what you are saying. I have noticed this not only with the Japanese, but also with Luc, the other ALT. He is from Canada and his first language is French. Although he is considered good enough in English to be an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher), I often find in conversation that his answers don’t make sense, because he is taking SOME of your reply but not understanding/listening to the whole meaning of your sentence. Before I get any snide remarks about the length of my replies, he does the same to Jeff, too!
Anyway, so somehow ‘my book has only been being written for two days’ wasn’t explanation enough – I didn’t even bother going into the (too obvious to mention!) fact that the language would be way beyond his students understanding, never mind the content being unsuitable. Finally I told Ken that I had had a story published when I was in high school and that I would contact my family back home to see if they could give him a copy. I didn’t bother telling him his students would really struggle with the language – if he thought he could get them through it, who was I to say it was way too much?? So I got on the phone to Mum and we got a copy of the story through to him. He said ‘thanks’ and I didn’t think much more of it.
Finally, today I got a message from Ken. It reads:
‘the story is 2 diff 4 stus plea send ur letter 4 graduates’
I happened to know that the students graduate in two days’ time, but this did not make the letter reference any clearer! I got back to him to clarify and he said he wanted me to write a 200 word letter for him to print off for the students. Glad to see he really knew how to ask a favour politely!! I got back to him to explain I was in Innoshima this week and couldn’t email him until the weekend, so he finally conceded that a very short message sent off my cellphone would be appreciated. I’m not sure if this is Japanese male arrogance, if he is still shitty at me for not staying at school or if the politeness is all just getting lost in translation, but the manners certainly aren’t making it through the cellphone!
Currently I am on a break between classes at work. Today I’m teaching in the branch of the school that I stay at, so on my breaks I can go chill in my bedroom. The first class was a little stressful – my boss had told me the class would start at 3:40pm, but come that time there were no students and no Japanese teacher (who had the schedule including the names of my students!). Turned out, after the students turned up five minutes late and I surprised the Japanese teacher by finishing ten minutes early, that my boss had told me the times the students would turn up and I was expected to play with them from (eg. Ten minutes before their class). I’ve been working here since September and he has never done that before, so I understandably hadn’t picked it!
Anyway, five minutes till I have to get back in there, so I better finish my drink and get downstairs…
Monday, February 14, 2011
Winter came back!
Hey everyone,
Sorry I have been a total slacker about updating this!!! The longer I leave it for, the more I don't want to write because I have more to update about... Not that me sitting at home in my PJs for days at a time makes for exciting reading :P
Ok, re. NZ - thanks to those that caught up with me, it was great to see y'all and get updates. If I didn't manage to see you, it's ok, we probably talked about you anyway :P Jokes. Kinda. I was really impressed actually; considering how few people I actually managed to see, I got updates on an amazingly wide range of people! I guess when you live overseas no-one expects you to know what's happening, so they are very thorough in the updates. Of course, to those I didn't manage to see, sorry :( It was rather a flying visit.
Yeah, ten days sounded like heaps from over here, but by the time I got to NZ with my shopping list (NZ to Japan adaptor from Dick Smith, light cotton shirts for work in summer, Mainland cheese for Jeff's birthday present, etc!) and my other To Do's (JET interview, get Uni graduation certificate copied and JP signed for the said interview, FIND Uni graduation certificate to get copied and signed, etc!!), there wasn't that much time left for, like, seeing people! I expected my week to involve much lying round reading and going to the beach a few times with my sisters. Yeah - no. It turned out to be a hard week's shopping (finding Jeff short sleeve shirts that weren't white, but were formal enough for work, cheap enough for our budget and didn't rely heavily on purple or pastel blue...) and partying!
I had come home in the knowledge that Kate and Paddy's engagement party (a BBQ meet and greet for the two families) would be on the Saturday before I went home. However, what I HADN'T expected was that on Friday night we ended up taking Laura, my 15 yr old sister, to town! Lucky for her, Beth (21) has an ID that looks more like Laura than it does Beth. So the five of us sisters split into two groups - Kate and Laura (the shorties) together, followed in five minutes later by Beth, Harry and I (so that if they picked up on the second Elizabeth Draper coming in, at least Beth was the real one to argue it!). At first the others suggested I take Laura in. However, considering how often Beth and I get asked if we are twins despite our different hair, different skin, different bodies and five year difference in age, I thought me taking Laura in and Beth following would only invite deja vu and hence difficulties! Anyway, the only hitch was when Harry talked to a guy in the line next to us and he was asking about the fake ID as we approached the bouncers. By this point Laura, Kate and Harry were through, so the bouncer took AGES inspecting my ID - holding it to the light, bending it to check the corners etc! If my 15 yr old sis got in, then I got rejected (for anyone unsure, I am 26 now!!), that would really really suck! I have actually been rejected on that ID before, as I have long blonde hair in the pic and the bouncers didn't like my pointing out I can't get a new ID every time I change my hairstyle. I'd be needing four Driver's Licences a year!!
Anyway, in case any bouncers/police/concerned parents are reading this (by concerned parents I don't mean mine - they were the ones who requested we take her! Dad wanted to make sure she wasn't a dork at school, like I was. Gee, thanks Dad), the only drinks imbibed were a beer that I let Kate and Beth sip at (I know Harry is legally old enough to drink, but I still couldn't bring myself to offer her alcohol!) and a coke that we all shared.
Laura looked really cute - too cute in fact, we had to chase away a few blokes honing in... I had dressed her in a grey cowlneck top and black shorts and did her some classic smokey eye makeup. Beth untied her hair from it's messy bun and clipped a bit to the side, so it all looked very sexy 'I'm not trying to hard but have naturally bedhead hair'. This was all done in the secure carpark below Dad's work on Queen St. The only tense moment came when I realised the bra Laura was wearing under the cowlneck top wasn't cutting it, so we had to switch bras. A quick look at the park behind us confirmed there was noone around, but partway through the change Kate looked up and goes, "You guys know that's a security camera, right?" Oh, bums!! Sorry about that Dad, hope noone bothers you for having your daughters halfnaked in your carpark!
The rest of my time at home was nice and quiet - catchup teas and coffees, using Harry's staff discount at the Esprit store at Westgate and meeting my brother-in-law-to-be's family.
Back here in Japan things had really warmed up. Most of the snow had melted and you couldn't even see your breath during the day. However, yesterday mixed things up again with another heavy snow. Of course, that's great news for our snowboarding, providing it doesn't all melt on the beautiful sunny day that is today!
Hehe, talking about snowboarding, Jeff and I went on Sunday. Jeff wasn't feeling good so didn't stick it out too long, but I went and did a run down the really steep slope. It's pretty challenging as it's all lumpy from skiers doing moguls on it, and, as aforementioned, it's steep. Really steep. Last time I tried it I went down 2/3 of the way with my toes up and heels down, slowly eeking down the mountain. This time I was determined to be more brave. I had good timing, as about seven other snowboarders were attempting to manage this slope - just like me. We basically took it in turns tumbling past each other, then waiting in one spot for the next person to pass you, so you could overtake them when they wiped out. I was pleased I had been using Mum's pilates DVD when I was lying head first down the slope and my board came over so that my feet were in the snow above my head. Yup, some pretty impressive wipeouts!
Umm... in case you were wondering, Jeff was really happy with his cheese. 1.7kg of NZ colby :D
Oh, my interview went well, for anyone who hadn't heard. The interviewers seemed very relaxed and chatty, which is always a good sign. Of course, getting a position will only be half the battle - the real question is where they could offer me a job... Also, for those that were asking, I will hear if I have an offer in April, though it will be more like June when I hear where.
So now, I am at home for the week, theoretically writing. Yesterday Jeff set me the task of writing a story about Bob, the butcher's dog. Turns out Bob is a very odd name for a Japanese dog, and the fact he belonged to the butcher seemed a bit random, but it made me write. Today he has set me the task of writing about someone's first time eating ice cream. Yes, Jeff knows me too well and is trying to help me deal with my chronic procrastination!
Ok, that's enough from me. I should go have some lunch, then sit down to write about this icecream experience...
Cheers,
Charly
Sorry I have been a total slacker about updating this!!! The longer I leave it for, the more I don't want to write because I have more to update about... Not that me sitting at home in my PJs for days at a time makes for exciting reading :P
Ok, re. NZ - thanks to those that caught up with me, it was great to see y'all and get updates. If I didn't manage to see you, it's ok, we probably talked about you anyway :P Jokes. Kinda. I was really impressed actually; considering how few people I actually managed to see, I got updates on an amazingly wide range of people! I guess when you live overseas no-one expects you to know what's happening, so they are very thorough in the updates. Of course, to those I didn't manage to see, sorry :( It was rather a flying visit.
Yeah, ten days sounded like heaps from over here, but by the time I got to NZ with my shopping list (NZ to Japan adaptor from Dick Smith, light cotton shirts for work in summer, Mainland cheese for Jeff's birthday present, etc!) and my other To Do's (JET interview, get Uni graduation certificate copied and JP signed for the said interview, FIND Uni graduation certificate to get copied and signed, etc!!), there wasn't that much time left for, like, seeing people! I expected my week to involve much lying round reading and going to the beach a few times with my sisters. Yeah - no. It turned out to be a hard week's shopping (finding Jeff short sleeve shirts that weren't white, but were formal enough for work, cheap enough for our budget and didn't rely heavily on purple or pastel blue...) and partying!
I had come home in the knowledge that Kate and Paddy's engagement party (a BBQ meet and greet for the two families) would be on the Saturday before I went home. However, what I HADN'T expected was that on Friday night we ended up taking Laura, my 15 yr old sister, to town! Lucky for her, Beth (21) has an ID that looks more like Laura than it does Beth. So the five of us sisters split into two groups - Kate and Laura (the shorties) together, followed in five minutes later by Beth, Harry and I (so that if they picked up on the second Elizabeth Draper coming in, at least Beth was the real one to argue it!). At first the others suggested I take Laura in. However, considering how often Beth and I get asked if we are twins despite our different hair, different skin, different bodies and five year difference in age, I thought me taking Laura in and Beth following would only invite deja vu and hence difficulties! Anyway, the only hitch was when Harry talked to a guy in the line next to us and he was asking about the fake ID as we approached the bouncers. By this point Laura, Kate and Harry were through, so the bouncer took AGES inspecting my ID - holding it to the light, bending it to check the corners etc! If my 15 yr old sis got in, then I got rejected (for anyone unsure, I am 26 now!!), that would really really suck! I have actually been rejected on that ID before, as I have long blonde hair in the pic and the bouncers didn't like my pointing out I can't get a new ID every time I change my hairstyle. I'd be needing four Driver's Licences a year!!
Anyway, in case any bouncers/police/concerned parents are reading this (by concerned parents I don't mean mine - they were the ones who requested we take her! Dad wanted to make sure she wasn't a dork at school, like I was. Gee, thanks Dad), the only drinks imbibed were a beer that I let Kate and Beth sip at (I know Harry is legally old enough to drink, but I still couldn't bring myself to offer her alcohol!) and a coke that we all shared.
Laura looked really cute - too cute in fact, we had to chase away a few blokes honing in... I had dressed her in a grey cowlneck top and black shorts and did her some classic smokey eye makeup. Beth untied her hair from it's messy bun and clipped a bit to the side, so it all looked very sexy 'I'm not trying to hard but have naturally bedhead hair'. This was all done in the secure carpark below Dad's work on Queen St. The only tense moment came when I realised the bra Laura was wearing under the cowlneck top wasn't cutting it, so we had to switch bras. A quick look at the park behind us confirmed there was noone around, but partway through the change Kate looked up and goes, "You guys know that's a security camera, right?" Oh, bums!! Sorry about that Dad, hope noone bothers you for having your daughters halfnaked in your carpark!
The rest of my time at home was nice and quiet - catchup teas and coffees, using Harry's staff discount at the Esprit store at Westgate and meeting my brother-in-law-to-be's family.
Back here in Japan things had really warmed up. Most of the snow had melted and you couldn't even see your breath during the day. However, yesterday mixed things up again with another heavy snow. Of course, that's great news for our snowboarding, providing it doesn't all melt on the beautiful sunny day that is today!
Hehe, talking about snowboarding, Jeff and I went on Sunday. Jeff wasn't feeling good so didn't stick it out too long, but I went and did a run down the really steep slope. It's pretty challenging as it's all lumpy from skiers doing moguls on it, and, as aforementioned, it's steep. Really steep. Last time I tried it I went down 2/3 of the way with my toes up and heels down, slowly eeking down the mountain. This time I was determined to be more brave. I had good timing, as about seven other snowboarders were attempting to manage this slope - just like me. We basically took it in turns tumbling past each other, then waiting in one spot for the next person to pass you, so you could overtake them when they wiped out. I was pleased I had been using Mum's pilates DVD when I was lying head first down the slope and my board came over so that my feet were in the snow above my head. Yup, some pretty impressive wipeouts!
Umm... in case you were wondering, Jeff was really happy with his cheese. 1.7kg of NZ colby :D
Oh, my interview went well, for anyone who hadn't heard. The interviewers seemed very relaxed and chatty, which is always a good sign. Of course, getting a position will only be half the battle - the real question is where they could offer me a job... Also, for those that were asking, I will hear if I have an offer in April, though it will be more like June when I hear where.
So now, I am at home for the week, theoretically writing. Yesterday Jeff set me the task of writing a story about Bob, the butcher's dog. Turns out Bob is a very odd name for a Japanese dog, and the fact he belonged to the butcher seemed a bit random, but it made me write. Today he has set me the task of writing about someone's first time eating ice cream. Yes, Jeff knows me too well and is trying to help me deal with my chronic procrastination!
Ok, that's enough from me. I should go have some lunch, then sit down to write about this icecream experience...
Cheers,
Charly
Monday, January 24, 2011
Not much to say...
Hey people,
I don't really have anything to say here - so this update is really just to tell you that I'll be in NZ from Friday until Mon 7th (well, till 7am!), so I will NOT be doing any updates and you MAY see me around. I will be doing a flying visit to Hamilton and will be spending a bit longer in Auckland - catching up with family mainly - it's Kate's engagement party my last weekend :D
Hmm... that probably wasn't public knowledge so before you read it and feel upset you weren't invited, I think it's really just immediate family meeting immediate family. Kate and Paddy are really happy because they chose that weekend because Paddy's brother would be in NZ. Then, fortuitously, I happened to be in NZ then too, so all the siblings will be in attendance. Pretty good show for a Saffa and someone from a family of our size and travellingness!!
Other than that... if I don't get to catch up with you in my rather short stay, I apologise. But if we do get a chance to catch up... yay! My 021 cell will be in action during my stay so feel free to flick me a text and see what I'm up to. Offers for exercise will be particuarly appreciated as I am still too big for my jeans after my excessive culinary sampling in Taiwan! Having said that, everyone on facebook keeps moaning about the temperature, so I may want nothing more than to lie in the shade sucking ice cubes, lol. Currently we consider 2 degrees 'warm', so I think NZ will be a shock to the system!!
Anyway, take care and maybe see you round...
Charly
I don't really have anything to say here - so this update is really just to tell you that I'll be in NZ from Friday until Mon 7th (well, till 7am!), so I will NOT be doing any updates and you MAY see me around. I will be doing a flying visit to Hamilton and will be spending a bit longer in Auckland - catching up with family mainly - it's Kate's engagement party my last weekend :D
Hmm... that probably wasn't public knowledge so before you read it and feel upset you weren't invited, I think it's really just immediate family meeting immediate family. Kate and Paddy are really happy because they chose that weekend because Paddy's brother would be in NZ. Then, fortuitously, I happened to be in NZ then too, so all the siblings will be in attendance. Pretty good show for a Saffa and someone from a family of our size and travellingness!!
Other than that... if I don't get to catch up with you in my rather short stay, I apologise. But if we do get a chance to catch up... yay! My 021 cell will be in action during my stay so feel free to flick me a text and see what I'm up to. Offers for exercise will be particuarly appreciated as I am still too big for my jeans after my excessive culinary sampling in Taiwan! Having said that, everyone on facebook keeps moaning about the temperature, so I may want nothing more than to lie in the shade sucking ice cubes, lol. Currently we consider 2 degrees 'warm', so I think NZ will be a shock to the system!!
Anyway, take care and maybe see you round...
Charly
Monday, January 17, 2011
First day of the rest of my life... well, maybe the next month, anyway...
Hey there,
Last night we had 30cm snow - fairly record-breaking for Jinseki - and it's still going, due to continue until tomorrow. Jeff has gone to work and it's my first day of 'freedom' since my work dropped to one week a month. So far I have bullied myself into doing a workout, had warm porridge, warm tea, warm shower, warm soup, more warm tea... do you notice a pattern here? Currently I am sitting with my legs tucked under the very warm heated table. In fact, in all honesty, that's really the only reason you are getting an update... I needed an excuse to not leave the heated table!!
Ok, so I promised to give you a bit of an update on Taiwan... We spent the first three days in Taipei in a hostel. The first thing we noticed about Taipei was how Europeanised it was, relative to Japan. We saw white faces and plenty of European food on offer - including KFC, Pizza Hut and Maccas! In fact, I'm ashamed to admit it, but coming from Japan where it can easily set you back $50 for two pizzas, we went a little crazy on European food. In the first three days almost every meal was from a pizza joint or European-style cafe. We knew it was bad, but coming from Japan we were missing food we knew, not hankering after trying more crazy stuff! (This was particularly so because all the signs were in Chinese, so we had no idea what most of the food was! It made us realise how much we have learnt/understand in Japan).
Most of our time in that three days was taken up with just wandering the streets seeing what we bumped into. We bought about a million secondhand books (another sign of how Europeanised it is - lots of secondhand English books!) and visited a different street market every night. We bumped into some awesome temples, wandered round some cool parks/gardens and spent a lot of time chillaxing in our hostel room.
After three days we took the high speed train down to the south of Taiwan. I had visions of us swimming every day and lying on the beach soaking up the sunshine. Unfortunately I had misunderstood the area of the accomodation I booked and it was about 4km from the local swimming beach - not exactly the jandalled stroll I was hoping for! The designated English speaker at the hostel (whenever we turned up at reception they just phoned him!) assured us it was easy to catch a bus from the main road, and that they left every 20 minutes. The first day we managed to fail entirely to get ANYWHERE - a combination of factors including being unsure of the bus stop, being unsure of which bus we needed, a sporadic service due to New Year's holiday crowding and not knowing we needed to hail the bus like a taxi. We finally gave up and went back to our hostel in a sulk.
We had burnt through most of the cash we had changed over during our first three days in Taipei, so while in Kenting (Kenting National Park covers the southern tip of Taiwan) we bought most of our food from the supermarket. This sounded like a great plan EXCEPT we had no microwave, bowls or cutlery. We managed to improvise, using our coffee mugs and disposable spoons to eat our cereal, using a cereal box as a plate and using coffee stirers as knives. We spent the next four days living off cereal, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and instant noodles. Our one treat meal was New Year's Eve, when we went to a place which was, we suspect, a fairly typical Taiwanese restuarant, serving a mix of different Asian dishes. We had a delicious prawn and pepper dish, a tasty beef and garlic dish and an average dish of wild pork, all washed down with copious amounts of beer. Beer in Japan is ridiculously expensive, so we made the most of the more modestly priced drinks in Taiwan.
Prior to dinner on New Year's Eve we had again attempted to catch the bus down to Kenting Village, but had given up after an hour and taken a taxi down. The permenant shops were restaurants, clubs and surf stores (and yes, Rip Curl is just as expensive in Taiwan as it is in NZ!), clearly catering to the tourists, with even a Starbucks (Jeff's fav coffee here! Guess it's the Maccas of coffee - you know what you're getting everytime). Lining the road on both sides were numerous smaller stalls selling glasses, hotdogs, watches, stinky tofu, jewellery, sliced fruit, or the chance to win an ugly soft toy through shooting the target. We took our time perusing these and sampling some of the wares before we went in for dinner.
After finishing at dinner, I dragged Jeff into a club that promised a hiphop and dance party. Although I admit I haven't exactly been a party animal here in Japan - only going out drinking twice in the six months we've lived here - I have been craving a chance to go clubbing. But I haven't heard anything about it... I don't know whether clubbing is just not a popular pastime here in Japan or what, but I really really wanted to dance. We hung out in the club for a while, having a few drinks and waiting for the party to get started. However, the dance floor was monopolised by a small child in her pink rain jacket, happily dancing on her own watching the lights on the floor from the disco ball. Sometimes women would come up to dance with her, which she was happy enough with, though she ran back to her mum whenever blokes tried to dance with her. As cute as that was and all, I didn't feel comfortable letting out my inner Christina Aguilera while sharing the dance floor with a two year old. Jeff understood my concerns - or perhaps just got sick of my attempts at conversation in a super loud club - and we moved on.
We ended up in a bar with a random Philipino band playing shouty rock music, while the DJ playing Britney Spears on the band's breaks. They had 'entertainment' consisting of a bad stripping act (we only caught the end but they had blokes from the audience in compromising clothing and the grand finale involved the girls trying to a suggestive pose on the blokes with the aid of a pole, but they looked so nervous about kicking the blokes or each other it lost it's 'omph') and a group of six girls doing a boring dance to a pop song, wearing outfits that were more skimpy than was flattering for several of them. Very odd.
At midnight there were fireworks on the street, so everyone poured out of the restaurants and clubs to come have a look. The wind was so strong most of the fireworks happened almost out of sight, having been swept over towards the beach as they shot up, but the crowd was exhilarating, everyone excited and cheering and wiping ash out of their eyes/hair. The dancers from earlier stood on tables, trying to dance sexily with no music and just looking very uncomfortable. I jumped on a chair to get a better view and managed to put my foot through the sun-weathered straw seat, but it all seemed like part of the fun. Strange, imperfect, crazy night.
When we came back in, I had a massive hankering to see what I could remember on the pole. I had a couple of drinks quickly for Dutch courage, rolled up my leggings to over my knees and went down to the dance floor. Jeff was up above on a balcony watching, laughing and taking photos as I pushed my way onto the all male dance floor and approached the pole.
Hmm... computer switched off here, to install anti-virus updates, so this is the next day:
Anyway, with the pole dancing. Consider that I was drunk, unfit, hadn't done any pole dancing lessons in over a year, and didn't even have bare legs to grip the pole and you will have a pretty good idea of how successful I was. However, I did manage to go upside down and do something that vaguely resembled the lotus (one leg off the pole, upside down). Which the crowd seemed happy with, even if I wasn't. I quickly ran out of steam, realising I wasn't going to manage much at all with leggings on, and let the boys have their pole back. After another drink or two Jeff consented to dance with me and we have a bit of a turn on the dance floor until the wee hours.
Over the next couple of days we explored Kenting Village, went for a walk on the seashore and went on a cool little morning tour of the area - including cool gas leaks from the ground that got lit on fire and are now eternal flames. Sounds more impressive than it looks, but it's a cool idea!
After four days we headed back to Taipei, this time staying at a hotel that was a bit more expensive (yay for the luxury!). Actually I was really grateful we had chosen to treat ourselves to some nicer accomodation, because my back was hurting from sleeping on really solid beds in the last couple of places - I appreciated waking in the morning because I had finished sleeping, not because my back was aching!
Anyway, enough of the whining... on our last couple of full days in Taipei we went exploring some more park/gardens, went to the Taipei Zoo (165 hectares! We were finally kicked out about ten mins after closing time... dammit!), treated ourselves to a massage (yes, we actually had little Taiwanese ladies walk on our backs! I had forgotten about that when we booked for back massages! I had no idea how good it would feel to have a small Asian woman walk on my bum... not somewhere you can get massaged the way we do it in NZ!) and got brave enough to sample some of the Taiwanese fare on offer at the markets. The total winners were the crusty freshly baked bread buns filled with pepper pork... although filled with black sesame they also tasted bloody good!! We also took the opportunity to allow ourselves a little shopping, as we had used less money than we had allowed for. I got two handbags for NZ$37, Jeff got a cool leather wristband and a new bag for work (his other one's strap was tied in a knot because it had snapped and he thought it was still ok for work! What would he do without me!!!) and we got a few gifts for people (just wait to see what we are dressing your son in, Huia!! I expect facebook photos!).
On the last day we put our packs back on our backs - pretty heavy by this point from all the books we bought! - and trudged off to the bus stop. Waiting for the bus we were asked by about a million taxi drivers if we needed a lift, so we had to repeat each time that the bus was cheap, so we would take that. They would then all ask us if we were cold - standing in tshirts and shorts while everyone bustled past in big jackets and woolly hats. So then we had to explain each time that no, we were from Japan and that our house was currently buried in snow, so no, we weren't cold and that Taipei was warm (was lovely actually, sitting between 10 and 20 each day we were there).
I won't bore you with the details of our mammoth task of getting home (oh, ok: bus to airport, flight to Osaka, bus to Okayama, night in a hotel, train to Onomichi, ferry to Mukaishima and a drive back to Jinseki!), but we got back safely to find a blizzard had been through Jinseki while we were in Taiwan and there was lots of snow everywhere.
Speaking of snow, I need to go dig my car out. It's -10 degrees today and everyone keeps nagging me to get my car out. I think it is understandable that I'm not keen on digging my car out of 60cm of snow, on my own, with no shovel, but I guess it has to be done! I'm not sure WHY I'm bothering because I will only have to park it back in the same space, where it will continue to be slowly hidden by snow, but I guess I have to do it at some point!
I also SHOULD go snowboarding today because we didn't make it in the weekend and the mountain is less than an hour away. But I feel so weird about going snowboarding on my own... I know it's a good idea, because I can do some of the bigger slopes without worrying about Jeff, but I've never been to the mountain alone before. I totally consider snowboarding a team sport!
Ah well, I will have to put on my snowboarding pants to dig out my car anyway, so we will see it I'm more enthusiastic once I'm dressed anyway! Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me, it's because I'm lost somewhere in the snow behind Jinseki elementary school...
Charly xoxoxo
Last night we had 30cm snow - fairly record-breaking for Jinseki - and it's still going, due to continue until tomorrow. Jeff has gone to work and it's my first day of 'freedom' since my work dropped to one week a month. So far I have bullied myself into doing a workout, had warm porridge, warm tea, warm shower, warm soup, more warm tea... do you notice a pattern here? Currently I am sitting with my legs tucked under the very warm heated table. In fact, in all honesty, that's really the only reason you are getting an update... I needed an excuse to not leave the heated table!!
Ok, so I promised to give you a bit of an update on Taiwan... We spent the first three days in Taipei in a hostel. The first thing we noticed about Taipei was how Europeanised it was, relative to Japan. We saw white faces and plenty of European food on offer - including KFC, Pizza Hut and Maccas! In fact, I'm ashamed to admit it, but coming from Japan where it can easily set you back $50 for two pizzas, we went a little crazy on European food. In the first three days almost every meal was from a pizza joint or European-style cafe. We knew it was bad, but coming from Japan we were missing food we knew, not hankering after trying more crazy stuff! (This was particularly so because all the signs were in Chinese, so we had no idea what most of the food was! It made us realise how much we have learnt/understand in Japan).
Most of our time in that three days was taken up with just wandering the streets seeing what we bumped into. We bought about a million secondhand books (another sign of how Europeanised it is - lots of secondhand English books!) and visited a different street market every night. We bumped into some awesome temples, wandered round some cool parks/gardens and spent a lot of time chillaxing in our hostel room.
After three days we took the high speed train down to the south of Taiwan. I had visions of us swimming every day and lying on the beach soaking up the sunshine. Unfortunately I had misunderstood the area of the accomodation I booked and it was about 4km from the local swimming beach - not exactly the jandalled stroll I was hoping for! The designated English speaker at the hostel (whenever we turned up at reception they just phoned him!) assured us it was easy to catch a bus from the main road, and that they left every 20 minutes. The first day we managed to fail entirely to get ANYWHERE - a combination of factors including being unsure of the bus stop, being unsure of which bus we needed, a sporadic service due to New Year's holiday crowding and not knowing we needed to hail the bus like a taxi. We finally gave up and went back to our hostel in a sulk.
We had burnt through most of the cash we had changed over during our first three days in Taipei, so while in Kenting (Kenting National Park covers the southern tip of Taiwan) we bought most of our food from the supermarket. This sounded like a great plan EXCEPT we had no microwave, bowls or cutlery. We managed to improvise, using our coffee mugs and disposable spoons to eat our cereal, using a cereal box as a plate and using coffee stirers as knives. We spent the next four days living off cereal, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and instant noodles. Our one treat meal was New Year's Eve, when we went to a place which was, we suspect, a fairly typical Taiwanese restuarant, serving a mix of different Asian dishes. We had a delicious prawn and pepper dish, a tasty beef and garlic dish and an average dish of wild pork, all washed down with copious amounts of beer. Beer in Japan is ridiculously expensive, so we made the most of the more modestly priced drinks in Taiwan.
Prior to dinner on New Year's Eve we had again attempted to catch the bus down to Kenting Village, but had given up after an hour and taken a taxi down. The permenant shops were restaurants, clubs and surf stores (and yes, Rip Curl is just as expensive in Taiwan as it is in NZ!), clearly catering to the tourists, with even a Starbucks (Jeff's fav coffee here! Guess it's the Maccas of coffee - you know what you're getting everytime). Lining the road on both sides were numerous smaller stalls selling glasses, hotdogs, watches, stinky tofu, jewellery, sliced fruit, or the chance to win an ugly soft toy through shooting the target. We took our time perusing these and sampling some of the wares before we went in for dinner.
After finishing at dinner, I dragged Jeff into a club that promised a hiphop and dance party. Although I admit I haven't exactly been a party animal here in Japan - only going out drinking twice in the six months we've lived here - I have been craving a chance to go clubbing. But I haven't heard anything about it... I don't know whether clubbing is just not a popular pastime here in Japan or what, but I really really wanted to dance. We hung out in the club for a while, having a few drinks and waiting for the party to get started. However, the dance floor was monopolised by a small child in her pink rain jacket, happily dancing on her own watching the lights on the floor from the disco ball. Sometimes women would come up to dance with her, which she was happy enough with, though she ran back to her mum whenever blokes tried to dance with her. As cute as that was and all, I didn't feel comfortable letting out my inner Christina Aguilera while sharing the dance floor with a two year old. Jeff understood my concerns - or perhaps just got sick of my attempts at conversation in a super loud club - and we moved on.
We ended up in a bar with a random Philipino band playing shouty rock music, while the DJ playing Britney Spears on the band's breaks. They had 'entertainment' consisting of a bad stripping act (we only caught the end but they had blokes from the audience in compromising clothing and the grand finale involved the girls trying to a suggestive pose on the blokes with the aid of a pole, but they looked so nervous about kicking the blokes or each other it lost it's 'omph') and a group of six girls doing a boring dance to a pop song, wearing outfits that were more skimpy than was flattering for several of them. Very odd.
At midnight there were fireworks on the street, so everyone poured out of the restaurants and clubs to come have a look. The wind was so strong most of the fireworks happened almost out of sight, having been swept over towards the beach as they shot up, but the crowd was exhilarating, everyone excited and cheering and wiping ash out of their eyes/hair. The dancers from earlier stood on tables, trying to dance sexily with no music and just looking very uncomfortable. I jumped on a chair to get a better view and managed to put my foot through the sun-weathered straw seat, but it all seemed like part of the fun. Strange, imperfect, crazy night.
When we came back in, I had a massive hankering to see what I could remember on the pole. I had a couple of drinks quickly for Dutch courage, rolled up my leggings to over my knees and went down to the dance floor. Jeff was up above on a balcony watching, laughing and taking photos as I pushed my way onto the all male dance floor and approached the pole.
Hmm... computer switched off here, to install anti-virus updates, so this is the next day:
Anyway, with the pole dancing. Consider that I was drunk, unfit, hadn't done any pole dancing lessons in over a year, and didn't even have bare legs to grip the pole and you will have a pretty good idea of how successful I was. However, I did manage to go upside down and do something that vaguely resembled the lotus (one leg off the pole, upside down). Which the crowd seemed happy with, even if I wasn't. I quickly ran out of steam, realising I wasn't going to manage much at all with leggings on, and let the boys have their pole back. After another drink or two Jeff consented to dance with me and we have a bit of a turn on the dance floor until the wee hours.
Over the next couple of days we explored Kenting Village, went for a walk on the seashore and went on a cool little morning tour of the area - including cool gas leaks from the ground that got lit on fire and are now eternal flames. Sounds more impressive than it looks, but it's a cool idea!
After four days we headed back to Taipei, this time staying at a hotel that was a bit more expensive (yay for the luxury!). Actually I was really grateful we had chosen to treat ourselves to some nicer accomodation, because my back was hurting from sleeping on really solid beds in the last couple of places - I appreciated waking in the morning because I had finished sleeping, not because my back was aching!
Anyway, enough of the whining... on our last couple of full days in Taipei we went exploring some more park/gardens, went to the Taipei Zoo (165 hectares! We were finally kicked out about ten mins after closing time... dammit!), treated ourselves to a massage (yes, we actually had little Taiwanese ladies walk on our backs! I had forgotten about that when we booked for back massages! I had no idea how good it would feel to have a small Asian woman walk on my bum... not somewhere you can get massaged the way we do it in NZ!) and got brave enough to sample some of the Taiwanese fare on offer at the markets. The total winners were the crusty freshly baked bread buns filled with pepper pork... although filled with black sesame they also tasted bloody good!! We also took the opportunity to allow ourselves a little shopping, as we had used less money than we had allowed for. I got two handbags for NZ$37, Jeff got a cool leather wristband and a new bag for work (his other one's strap was tied in a knot because it had snapped and he thought it was still ok for work! What would he do without me!!!) and we got a few gifts for people (just wait to see what we are dressing your son in, Huia!! I expect facebook photos!).
On the last day we put our packs back on our backs - pretty heavy by this point from all the books we bought! - and trudged off to the bus stop. Waiting for the bus we were asked by about a million taxi drivers if we needed a lift, so we had to repeat each time that the bus was cheap, so we would take that. They would then all ask us if we were cold - standing in tshirts and shorts while everyone bustled past in big jackets and woolly hats. So then we had to explain each time that no, we were from Japan and that our house was currently buried in snow, so no, we weren't cold and that Taipei was warm (was lovely actually, sitting between 10 and 20 each day we were there).
I won't bore you with the details of our mammoth task of getting home (oh, ok: bus to airport, flight to Osaka, bus to Okayama, night in a hotel, train to Onomichi, ferry to Mukaishima and a drive back to Jinseki!), but we got back safely to find a blizzard had been through Jinseki while we were in Taiwan and there was lots of snow everywhere.
Speaking of snow, I need to go dig my car out. It's -10 degrees today and everyone keeps nagging me to get my car out. I think it is understandable that I'm not keen on digging my car out of 60cm of snow, on my own, with no shovel, but I guess it has to be done! I'm not sure WHY I'm bothering because I will only have to park it back in the same space, where it will continue to be slowly hidden by snow, but I guess I have to do it at some point!
I also SHOULD go snowboarding today because we didn't make it in the weekend and the mountain is less than an hour away. But I feel so weird about going snowboarding on my own... I know it's a good idea, because I can do some of the bigger slopes without worrying about Jeff, but I've never been to the mountain alone before. I totally consider snowboarding a team sport!
Ah well, I will have to put on my snowboarding pants to dig out my car anyway, so we will see it I'm more enthusiastic once I'm dressed anyway! Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me, it's because I'm lost somewhere in the snow behind Jinseki elementary school...
Charly xoxoxo
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sorry for the lack of communication!!
Hey there,
Sorry for the lack of communication... Jeff and I only got back from Taiwan on Friday, hit Jinseki on Saturday, spent Sunday unpacking and doing laundry (We had no clean underwear, and those who knew my underwear collection in NZ should be impressed and amazed at how much I cut down coming here, to actually manage to run out!!) and on Monday we went for our first snowboard for the winter! Now it's Tuesday and I need to head down to my job for the week, so I won't be back in Jinseki (and therefore on the internet) for another week.
Today was also Jeff's first day back at work. He had a nice surprise (well, actually it wasn't really a surprise, we kind of expected it) when the hot water wasn't working, so no hot shower to warm up. On cold mornings our pipes have been freezing (while ironically our freezer doesn't freeze and we had to throw out a bunch of stuff!!). So right when you most need a hot shower... you can't have one! Jeff will have to talk to his supervisor at the Board of Education about it, but it probably won't be able to be sorted until next week, when I'm home to let the workman in, so it's probably a week of really cold mornings for Jeff!
Ok, I'm thinking I'll head down to Onomichi early, so that I can have a shower at my accomodation down there (assuming our water hasn't defrosted in the time I've been bumming on the internet, sitting under the heated table :) ). So apologies for not telling you ANYTHING about our Taiwan trip in this update, but I need to pack for a week away from home and then drive two hours to have my shower!!
Will update better next week!
Cheers,
Charly
P.S. Re. the snowboarding, just a note to say how impressed I was at how much Jeff remembered from his four hours of snowboarding three years ago. By the end of our three hours on the slope he was confidently scooting off down the mountain, linking his turns nicely, travelling with some speed and only having the occasional bail!
Sorry for the lack of communication... Jeff and I only got back from Taiwan on Friday, hit Jinseki on Saturday, spent Sunday unpacking and doing laundry (We had no clean underwear, and those who knew my underwear collection in NZ should be impressed and amazed at how much I cut down coming here, to actually manage to run out!!) and on Monday we went for our first snowboard for the winter! Now it's Tuesday and I need to head down to my job for the week, so I won't be back in Jinseki (and therefore on the internet) for another week.
Today was also Jeff's first day back at work. He had a nice surprise (well, actually it wasn't really a surprise, we kind of expected it) when the hot water wasn't working, so no hot shower to warm up. On cold mornings our pipes have been freezing (while ironically our freezer doesn't freeze and we had to throw out a bunch of stuff!!). So right when you most need a hot shower... you can't have one! Jeff will have to talk to his supervisor at the Board of Education about it, but it probably won't be able to be sorted until next week, when I'm home to let the workman in, so it's probably a week of really cold mornings for Jeff!
Ok, I'm thinking I'll head down to Onomichi early, so that I can have a shower at my accomodation down there (assuming our water hasn't defrosted in the time I've been bumming on the internet, sitting under the heated table :) ). So apologies for not telling you ANYTHING about our Taiwan trip in this update, but I need to pack for a week away from home and then drive two hours to have my shower!!
Will update better next week!
Cheers,
Charly
P.S. Re. the snowboarding, just a note to say how impressed I was at how much Jeff remembered from his four hours of snowboarding three years ago. By the end of our three hours on the slope he was confidently scooting off down the mountain, linking his turns nicely, travelling with some speed and only having the occasional bail!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Changes in the work situation
Hey there,
How are you all? I hear the summer rains have hit and you are all now living in the tropics!
Over here the weather has warmed up - and for once I'm not happy about it!! Kate turned out to be the weather fairy, with good weather showing up everytime she makes plans (bar yesterday, although it was an exceptionally warm 4 degrees!). Unfortunately, this means no snow in Jinseki while Kate is here. Tonight is her last night with us, so unless it cools down in a hurry today, she won't see white flakes for Christmas. As I'm sitting here in only longjohns and a cotton sweatshirt (my improvised PJs), I'm not picking that we will see snow anytime soon...
This week Kate has hung out with me in Jinseki, doing local things. In fact, we realised that the whole time she has stayed with us, we haven't cooked her dinner once! The first night we took her out for ramen, then once we brought her back here after her two weeks of work, we have been fed Monday night by Luc (the other JET/ALT in the area), Tuesday night by the Yamamoto's and the rest of the English group Jeff helps out at and tonight Nishikawa-san will be feeding us. We were supposed to have our pretend Christmas tonight; Kate and I were going to try to make chicken and potatoes without an oven. However, when Nishikawa-san heard she wouldn't get a chance to feed us, she looked so pained that Kate agreed to pass up her night in Kyoto to stay in Jinseki and have another mean feed (honestly, Kate and I have eaten so much I don't fit my jeans! Which is an issue when we go on holiday to Taiwan a couple of days after Kate leaves! Maybe it's a stale bread and water diet between Kate leaving and us going to Taiwan, so I can do my pants up on the plane, lol).
Anyway, when Jeff heard, he was a bit concerned about Kate sacrificing her night in Kyoto for one dinner, so he had the great idea of Christmas breakfast instead of lunch/dinner. Our attempt at Christmas dinner was always destined to fail, so when Jeff suggested pancakes with ice cream as a Christmas brekkie, we immediately saw the excellence in his plan (any plan that involves ice cream for breakfast has got to be good!!). So tomorrow morning Jeff will make pancakes, Kate will make a mushroom, sweetcorn and chicken thing to go on pancakes with cheese, and I will... serve the ice cream I bought at the supermarket! Life's hard!! We will then open some of the presents from home that Kate brought in her pack (her 20kg pack had 9kg of her clothes, then 11kg of stuff for us!!!), before taking Kate down to Fukuyama for her shinkansen (bullet train).
For actual Christmas day, Jeff and I are thinking of going traditional Japanese style - eating at a restaurant, then going to see the 'illumination' display at Shobara park. Japanese illuminations are like when people at home put a lit-up santa in their garden, only they have huge multicoloured creations. In Hiroshima they had a massive illumination display and we took ages walking up and down the street while Kate took photos of every single one. I can't decide which was my favourite - I'm torn between the griffin and the pirate ship! Keep an eye on Kate's facebook in the next month or two for the multitude of pictures!
As referenced in the title, my work situation looks to be changing. My boss contacted me yesterday to say that their contract to teach one of the factories has ended and they have a fair few students quitting, so he can't keep me working the same hours I do currently. What he has offered instead is that I work one week a month (rather than four days a week), without paying rent or utilities. I can't see how the logistics work, as it doesn't seem practical, so I think he is basically just making up work for me to keep me around, so he still has a trained person on hand when any other staff leave (because both the other guys are nearing the end of their visas). In all honesty, I was getting sick of the commute and paying all the tolls anyway, so was starting to think about other options (translation: I had spent the last three weeks talking about quitting). So this is timely news. I will have an opportunity to see what else I can do with my time and whether it is feasible to be self-employed around here. When I first came I really struggled with culture shock and my job really helped, but now I feel settled enough that I think I can make a routine with practising my Japanese, teaching English and trying to write. So although traditionally 'we are cutting your hours from 16 days a month to 5 days a month' is bad news, in this case I'm pretty happy about it.
I hope you are all well and that noone else has been told work is cutting their hours to one week a month!! As I may not write again in 2010, have a great Christmas - eat lots of potato and cake for me! - and make the most of the rest of the year. Enjoy the break - you deserve it!!
How are you all? I hear the summer rains have hit and you are all now living in the tropics!
Over here the weather has warmed up - and for once I'm not happy about it!! Kate turned out to be the weather fairy, with good weather showing up everytime she makes plans (bar yesterday, although it was an exceptionally warm 4 degrees!). Unfortunately, this means no snow in Jinseki while Kate is here. Tonight is her last night with us, so unless it cools down in a hurry today, she won't see white flakes for Christmas. As I'm sitting here in only longjohns and a cotton sweatshirt (my improvised PJs), I'm not picking that we will see snow anytime soon...
This week Kate has hung out with me in Jinseki, doing local things. In fact, we realised that the whole time she has stayed with us, we haven't cooked her dinner once! The first night we took her out for ramen, then once we brought her back here after her two weeks of work, we have been fed Monday night by Luc (the other JET/ALT in the area), Tuesday night by the Yamamoto's and the rest of the English group Jeff helps out at and tonight Nishikawa-san will be feeding us. We were supposed to have our pretend Christmas tonight; Kate and I were going to try to make chicken and potatoes without an oven. However, when Nishikawa-san heard she wouldn't get a chance to feed us, she looked so pained that Kate agreed to pass up her night in Kyoto to stay in Jinseki and have another mean feed (honestly, Kate and I have eaten so much I don't fit my jeans! Which is an issue when we go on holiday to Taiwan a couple of days after Kate leaves! Maybe it's a stale bread and water diet between Kate leaving and us going to Taiwan, so I can do my pants up on the plane, lol).
Anyway, when Jeff heard, he was a bit concerned about Kate sacrificing her night in Kyoto for one dinner, so he had the great idea of Christmas breakfast instead of lunch/dinner. Our attempt at Christmas dinner was always destined to fail, so when Jeff suggested pancakes with ice cream as a Christmas brekkie, we immediately saw the excellence in his plan (any plan that involves ice cream for breakfast has got to be good!!). So tomorrow morning Jeff will make pancakes, Kate will make a mushroom, sweetcorn and chicken thing to go on pancakes with cheese, and I will... serve the ice cream I bought at the supermarket! Life's hard!! We will then open some of the presents from home that Kate brought in her pack (her 20kg pack had 9kg of her clothes, then 11kg of stuff for us!!!), before taking Kate down to Fukuyama for her shinkansen (bullet train).
For actual Christmas day, Jeff and I are thinking of going traditional Japanese style - eating at a restaurant, then going to see the 'illumination' display at Shobara park. Japanese illuminations are like when people at home put a lit-up santa in their garden, only they have huge multicoloured creations. In Hiroshima they had a massive illumination display and we took ages walking up and down the street while Kate took photos of every single one. I can't decide which was my favourite - I'm torn between the griffin and the pirate ship! Keep an eye on Kate's facebook in the next month or two for the multitude of pictures!
As referenced in the title, my work situation looks to be changing. My boss contacted me yesterday to say that their contract to teach one of the factories has ended and they have a fair few students quitting, so he can't keep me working the same hours I do currently. What he has offered instead is that I work one week a month (rather than four days a week), without paying rent or utilities. I can't see how the logistics work, as it doesn't seem practical, so I think he is basically just making up work for me to keep me around, so he still has a trained person on hand when any other staff leave (because both the other guys are nearing the end of their visas). In all honesty, I was getting sick of the commute and paying all the tolls anyway, so was starting to think about other options (translation: I had spent the last three weeks talking about quitting). So this is timely news. I will have an opportunity to see what else I can do with my time and whether it is feasible to be self-employed around here. When I first came I really struggled with culture shock and my job really helped, but now I feel settled enough that I think I can make a routine with practising my Japanese, teaching English and trying to write. So although traditionally 'we are cutting your hours from 16 days a month to 5 days a month' is bad news, in this case I'm pretty happy about it.
I hope you are all well and that noone else has been told work is cutting their hours to one week a month!! As I may not write again in 2010, have a great Christmas - eat lots of potato and cake for me! - and make the most of the rest of the year. Enjoy the break - you deserve it!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sloooowwwww typing... hands coooollllddd
Hey everyone,
Sorry I've been totally slack about updating here. Things have been busy with Kate visiting - we took her out to Karashiki (no, I don't know how to spell it!) in the weekend and we will go to Hiroshima this weekend. This means I've only been popping home once a week, which also means only getting on the internet once a week. By which time I have such a backlog of emails and bits and bobs to organise (eg. booking hotels - anything to avoid trying to speak on the phone to the Japanese!), that I haven't had time for this. I guess I should follow that by warning you that when Kate leaves, we have a few days of downtime, then we leave for ten days in Taiwan. Should be total awesomeness, but it means I will continue to be slack about updating my blog.
Ok, so what have I been up to? We have been trying to show Kate around as much as possible. In the morning before work we have been doing things like catching the ferry to Onomichi and looking around (including getting free omiyagi because the lady was flattered Kate wanted to take pics of her store! Totally the best thing about living in an area that doesn't get Western tourists - the Japanese are so damn happy to interact with you! Hence the 'gaijin discount'. Mean :D ), going for wanders to check out the houses, having dinner with my factory students (super lovely bunch, even if they couldn't understand a word Kate was saying! In her defence, she was sitting next to the one with the best English, so was tailoring her conversation to that. However, the others were listening and shooting me confused looks!) and on Friday, going to an onsen! I'm really excited about that one because I haven't been yet and can't go on my own when I don't know the protocol. So Kate and I are going to hang out with my workmate, Rie, naked in a hot pool. Sounds so gooooood....
Hmm... if you're sitting there in your tshirt in your warm office/bedroom thinking it just sounds weird, please understand that it's snowing outside and the cold is affecting my fingers enough that I'm avoiding texting cos it's too damn slow without proper circulation! I should get out my gloves, but I'm about to make lunch and, in my experience, cooking and fluffy gloves are not a good combination. So anything hot sounds awesome right now. In fact, walking on hot coals or being burnt at the stake sound increasingly attractive.
Having talked about onsen, I'm very tempted to run a super hot bath and soak, but I still need to pay for my car, fill the kerosene canister and go to the supermarket before Jeff gets back. Guess a hot shower will have to do. I love my Wednesdays - they are my Get Stuff Done day, but they are also always very busy, especially when I haven't been home in the weekend and therefore my entire wardrobe needs washing. This time, I have all my clothes and all Kate's clothes to wash. She was debating what to send home with me and said she would keep a certain merino singlet, as she could just wear it three days in a row. I insisted that no, I had a perfectly good washing machine and was NOT ok with her just wearing the same clothes for three days, just for the hell of it! I think her week of South Island hiking must have affected her more than she realises - it's all good and well to be a smelly tramper, but noone likes a smelly teacher!
This weekend we will be going to Hiroshima to show Kate around and hit up the bomb museums. Jeff and I have only briefly walked through the peace park, so I'm looking forward to having some time to show Hiroshima the respect it deserves.
The following week, on Tuesday, we have dinner with the English Conversation group Jeff helps out with. They try so hard to practice their English without any native speaker to aid them, so I'm so happy Jeff goes when he can make it. This time Kate and I will go along too, so they declared they would have a party. I'm looking forward to introducing Kate to the really cute old bloke with massive glasses and sticky-out teeth. He always brings us the most amazing fruit, usually from his farm, and I just want to take him home and keep him as a pet.
The next day, Wednesday, we will have a pretend Christmas, with Kate as the family representative. We will have potato and chicken, although we still haven't figured out how to cook chicken without an oven... Anyway, we will have wine (including some NZ wine Kate brought us... yum yum!!), sake, little Christmas cakes and chestnuts. Also, I daresay we will have mame-mochi - mochi (pounded rice) with red bean paste inside. Since Kate tried it she has become hooked, eating it every day, so it is a safe bet that we will also eat some at Christmas!
Yes, Japanese food has been a hit with Kate. I've got her into cold soba noodles (so more-ish!), she eats mochi like it's her lifeblood, okinomiyaki went down a treat, she thoroughly approves of the tempura and ate the prawn tail like a good Japanese, enjoyed the eel at Sushimaru (conveyor belt sushi) and managed to spend 4000 yen ($60) on bento boxes in one go (Japanese lunch boxes, an average cost of 300 yen each). So to all Kate's loved ones, if Kate doesn't come home, I'm sorry you have lost her to the Japanese food! Due to NZ not allowing her to bring red beans into the country, she may yet choose to stay here eating mochi and drinking green tea lattes...
Hope you are all loving the sunshine. Keep your fingers crossed we get some decent snow so we get a white Christmas :D
Charly
Sorry I've been totally slack about updating here. Things have been busy with Kate visiting - we took her out to Karashiki (no, I don't know how to spell it!) in the weekend and we will go to Hiroshima this weekend. This means I've only been popping home once a week, which also means only getting on the internet once a week. By which time I have such a backlog of emails and bits and bobs to organise (eg. booking hotels - anything to avoid trying to speak on the phone to the Japanese!), that I haven't had time for this. I guess I should follow that by warning you that when Kate leaves, we have a few days of downtime, then we leave for ten days in Taiwan. Should be total awesomeness, but it means I will continue to be slack about updating my blog.
Ok, so what have I been up to? We have been trying to show Kate around as much as possible. In the morning before work we have been doing things like catching the ferry to Onomichi and looking around (including getting free omiyagi because the lady was flattered Kate wanted to take pics of her store! Totally the best thing about living in an area that doesn't get Western tourists - the Japanese are so damn happy to interact with you! Hence the 'gaijin discount'. Mean :D ), going for wanders to check out the houses, having dinner with my factory students (super lovely bunch, even if they couldn't understand a word Kate was saying! In her defence, she was sitting next to the one with the best English, so was tailoring her conversation to that. However, the others were listening and shooting me confused looks!) and on Friday, going to an onsen! I'm really excited about that one because I haven't been yet and can't go on my own when I don't know the protocol. So Kate and I are going to hang out with my workmate, Rie, naked in a hot pool. Sounds so gooooood....
Hmm... if you're sitting there in your tshirt in your warm office/bedroom thinking it just sounds weird, please understand that it's snowing outside and the cold is affecting my fingers enough that I'm avoiding texting cos it's too damn slow without proper circulation! I should get out my gloves, but I'm about to make lunch and, in my experience, cooking and fluffy gloves are not a good combination. So anything hot sounds awesome right now. In fact, walking on hot coals or being burnt at the stake sound increasingly attractive.
Having talked about onsen, I'm very tempted to run a super hot bath and soak, but I still need to pay for my car, fill the kerosene canister and go to the supermarket before Jeff gets back. Guess a hot shower will have to do. I love my Wednesdays - they are my Get Stuff Done day, but they are also always very busy, especially when I haven't been home in the weekend and therefore my entire wardrobe needs washing. This time, I have all my clothes and all Kate's clothes to wash. She was debating what to send home with me and said she would keep a certain merino singlet, as she could just wear it three days in a row. I insisted that no, I had a perfectly good washing machine and was NOT ok with her just wearing the same clothes for three days, just for the hell of it! I think her week of South Island hiking must have affected her more than she realises - it's all good and well to be a smelly tramper, but noone likes a smelly teacher!
This weekend we will be going to Hiroshima to show Kate around and hit up the bomb museums. Jeff and I have only briefly walked through the peace park, so I'm looking forward to having some time to show Hiroshima the respect it deserves.
The following week, on Tuesday, we have dinner with the English Conversation group Jeff helps out with. They try so hard to practice their English without any native speaker to aid them, so I'm so happy Jeff goes when he can make it. This time Kate and I will go along too, so they declared they would have a party. I'm looking forward to introducing Kate to the really cute old bloke with massive glasses and sticky-out teeth. He always brings us the most amazing fruit, usually from his farm, and I just want to take him home and keep him as a pet.
The next day, Wednesday, we will have a pretend Christmas, with Kate as the family representative. We will have potato and chicken, although we still haven't figured out how to cook chicken without an oven... Anyway, we will have wine (including some NZ wine Kate brought us... yum yum!!), sake, little Christmas cakes and chestnuts. Also, I daresay we will have mame-mochi - mochi (pounded rice) with red bean paste inside. Since Kate tried it she has become hooked, eating it every day, so it is a safe bet that we will also eat some at Christmas!
Yes, Japanese food has been a hit with Kate. I've got her into cold soba noodles (so more-ish!), she eats mochi like it's her lifeblood, okinomiyaki went down a treat, she thoroughly approves of the tempura and ate the prawn tail like a good Japanese, enjoyed the eel at Sushimaru (conveyor belt sushi) and managed to spend 4000 yen ($60) on bento boxes in one go (Japanese lunch boxes, an average cost of 300 yen each). So to all Kate's loved ones, if Kate doesn't come home, I'm sorry you have lost her to the Japanese food! Due to NZ not allowing her to bring red beans into the country, she may yet choose to stay here eating mochi and drinking green tea lattes...
Hope you are all loving the sunshine. Keep your fingers crossed we get some decent snow so we get a white Christmas :D
Charly
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
And you can all breath again...
Just a quick one to say my JET application has successfully reached NZ and been accepted. I had a brief moment of panic when they emailled me to say they had received my application, but that I needed to send my JP signed copy of my degree to conclude my application. My degree is packed away SOMEWHERE in my room in NZ, God know where, and as a compromise I ordered (and paid for!) a letter of completion from uni, hoping it would be enough. So the idea of then either having Mum have to go through EVERY box and bag in my room looking for it, or of having my application fail when I couldn't procure it, was very depressing. Luckily he emailled back saying that was ok and that I can bring any additional paperwork to my interview, assuming I get one. Phew, close call!!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Is no news good news?
Well, I have yet to hear from the Japanese embassy in NZ re. my application. I'm trying to tell myself that it's because they are swamped by applications at the moment, but last time they were very prompt in letting me know my application had arrived... Ah well, until I get an email saying it was in too late, I will continue to hope. And then after I get that email I will send begging, pleading, crying emails :)
At least I have an AWESOME distraction from worrying about whether it made it - because Kate arrives on Saturday! Jeff and I are going to spend the day checking out Okayama, then Kate turns up at the bus stop at 11:10pm and we have a loooong drive back to Jinseki. Not sure how long, but we will be home in the wee hours. It's going to be so much fun having my little sis here - although perhaps I should have expected it, as when I lived in America she came to Kentucky, when I lived in London she visited me enroute to France and now I live in Japan, she is going to visit me here, too!
I'm trying to keep this brief as I want to go for a walk in the sunshine and get some vitamin D, but Jeff and I had a great time in Osaka over Sunday-Monday. We got picked up at 7:30am for the "4 hour" drive there. We got in at 11:15am after a long breakfast stop and dropping Jeff at the hotel, thanks to my boss driving at 130kph! Eek!
Jeff headed out to go shopping while the rest of us went to the teaching English conference. Matt (my boss) and the two Japanese teachers shot into a presentation while Tristan, Robert and I (those who teach because they want to live in Japan), stood around going 'hmm... what now then?' I had a bit of a look at the different textbook stands, so if my boss asked I could give him my opinion, then we went out to get food. We returned to attend a talk on using flashcards - and were lucky to have the others attend the same talk, so we didn't have the awkwardness of trying to persuade them we did attend some of the conference! After we took off to meet up with Jeff and have lunch.
Normally Jeff and I poo-pooh cities and thoroughly dislike crowds. However, I guess we've been rural too long, because we both felt invigorated by Osaka. I think the difference is a) the number of shops aimed at tourists and therefore applicable to us and b) the number of white faces (not many, but way more than on our home turf!). I bought a couple of Murakami books translated to English (I'm on a mission to read all his writing) and some Body Shop stuff (it's the only place in this country I can buy products and know what I'm buying, so I stock up when I find it. God bless English labelling). We tried fugu (blowfish) for lunch - we were told it is the THING to eat in Osaka.
At 6pm we headed back to the hotel to meet everyone, then headed out for dinner. We started with Subway, because Matt said the bar we were going to to eat had such small dishes that it cost him a fortune to fill himself up. Subway was as tasty as ever - not something I had been craving, but I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. I steered clear of the chicken options though, as chicken in Japan tends to be much fattier than in NZ. After our traditional Japanese meal of Subway, at the request of Rie, one of the Japanese teachers, we went to a... umm... an English pub! We all had Guinness and fish and chips (oh, how I missed you, battered fish!). My cute-as little half-pint Guinness glass may or may not have fallen into my handbag...
We then finally hit up the Japanese bar, where we had a few beers and I spent most of my time watching the fish tank at Jeff's back, where a small shark was swimming in circles eyeing him up. After we got bored of that place, we found a place where you ordered a small dish of food for 280 yen (just under $5) and for another 280 yen you could drink as much as you liked for half an hour. Admittedly they served us pretty slow, but I still managed four drinks in my half hour :D I liked half an hour as a 'drink fast' period, because half an hour's drinking doesn't do any serious damage to your tomorrow.
Well, I speak for myself there, actually. Poor Narumi, one of the Japanese teachers, had been trying to match us big foreigners with the drinking and she felt TERRIBLE the next day. She threw up every time she drank water, so was still looking haggard when teaching that evening! Tristan and Robert had gone back out when the rest of us got home that evening so they were also not looking great. Jeff swore he was fine, but I kept reminding him that was AFTER he had taken painkillers for his head! I think Matt and Rie were ok, but it was telling that Jeff and I were the only ones who made it down for the free breakfast (rice and green tea toast... yum!).
So it was a fleeting visit, but we had a great time and are now really keen to go back when we can afford. Which won't be any time soon, what with all the other travel we have coming up, but Osaka won't go anywhere in the meantime, so we can go explore sometime next year.
Hope you are all well,
Charly
At least I have an AWESOME distraction from worrying about whether it made it - because Kate arrives on Saturday! Jeff and I are going to spend the day checking out Okayama, then Kate turns up at the bus stop at 11:10pm and we have a loooong drive back to Jinseki. Not sure how long, but we will be home in the wee hours. It's going to be so much fun having my little sis here - although perhaps I should have expected it, as when I lived in America she came to Kentucky, when I lived in London she visited me enroute to France and now I live in Japan, she is going to visit me here, too!
I'm trying to keep this brief as I want to go for a walk in the sunshine and get some vitamin D, but Jeff and I had a great time in Osaka over Sunday-Monday. We got picked up at 7:30am for the "4 hour" drive there. We got in at 11:15am after a long breakfast stop and dropping Jeff at the hotel, thanks to my boss driving at 130kph! Eek!
Jeff headed out to go shopping while the rest of us went to the teaching English conference. Matt (my boss) and the two Japanese teachers shot into a presentation while Tristan, Robert and I (those who teach because they want to live in Japan), stood around going 'hmm... what now then?' I had a bit of a look at the different textbook stands, so if my boss asked I could give him my opinion, then we went out to get food. We returned to attend a talk on using flashcards - and were lucky to have the others attend the same talk, so we didn't have the awkwardness of trying to persuade them we did attend some of the conference! After we took off to meet up with Jeff and have lunch.
Normally Jeff and I poo-pooh cities and thoroughly dislike crowds. However, I guess we've been rural too long, because we both felt invigorated by Osaka. I think the difference is a) the number of shops aimed at tourists and therefore applicable to us and b) the number of white faces (not many, but way more than on our home turf!). I bought a couple of Murakami books translated to English (I'm on a mission to read all his writing) and some Body Shop stuff (it's the only place in this country I can buy products and know what I'm buying, so I stock up when I find it. God bless English labelling). We tried fugu (blowfish) for lunch - we were told it is the THING to eat in Osaka.
At 6pm we headed back to the hotel to meet everyone, then headed out for dinner. We started with Subway, because Matt said the bar we were going to to eat had such small dishes that it cost him a fortune to fill himself up. Subway was as tasty as ever - not something I had been craving, but I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. I steered clear of the chicken options though, as chicken in Japan tends to be much fattier than in NZ. After our traditional Japanese meal of Subway, at the request of Rie, one of the Japanese teachers, we went to a... umm... an English pub! We all had Guinness and fish and chips (oh, how I missed you, battered fish!). My cute-as little half-pint Guinness glass may or may not have fallen into my handbag...
We then finally hit up the Japanese bar, where we had a few beers and I spent most of my time watching the fish tank at Jeff's back, where a small shark was swimming in circles eyeing him up. After we got bored of that place, we found a place where you ordered a small dish of food for 280 yen (just under $5) and for another 280 yen you could drink as much as you liked for half an hour. Admittedly they served us pretty slow, but I still managed four drinks in my half hour :D I liked half an hour as a 'drink fast' period, because half an hour's drinking doesn't do any serious damage to your tomorrow.
Well, I speak for myself there, actually. Poor Narumi, one of the Japanese teachers, had been trying to match us big foreigners with the drinking and she felt TERRIBLE the next day. She threw up every time she drank water, so was still looking haggard when teaching that evening! Tristan and Robert had gone back out when the rest of us got home that evening so they were also not looking great. Jeff swore he was fine, but I kept reminding him that was AFTER he had taken painkillers for his head! I think Matt and Rie were ok, but it was telling that Jeff and I were the only ones who made it down for the free breakfast (rice and green tea toast... yum!).
So it was a fleeting visit, but we had a great time and are now really keen to go back when we can afford. Which won't be any time soon, what with all the other travel we have coming up, but Osaka won't go anywhere in the meantime, so we can go explore sometime next year.
Hope you are all well,
Charly
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Fingers crossed!!
Well, I got my JET application away. It's cutting it fine because I posted it on Monday, it takes 'about a week' to get to NZ and applications close on the 30th. So if it takes any longer than a week, I'm quite likely screwed. Which would be gutting because I've spent a lot of money getting this application together, paying for academic records, certificates of graduation and a whopping $50 just to get an NZ JP to do a signed photocopy of my passport! Also I've had a number of people running round trying to get my stuff together in time - big ups to Holly, Rod @ Waikato and David @ Massey. But in the end everything only came together on Saturday - when the post office is closed - so Monday was it. If there is a God, can you please remember that I always go to Camp Quality and help out the kiddies, so I deserve to have my letter turn up on time...
Other than that, on Saturday we went to Taishaku Gorge with Jeff's workmates and another local Japanese woman, to go leaf viewing. We were a bit late - most of the leaves have fallen already - but it was a beautiful sunny day and it was great to socialise with some Japanese!! After we had gone for a wander in the sunshine and had a look at the caves where early Japanese lived 10,000 years ago, we went back to Nishikawa-san's place (also known as J-mom). Since her own daughters moved out - one to Osaka and one to Paris, then London - Nishikawa has been on a mission to adopt as many internationals as she can. She likes to have them over for a feed and beer in her kitchen. We christened her kitchen the Nishikawa International Centre. I promised that when both Kate and my parents visit, we would bring them round so she can feed them and chat to them. It was altogether a lovely evening, except for my sore tummy from eating WAY too much!!
Monday was a day of work and yesterday was a holiday. Jeff and I went to Fukuyama to a) look for second-hand snowboards and b) buy Vegemite. I have been craving Indian since we got here, as Japanese food has no spice (if you want a laugh, ask a Japanese person if they like spicy food and watch their facial expression!). In the three days between Jeff leaving NZ and me following I had two excellent Indian meals, so to hit Japan and have no spiciness at all was hard going. So yesterday Jeff remembered we were passing not too far from a good Indian restaurant, so he took me as a treat (mainly a treat because we had almost no cash left and ATMs aren't open on the weekend! Japan is an entirely cash society so our cards wouldn't get us anywhere). I had a yummy yummy chicken and vegetable curry with the largest garlic naan in the whole wide world. They have a spice scale and, knowing how Japanese don't like spice, Jeff and I went for 8. The woman was a little concerned after that it might have been too spicey, but it was BEAUTIFUL. So good... For hours later I didn't eat or drink anything, just savouring the spicy tingle in my mouth. Such a wonderful feeling...
Then, as if that wasn't enough good food for a day, we went to dinner with the group of adults Jeff helps out with English. They were having dinner at the Yamamoto's place (the husband is a Hiroshima bomb survivor!). We were running seven minutes late (anyone who knows me will be impressed I was only that late!) when I receieved a phone call from Yamamoto-san asking where we were, because they were waiting for us! Yikes!! When we turned up they were all sitting round the dinner table, ready to eat skiyaki - a dish that involves chucking in all kinds of meat, tofu, mushrooms and greens while you eat, so you have a continual supply of freshly cooked foods, done in some special skiyaki sauce. Very nutritious and very very tasty!! So, once again, we ate WAY too much. My poor little car struggled to get us home over the hills! I swear we must have been 10kg heavier than on the way in!
Ok, all this talking about food is making me feel hungry (even though I should probably have a three day famine after the amount I ate yesterday!), so I'm off to make lunch.
Hope you are all doing well. This weekend Jeff and I are going to Osaka with my work for a conferencey thing (I don't really know, I just heard 'free trip to Osaka'), so I'll be away from the net for another full week. Apologies for the infrequency of these updates... Btw, check Jeff's facebook page for a video of our house. Pretty cute, huh??
Miss you guys, take care!!
Charly
Other than that, on Saturday we went to Taishaku Gorge with Jeff's workmates and another local Japanese woman, to go leaf viewing. We were a bit late - most of the leaves have fallen already - but it was a beautiful sunny day and it was great to socialise with some Japanese!! After we had gone for a wander in the sunshine and had a look at the caves where early Japanese lived 10,000 years ago, we went back to Nishikawa-san's place (also known as J-mom). Since her own daughters moved out - one to Osaka and one to Paris, then London - Nishikawa has been on a mission to adopt as many internationals as she can. She likes to have them over for a feed and beer in her kitchen. We christened her kitchen the Nishikawa International Centre. I promised that when both Kate and my parents visit, we would bring them round so she can feed them and chat to them. It was altogether a lovely evening, except for my sore tummy from eating WAY too much!!
Monday was a day of work and yesterday was a holiday. Jeff and I went to Fukuyama to a) look for second-hand snowboards and b) buy Vegemite. I have been craving Indian since we got here, as Japanese food has no spice (if you want a laugh, ask a Japanese person if they like spicy food and watch their facial expression!). In the three days between Jeff leaving NZ and me following I had two excellent Indian meals, so to hit Japan and have no spiciness at all was hard going. So yesterday Jeff remembered we were passing not too far from a good Indian restaurant, so he took me as a treat (mainly a treat because we had almost no cash left and ATMs aren't open on the weekend! Japan is an entirely cash society so our cards wouldn't get us anywhere). I had a yummy yummy chicken and vegetable curry with the largest garlic naan in the whole wide world. They have a spice scale and, knowing how Japanese don't like spice, Jeff and I went for 8. The woman was a little concerned after that it might have been too spicey, but it was BEAUTIFUL. So good... For hours later I didn't eat or drink anything, just savouring the spicy tingle in my mouth. Such a wonderful feeling...
Then, as if that wasn't enough good food for a day, we went to dinner with the group of adults Jeff helps out with English. They were having dinner at the Yamamoto's place (the husband is a Hiroshima bomb survivor!). We were running seven minutes late (anyone who knows me will be impressed I was only that late!) when I receieved a phone call from Yamamoto-san asking where we were, because they were waiting for us! Yikes!! When we turned up they were all sitting round the dinner table, ready to eat skiyaki - a dish that involves chucking in all kinds of meat, tofu, mushrooms and greens while you eat, so you have a continual supply of freshly cooked foods, done in some special skiyaki sauce. Very nutritious and very very tasty!! So, once again, we ate WAY too much. My poor little car struggled to get us home over the hills! I swear we must have been 10kg heavier than on the way in!
Ok, all this talking about food is making me feel hungry (even though I should probably have a three day famine after the amount I ate yesterday!), so I'm off to make lunch.
Hope you are all doing well. This weekend Jeff and I are going to Osaka with my work for a conferencey thing (I don't really know, I just heard 'free trip to Osaka'), so I'll be away from the net for another full week. Apologies for the infrequency of these updates... Btw, check Jeff's facebook page for a video of our house. Pretty cute, huh??
Miss you guys, take care!!
Charly
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Okinawa? Oops, no, Taiwan!
Ok, last one for a week, I promise!
Just wanted to mention last night, because it was crazy. Jeff and I had been planning a trip to Okinawa over Christmas, but had been unable to book our flights at the time of the research. We then kept not getting around to booking the flights (as you do) and weren't too worried, as it was still a month and a half out. However, when we went to book last night, the dates we wanted were taken and the dates we could manage were suddenly very expensive!
We had a little bit of indecision, with Jeff trying to research other places and finding everything was almost as expensive as flying from NZ (which was why we had decided to go to Okinawa). Finally I had a brainwave and just checked where Jet Star flew from Osaka. The answer was Singapore and Taiwan, so we are off to Taiwan! After what happened with Okinawa, I didn't want to miss out again, so I booked Taiwan right then, about half an hour after I had suggested it. Now we just have to find out what it's like and what we will do there, lol. Research schmesearch!
Charly
Just wanted to mention last night, because it was crazy. Jeff and I had been planning a trip to Okinawa over Christmas, but had been unable to book our flights at the time of the research. We then kept not getting around to booking the flights (as you do) and weren't too worried, as it was still a month and a half out. However, when we went to book last night, the dates we wanted were taken and the dates we could manage were suddenly very expensive!
We had a little bit of indecision, with Jeff trying to research other places and finding everything was almost as expensive as flying from NZ (which was why we had decided to go to Okinawa). Finally I had a brainwave and just checked where Jet Star flew from Osaka. The answer was Singapore and Taiwan, so we are off to Taiwan! After what happened with Okinawa, I didn't want to miss out again, so I booked Taiwan right then, about half an hour after I had suggested it. Now we just have to find out what it's like and what we will do there, lol. Research schmesearch!
Charly
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Yay for med forms!!
Three cheers for Dr. Shine! I have my med forms and am now just waiting on a reference and my uni paperwork...
Heated table = awesome
When I first got here they explained to me the heated table in winter concept. I thought it seemed odd. But now I understand the joy of toasty warm legs, even if the rest of the house is an ice box. The problem is, it's like a warm bath that is really hard to get out of. Except at least if you wait long enough the bath will stop being warm and you will want to get out. The heated table doesn't have that! Still toasty, with a lovely big blanket over it to keep your lap warm and trap the heat underneath.
At the moment things are just ticking along with work while I look forward to Kate's visit and try not to stress unduly about whether I will get my application together on time (and yes, you will all be aware that telling me not to stress is like telling a fish not to swim... it's not gonna happen!). So far I have received one reference, so I'm still waiting on one reference, a medical form and two bits of paper from uni. Plus I just found out I have to post my passport to Tokyo to get a JP signed copy. I spent an hour walking and driving round yesterday looking for a post office on Mukaishima, to no avail. So I need to go post it today. It has to be 'registered post', which is great... if the Japanese-speaking post office workers know the meaning of 'registered'! Because I sure don't know 'registered' in Japanese!!
Ok, I really really should get up and do something. The longer I sit here the colder my fingers get and I have stuff like laundry and supermarket shopping to get done. Jeff is coming down to Onomichi over the weekend so I won't be home, so I have to pack my bags and try to be on top of the laundry today. Otherwise I'll come home after a week away and have NO clean clothes. And for once, I don't think I would be exadgerating. Sure, I would have some summer tshirts clean, but that's not really beneficial when the temperature is nudging zero...
So you won't hear from me for at least a week. Hopefully over the weekend Jeff and I will do some exploring and will give me something interesting to report back on. But we might just chill out appreciating the relative warmth :)
Charly
At the moment things are just ticking along with work while I look forward to Kate's visit and try not to stress unduly about whether I will get my application together on time (and yes, you will all be aware that telling me not to stress is like telling a fish not to swim... it's not gonna happen!). So far I have received one reference, so I'm still waiting on one reference, a medical form and two bits of paper from uni. Plus I just found out I have to post my passport to Tokyo to get a JP signed copy. I spent an hour walking and driving round yesterday looking for a post office on Mukaishima, to no avail. So I need to go post it today. It has to be 'registered post', which is great... if the Japanese-speaking post office workers know the meaning of 'registered'! Because I sure don't know 'registered' in Japanese!!
Ok, I really really should get up and do something. The longer I sit here the colder my fingers get and I have stuff like laundry and supermarket shopping to get done. Jeff is coming down to Onomichi over the weekend so I won't be home, so I have to pack my bags and try to be on top of the laundry today. Otherwise I'll come home after a week away and have NO clean clothes. And for once, I don't think I would be exadgerating. Sure, I would have some summer tshirts clean, but that's not really beneficial when the temperature is nudging zero...
So you won't hear from me for at least a week. Hopefully over the weekend Jeff and I will do some exploring and will give me something interesting to report back on. But we might just chill out appreciating the relative warmth :)
Charly
Friday, November 5, 2010
Your weekly weather update
Hellohowareyou?Finethankshowareyou. Oops, sorry, got carried away there - standard Japanese child's phrase... Hello. Stop there...
Hmm... Jeff took a look at my blog and commented that I always seem to be telling you about the weather. Well, I could tell you it's because I'm trying to fit in here - the weather is the first thing any Japanese talks about. But I guess it's mainly because it really shows the passing of time here. I mean, in Hamilton you had a fluctuation of maybe 25 degrees over the year. Here we have had more fluctuation than that in the space of a month! Yes, on Wednesday I went for a run and there was FROST. I know winter will be really cold, but I was enjoying autumn and don't want it to race away and get cold too fast! (I say this sitting under a blanket, wearing a longsleeved merino and big sweatshirt while contemplating getting gloves...) Last night on the drive home is was 2 degrees at about 11pm, so I'm sure it would have his zero again last night. At least the sun is out now and it's a beautiful day, so I should go sit outside and soak up some vitamin D (that's the right one, isn't it?).
Umm... in other news... Oh yes, Kate is coming to visit me! My boss is going to take a holiday so Kate is going to come and cover for him! I'm so excited to show her round my little patch of Japan! I only wish Jeff and I could afford to travel with her, but we are going to Okinawa for Christmas and have my parents visiting in March, so we can't afford to do EVERYTHING. Not when we are effectively running on one salary. I feel a little... not worried for her, but maybe anxious for her, trying to travel without us or even a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese or how Japan works. But I keep reminding myself that her experience will be very different from ours. We live in an area where a Japanese woman came up to us at the supermarket, asking if we were 'Diane's friends' - she assumed that as we were white we must be friends with her neighbour Diane. And of course, although not 'friends', we knew of this Diane. So when English-speaking people are so few in our area, it's no wonder there is not much English spoken. Whereas we will be sending Kate off to big tourist mecca's, where there will be English signage and English-speakers in information centres. She will probably leave Japan wondering what we've been complaining about!
Other than that, things are looking good for getting my JET application together. My referees have been awesomely fast and have my references in the mail as I write. The only big thing is I need a JP signed copy of my passport - and of course they don't have 'JP's as such in Japan. So I asked about who I could get to sign it instead - thinking a principal or someone at Jeff's Board of Education might be able to do it. And apparently the NZ Embassy in Tokyo can do it. Holy damn, that's not convenient!!! I just hope I can post it, because Tokyo is not exactly local - taking a plane trip just to get some paperwork signed is fairly extreme!! The other option is finding an NZ lawyer in Japan, but as discussed in the previous paragraph, English-speakers are pretty thin on the ground in our parts, so I don't like my chances of finding an NZ lawyer in the local vege store or rice paddy!
So all please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get this paperwork done WITHOUT flying to Tokyo!! Hope you are all doing well and getting some sun.
Charly
Hmm... Jeff took a look at my blog and commented that I always seem to be telling you about the weather. Well, I could tell you it's because I'm trying to fit in here - the weather is the first thing any Japanese talks about. But I guess it's mainly because it really shows the passing of time here. I mean, in Hamilton you had a fluctuation of maybe 25 degrees over the year. Here we have had more fluctuation than that in the space of a month! Yes, on Wednesday I went for a run and there was FROST. I know winter will be really cold, but I was enjoying autumn and don't want it to race away and get cold too fast! (I say this sitting under a blanket, wearing a longsleeved merino and big sweatshirt while contemplating getting gloves...) Last night on the drive home is was 2 degrees at about 11pm, so I'm sure it would have his zero again last night. At least the sun is out now and it's a beautiful day, so I should go sit outside and soak up some vitamin D (that's the right one, isn't it?).
Umm... in other news... Oh yes, Kate is coming to visit me! My boss is going to take a holiday so Kate is going to come and cover for him! I'm so excited to show her round my little patch of Japan! I only wish Jeff and I could afford to travel with her, but we are going to Okinawa for Christmas and have my parents visiting in March, so we can't afford to do EVERYTHING. Not when we are effectively running on one salary. I feel a little... not worried for her, but maybe anxious for her, trying to travel without us or even a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese or how Japan works. But I keep reminding myself that her experience will be very different from ours. We live in an area where a Japanese woman came up to us at the supermarket, asking if we were 'Diane's friends' - she assumed that as we were white we must be friends with her neighbour Diane. And of course, although not 'friends', we knew of this Diane. So when English-speaking people are so few in our area, it's no wonder there is not much English spoken. Whereas we will be sending Kate off to big tourist mecca's, where there will be English signage and English-speakers in information centres. She will probably leave Japan wondering what we've been complaining about!
Other than that, things are looking good for getting my JET application together. My referees have been awesomely fast and have my references in the mail as I write. The only big thing is I need a JP signed copy of my passport - and of course they don't have 'JP's as such in Japan. So I asked about who I could get to sign it instead - thinking a principal or someone at Jeff's Board of Education might be able to do it. And apparently the NZ Embassy in Tokyo can do it. Holy damn, that's not convenient!!! I just hope I can post it, because Tokyo is not exactly local - taking a plane trip just to get some paperwork signed is fairly extreme!! The other option is finding an NZ lawyer in Japan, but as discussed in the previous paragraph, English-speakers are pretty thin on the ground in our parts, so I don't like my chances of finding an NZ lawyer in the local vege store or rice paddy!
So all please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get this paperwork done WITHOUT flying to Tokyo!! Hope you are all doing well and getting some sun.
Charly
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Bah, paperwork
Yikes... Jeff and I are talking about having me reapply for JET in the hopes of getting me a job closer by BUT the application is due end of November and I only just realised how much paperwork is involved - eek!! I had blocked out the painful memories of getting the excess of paperwork done last time we applied, so am having a wee freakout about getting it done in time now!! Am trying to rope in anyone I can to move things along faster - having my little sis fill out forms in NZ to save postage, emailling medical stuff and hoping my referees kept my letter on file!! Please all keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get all this stuff together and shipped back to NZ in time to try to apply again.
After that you can all cross them for me that a job close by comes free and that the Board of Education's description of who they want matches ME. So yes, there is a lot of luck involved in this!!
A nervous Charly
After that you can all cross them for me that a job close by comes free and that the Board of Education's description of who they want matches ME. So yes, there is a lot of luck involved in this!!
A nervous Charly
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Yikes, it's COLD.
Hey,
I don't mean to moan about the temperature AGAIN - I've only just stopped complaining about the heat. BUT last night on my drive home it was 4 degrees!! I mean, it's 4 degrees in October and it was still hitting 30 in late September! No wonder it is a massive shock to the system!! I'm sitting on the couch in my PJs and have spent the last two hours urging myself to go do a few weights. However, that involves changing out of my PJ pants into shorts, so so far no go!! (If I work out in my PJs, ok, my merino long johns, then I won't have their warmness to wear to bed tonight, so yes I do have to change) Instead the only time I've got off the couch has been to make more tea...
Had an interesting conversation with my boss the other day which ended up with the decision that one of my sisters would fly over for a couple of weeks to cover for him while he takes a holiday. Currently Beth and Kate are fighting it out to decide who should come. It sounds like Beth has the time but Kate has the money. We will see what happens...
But no wonder I didn't feel like leaving NZ was a big deal - within six months we will have had Kate or Beth, Sandra and Geoff, Trudi, my parents and possibly Laura all visit us!! We moved to Japan and the rest of NZ is following us!!
Oh, yay, the sun has come out. Hopefully that will warm the house a little. This cold is a particuarly big shock because we spent the weekend at my apartment on Mukaishima, which is always several degrees warmer than Jinseki (last night it was 7 degrees there. Once it was 9 in Jinseki and 18 in Onomichi. Sucks to have an uninsulated house in Jinseki!). Jeff stayed down for the weekend, so we could go explore the island where I stay. We drove round the edge, past lots of little ports and old fishing boats and peered at houses that were built with no reference to the fact they were on the sea. While in NZ houses in that situation would be all decks and big sliding doors, here they would abhore the idea of indoor-outdoor flow (outside dirt coming inside... ugh!!) and everything is very shut off, with only a small balcony that you can hang your futon over to air them.
Geography note: I probably haven't explained this previously, but I use Onomichi, Mukaishima and Innoshima fairly interchangeably. In actual fact, Innoshima is where the main school that I work is, Mukaishima is a smaller school that I stay above and occasionally teach in and Onomichi is the main city that I drive through to get to the islands. 'Shima' means island.
Saturday night in Mukaishima was fun. Jeff was supposed to meet a friend in Fukuyama, but it was going to be a really late night and would rely on me being sober driver and driving home pretty late. Here you cannot even have one drink and drive, BUT (or perhaps because of this) non-alcoholic drinks are almost the same price as a beer when you buy them at a bar. None of this 'free drinks for the sober driver' stuff!! So we postponed that plan for a different night and Jeff and I were free to do our own thing. Conveniently my flat in Mukaishima is within walking distance of two supermarkets, a mall of sorts and a number of restaurants (starting with the okinomiyaki place next door - yum!). In fact, not just walking distance, but walking in heels distance. That close. So in celebration I put on my heels (first time I've worn heels in Japan, so it was a big deal!!!) and we walked around the corner to a ramen place. There we had yummy ramen and a pork dish that the guy whipped us up and didn't charge us for - little pieces of pork cooked to perfection with a blow torch. Yum! We even had beer with dinner - BOTH of us!! It was so nice being able to have a beer together at a restaurant - another first for Japan. We then went for a little walk down the street before retiring to my apartment to watch a movie on my laptop and share a bottle of red wine. Yay! So it was a really chilled but enjoyable evening.
That's about all to report, I think. We are trying to figure out the details for our Christmas holiday - and trying to save our pennies so we can afford it. Jeff has been kept busy with speech competitions and helping out with an older people's group for English language practise. The school speeches are funny because the winner of the school speech competition then has the ALT (i.e. Jeff or Luc) write their speech for the regional competion. I wrote a couple of the Jinseki ones this year. So Jeff and I were laughing that it will be my speeches taking on his! (Luc will write some too, but Jinseki or one of Jeff's schools always wins, so it is really just Jeff vs. me!!) Maybe we should bet a massage on it... Hmm... too cold for massages, maybe bet a nice homecooked meal on it :)
Ok, now I REALLY need to lift some weights before getting out of the PJs and going to the supermarket. Hope you are all doing well.
Charly
I don't mean to moan about the temperature AGAIN - I've only just stopped complaining about the heat. BUT last night on my drive home it was 4 degrees!! I mean, it's 4 degrees in October and it was still hitting 30 in late September! No wonder it is a massive shock to the system!! I'm sitting on the couch in my PJs and have spent the last two hours urging myself to go do a few weights. However, that involves changing out of my PJ pants into shorts, so so far no go!! (If I work out in my PJs, ok, my merino long johns, then I won't have their warmness to wear to bed tonight, so yes I do have to change) Instead the only time I've got off the couch has been to make more tea...
Had an interesting conversation with my boss the other day which ended up with the decision that one of my sisters would fly over for a couple of weeks to cover for him while he takes a holiday. Currently Beth and Kate are fighting it out to decide who should come. It sounds like Beth has the time but Kate has the money. We will see what happens...
But no wonder I didn't feel like leaving NZ was a big deal - within six months we will have had Kate or Beth, Sandra and Geoff, Trudi, my parents and possibly Laura all visit us!! We moved to Japan and the rest of NZ is following us!!
Oh, yay, the sun has come out. Hopefully that will warm the house a little. This cold is a particuarly big shock because we spent the weekend at my apartment on Mukaishima, which is always several degrees warmer than Jinseki (last night it was 7 degrees there. Once it was 9 in Jinseki and 18 in Onomichi. Sucks to have an uninsulated house in Jinseki!). Jeff stayed down for the weekend, so we could go explore the island where I stay. We drove round the edge, past lots of little ports and old fishing boats and peered at houses that were built with no reference to the fact they were on the sea. While in NZ houses in that situation would be all decks and big sliding doors, here they would abhore the idea of indoor-outdoor flow (outside dirt coming inside... ugh!!) and everything is very shut off, with only a small balcony that you can hang your futon over to air them.
Geography note: I probably haven't explained this previously, but I use Onomichi, Mukaishima and Innoshima fairly interchangeably. In actual fact, Innoshima is where the main school that I work is, Mukaishima is a smaller school that I stay above and occasionally teach in and Onomichi is the main city that I drive through to get to the islands. 'Shima' means island.
Saturday night in Mukaishima was fun. Jeff was supposed to meet a friend in Fukuyama, but it was going to be a really late night and would rely on me being sober driver and driving home pretty late. Here you cannot even have one drink and drive, BUT (or perhaps because of this) non-alcoholic drinks are almost the same price as a beer when you buy them at a bar. None of this 'free drinks for the sober driver' stuff!! So we postponed that plan for a different night and Jeff and I were free to do our own thing. Conveniently my flat in Mukaishima is within walking distance of two supermarkets, a mall of sorts and a number of restaurants (starting with the okinomiyaki place next door - yum!). In fact, not just walking distance, but walking in heels distance. That close. So in celebration I put on my heels (first time I've worn heels in Japan, so it was a big deal!!!) and we walked around the corner to a ramen place. There we had yummy ramen and a pork dish that the guy whipped us up and didn't charge us for - little pieces of pork cooked to perfection with a blow torch. Yum! We even had beer with dinner - BOTH of us!! It was so nice being able to have a beer together at a restaurant - another first for Japan. We then went for a little walk down the street before retiring to my apartment to watch a movie on my laptop and share a bottle of red wine. Yay! So it was a really chilled but enjoyable evening.
That's about all to report, I think. We are trying to figure out the details for our Christmas holiday - and trying to save our pennies so we can afford it. Jeff has been kept busy with speech competitions and helping out with an older people's group for English language practise. The school speeches are funny because the winner of the school speech competition then has the ALT (i.e. Jeff or Luc) write their speech for the regional competion. I wrote a couple of the Jinseki ones this year. So Jeff and I were laughing that it will be my speeches taking on his! (Luc will write some too, but Jinseki or one of Jeff's schools always wins, so it is really just Jeff vs. me!!) Maybe we should bet a massage on it... Hmm... too cold for massages, maybe bet a nice homecooked meal on it :)
Ok, now I REALLY need to lift some weights before getting out of the PJs and going to the supermarket. Hope you are all doing well.
Charly
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Japanese horses
I'm supposed to be leaving the house in 23 mins and I still need to shower and dress for work, so this is only a quick catchup note.
On Saturday I went horseriding with Emma, an American JET who lives in the next town over. She managed to chance upon a riding stable of sorts - three horses, one of which is pretty chilled to the extent that it is used for riding demonstrations while the rider fires a traditional bow and arrow, one of which is young and green and one which is a little pony. Emma has been riding the green horse a couple of times a week, training it up, so I rode the chilled one. After wandering round the arena for a while as Emma trained up her one, the Japanese bloke who owns them came out, bareback, on the little pony and we were told we were going for a trail ride. He took us on a little ride past a little lake/dam above his rice paddies, past a random little cemetary hidden in the bushes, along a little ridgeline and back down to the stable. It was a short but super cute trail ride! Especially because I was on a ploddy chilled horse following this spry older Japanese man saddle-less on his little pony. I thought my family would have approved!
Sunday we went down to Fukuyama to pick up a couple of things (important things like real coffee and Vegemite!). We got a little bit of Christmas shopping done (trying to be organised early because it's hard to get stuff here that a) you can't get in NZ, b) isn't lots more expensive than NZ and c) is postage-friendly) then headed home in time to catch the vege shop before it closed. The highlight of the day (other than the cute hat I bought!) was dinner - I had been craving something spicey so I made an Indian curry (Japanese do not do spicey, none of their food is hot :( ). The curry was really tasty and we ate far too much of it. But it was so good, and wasn't an expensive meal. I forsee me making it very often!!
Ok, shower time. 13 mins, eek!! Gosh, I'm terrible with time!!!!
Hope you are all well,
Charly
On Saturday I went horseriding with Emma, an American JET who lives in the next town over. She managed to chance upon a riding stable of sorts - three horses, one of which is pretty chilled to the extent that it is used for riding demonstrations while the rider fires a traditional bow and arrow, one of which is young and green and one which is a little pony. Emma has been riding the green horse a couple of times a week, training it up, so I rode the chilled one. After wandering round the arena for a while as Emma trained up her one, the Japanese bloke who owns them came out, bareback, on the little pony and we were told we were going for a trail ride. He took us on a little ride past a little lake/dam above his rice paddies, past a random little cemetary hidden in the bushes, along a little ridgeline and back down to the stable. It was a short but super cute trail ride! Especially because I was on a ploddy chilled horse following this spry older Japanese man saddle-less on his little pony. I thought my family would have approved!
Sunday we went down to Fukuyama to pick up a couple of things (important things like real coffee and Vegemite!). We got a little bit of Christmas shopping done (trying to be organised early because it's hard to get stuff here that a) you can't get in NZ, b) isn't lots more expensive than NZ and c) is postage-friendly) then headed home in time to catch the vege shop before it closed. The highlight of the day (other than the cute hat I bought!) was dinner - I had been craving something spicey so I made an Indian curry (Japanese do not do spicey, none of their food is hot :( ). The curry was really tasty and we ate far too much of it. But it was so good, and wasn't an expensive meal. I forsee me making it very often!!
Ok, shower time. 13 mins, eek!! Gosh, I'm terrible with time!!!!
Hope you are all well,
Charly
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