Counting Down

There's only two and a half weeks before I head home and I've been really busy packing and getting ready to leave. I went to Kikumi's on Monday night to watch a movie and have dinner. Another friend, Taka, came as well and we had a great night. I had my last Board of Education meeting on Wednesday and went out to dinner with Leah and Lisa afterwards. Friday I met up with Megan to go to Aru Aru City. We stayed until it closed looking for gifts for Megan's friends. We walked back to my apartment afterwards and ordered pizza for dinner. I stayed up late that night to get Welcome to Nightvale tickets that went on sale at 3 AM Japan time, so Megan stayed late to keep me company while I waited for the tickets to go on sale. She left for last bus, but I'm glad she could stay with me at least for a bit!

On Saturday I packed a few boxes and sent them off to America in the morning. In the afternoon, I met up with two of my former Shinozaki students. They heard I was leaving and wanted a chance to say goodbye. After introducing myself to their parents, we headed off to the most popular teenage girl spot in any culture, the mall. They showed me all their favorite stores I helped them pick out English books and cute bags. We went to the arcade for プリクラ (purikura, specialized photo booths) and played taiko drum rhythm games featuring new songs. We ended the afternoon at the food court where we had chocolate, banana, and strawberry crepes. After saying goodbye I headed back to Kokura to meet up with Caol for the Kitakyushu JET Sayonara Party. Eighteen of the JETs living in Kitakyushu came out for dinner and we had a fantastic time! Everything went their separate ways after the party and Leah, Caol, and I headed for karaoke. We only stayed for two hours before heading home, but we had an amazing night!

Sunday I met up with Juha and Dan and we all caught the bus to Fukuoka. For Jake, Dan, and I it was our last game day in Japan. We made sure to get there early so we'd have all 12 hours full of games. We played a ton of different stuff. I played a few new games I love and want to pick up when I get back to the States and some of my old favorites. By the end of the night there were only seven of us. Jay had a few bottles of wine for us to share to celebrate and we ended on a murder mystery game. It was so much fun and it was great to see all the board game people again before going home.

Today I'm starting my last week at Tsukida. So far I've had some great last classes. It's so bitter sweet, I love all the teachers and students here, but I'm really excited to come back and start working in Colorado. I have my Board of Education goodbye party in a few days, Kokura's Gion (a summer festival) starts on Friday, and Leah and I will take our last Japan trip to Naoshima over the weekend. It is a long weekend, so next weeks update will probably be a day late, but I'm so excited to get my last few adventures in before I start packing up for good!

Shopping and Singing

Last week at school was pretty quiet again. Leah came over on Thursday for dinner, but other than that I stayed home. Friday I did some shopping after school at Book Off. I'm getting a few of my favorite books, music, and movies to bring home for when I miss Japan. I headed to Aru Aru City after and met Megan where we did a bit more shopping before meeting Caol for dinner. We snacked on some gyoza before doing a few hours of karaoke. Megan went home after, but Caol and I stayed out a bit later at Babu Box, a bar owned by a friend of mine and the drummer for the band. We didn't stay out too much later, but it was a nice night and a nice end to the week.

On Saturday I cleaned during the day and ran errands. For dinner I met up with one of my students from Shinozaki who I don't see anymore. It was so nice to see her! We went out for conveyor belt sushi. Normally if you order sushi they put it on a special plate to mark it as reserved and it comes around on the conveyor belt like everything else, but this restaurant had a second conveyor belt about a foot above the first where the "shinkansen" would come with your orders. It would go directly to your table and you took the plates and pushed a little button to have it go back to the kitchen. It was so cool! And instead of stacking your plates to be counted at the end of the meal, there was a little shoot the plates went down that cleared them away and counted them at the same time. As an incentive to eat more, for every five plates you sent down the shoot you had a chance to win a little capsule prize. We stayed at the restaurant for about two hours talking and it was really nice to see her. After dinner I waited with her while her mom came to pick her up. Her mom was really nice and was so excited to meet me. She told me about how much her daughter liked having me as a teacher and how sad she was when I changed school and how grateful she was for the books I have her. My poor student was getting more embarrassed every minute her mom was talking, but it was really sweet. After talking for a bit we parted ways and I headed to Caol's to watch movies and hang out. Megan was there as well and the three of us stayed up late talking.

Sunday I went over to Megan's in the morning for breakfast. I had gotten Megan a waffle iron for her birthday and she wanted to try it out. Our first batch of waffles didn't turn out so good, but we got the hang of it by the second batch and made some pretty ones by the time our batter ran out. I didn't stay long and soon I was back home getting ready for band practice. The band changed one of the songs at the last minute, so I went in at 4:00 to practice. We only had half an hour to practice the new song before mic check started for all the bands, so it was a little rushed. Despite that, everything went really well! Leah, Bec, Caol, and Megan all came out to see me and we had a great night! Two other bands played as well and they were both great. Because it was a Sunday the show started a bit early, so even though the entire show was about three hours we still finished just after 10:00. Unfortunately the video's aren't up yet, but I should have links by next week!

This last weekend was so amazing and next week should be just as fun! It'll be another quiet week in school, although I am going to go to the science classes to help them dissect pig heats. I'm also taking anther step towards coming home and will be figuring out which of the new JETs will get my apartment after I leave. Next weekend is the 4th of July, so I organized a trip for eight of us to go on a camping trip where we can BBQ and celebrate the holiday. Only three of us are Americans, but everyone is really excited!

Shimonoseki and Fuji

It was great to be back at Shinozaki all this week! My week days were pretty uneventful, but being back at my old base school has been fantastic. On Friday I went with Leah and Patrick to Caol's house for a dinner party. It was a really fun way to close out the week and we had some delicious food!

On Saturday I took the train to Mojiko to meet Megan. We caught a ferry over to Shimonoseki where we went to the fish market and walked around the wharf. There was a festival going on while we were there and we could see different performances going on. There was even an inflatable puffer fish bouncy house! It was pretty cool to see it all, but after a few hours we decided to head back on the ferry to Mojiko. Before heading back to Kokura, we walked a bit around Mojiko and found a huge market with over 100 tents set up along the waterfront selling pretty much everything. They had hand-made crafts, furniture, food, plants, and even collectibles. We walked around and had a late lunch while looking at everything that was being offered. We didn't really get much, but it was a really fun way to spend an afternoon. We caught a train back to Kokura in the evening and had some bubble tea before each heading home. I ended up going back to to meet Juha, Kyoka, Dan, and Leah for dinner. I hadn't seen Dan in a while, so it was great catching up with him. We met Patrick at karaoke after dinner, but I headed home after that.

I met Fumiko and Dave Sunday morning to go to the Kawachi Fuji Garden. We bought some food for lunch on the way and caught a bus as far as it would take us. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to walk the mile and a half from the bus stop to the gardens rather than take a taxi. I hadn't seen Dave or Fumiko in a while, so it was great catching up with them. We had a great time at the garden even though the wisteria wasn't fully in bloom yet. We had a picnic lunch and stayed in the garden for a few hours before heading back into Kokura. I went back to Fumiko and Dave's apartment with them to play some games and watch movies. Leah eventually joined us and we decided to all have dinner together. Fumiko wanted to use her new takoyaki pan, so we all took turns making takoyaki while snaking on some Kitakyushu senbei. We watched some more movies before Leah and I headed home.

It was a busy weekend, but really fun! I'll go back to the Fuji Garden again on Wednesday with Leah since we have no work due to a national holiday. Golden week is also just around the corner and next Saturday I'll be in Ehime with Juha, Kyoko, and Caol! And then a week from next Saturday I'll be off to Korea with Megan! With all the traveling I'm not sure when my next update will be, but I'll post again as soon as I can!

New School

This will be a pretty short post. I'm happy to have a quiet week at my new school, Tsukida. I had a great time meeting all the teachers and students and am really happy with the placement. I taught a bunch of classes and can't wait to go back! This week I'm back at Shinozaki, but as a visiting ALT instead of as a base school. It's great to be back and see everyone again, although a ton of staff moved around over the holidays. I'm excited for a nice week back with the students and teachers I've gotten to know over the last two years.

Even my weekend was not terribly exciting, although I spent a lot of time with my friends. On Wednesday I went out with Leah and Dave after a work meeting. I went back to my now weekly dinner with Caol on Thursday and karaoke after. On Friday I again went out with Caol and Kazuki just for karaoke. On Saturday I saw Leah, Caol, Megan, and Kazuki for dinner before going to Bob's Bar. Sunday I spent time cleaning my apartment, playing games, and just generally relaxing. It's been really nice to relax after my very exciting beginning of the month and a good was to save money for my Golden Week trips to Ehime and Korea.

No 花 to 見

The weather is getting nicer as we move towards summer and school is winding down. Last week was mostly games in class or finishing the last page or two of the textbook. On Wednesday I met the English teachers from Shinozaki for a farewell party for one of the teachers. Either this week or next week she is moving up north of Tokyo to be with her husband. She hasn't gotten her plane ticket yet, but work officially ends this Wednesday and she'll be leaving soon. We had a small party for the English teachers to say goodbye to her. We went to a small restaurant that the teacher had always wanted to try. It was really good, but had some strange food like chicken sashimi. It was only my second time eating it and although I'd never eat raw chicken back home, it was delicious! It was really to see all the teacher again, especially since I won't be going to Shinozaki anymore.

I saw Caol and Leah for yakiniku on Thursday and saw Lisa on Friday for dinner at the Spanish restaurant. After dinner on Friday we headed over to Orange Door. I promised Kikumi I would tend bar for her that night and it was great fun! Juha also came out to join us and we played games and sang karaoke until pretty late.

I cleaned on Saturday morning and Megan came over around noon. We worked together to cook some food and headed out to Kokura Castle for a picnic with some other JETs. We met Leah on the way over and there were probably ten people already there to meet us. It was supposed to be a flower-viewing party, but the flowers were still only buds. I'll go again next week and hopefully the flowers will be blooming then! After our picnic, many of us went to karaoke and then out for a late dinner. Some people continued to go out after dinner, but I was pretty tired from the night before, so I just headed home.

On Sunday, Megan and I met Caol for lunch before doing some shopping. I didn't need anything, but I helped Caol and Megan find things they needed. We ran into our friends Kazuki and Leah throughout the day and walked back and forth between Riverwalk, Uomachi, and Cha Cha Town. They finished shopping around 5 PM, so we all went our separate ways. I went home and made dinner before heading back out and meeting Patrick. I hadn't seen Patrick since we went to Okinawa together, but the weather was so nice this weekend we decided to go out and take a walk. It was really nice to see him and talk to him and it was a great end to the week.

This week I'll finish school and start going to work at the Board of Education. Closing ceremony is on Tuesday, although I'll still come to Ishimine on Wednesday for a goodbye party with the chorus club. Thursday I'll also be traveling to both Tsukida and Matsugae, my new base schools for the next school year. Work will be a bit busier, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful all week and with the busier schedule means more time outside, so I'm excited!

Graduation

Hello! Sorry this post is a day late! I had a pretty busy week. Between being at three different schools since my last update, graduation was also last week! I went back to Shinozaki for the ceremony and it was so nice seeing all the students graduate. Graduation was on Thursday and we had an enkai on Friday to celebrate. We went to the same place we'd gone for our New Year party and it was just as good as last time! The party was a litter bittersweet not only because of graduation, but because or principal is retiring and the English teacher I'm closest with is moving north of Tokyo in a few weeks. We all went to karaoke after dinner before going home and I had a blast, but I'll really miss all of them now that the school year is almost over and I won't be going back.

On Saturday I went over to Leah's new apartment. On Friday she moved to 金田 (Kaneda), which is much closer to Kokura than she'd previously been. This also means she's much closer to me! We got lunch together to celebrate and went shopping for the last few things she needed for the new place. We carried them to her apartment on my bike and I helped her put everything together while she unpacked. We took a break in the afternoon to meet Juha and Kyoko at the park for a little picnic since the weather is getting really nice here. They come over to Leah's new place for dinner afterwards and Leah and I went out to meet some other friends after dinner. Unfortunately, Leah lost her phone during the night and ended up staying with me.

The next morning I made breakfast for the two of us while we tried to find her phone. Leah doesn't have internet at her new apartment yet, so we used my computer to track her phone and put a message on it saying that if anyone finds the phone to please call my number. We had set out to look for it when a call came! Someone nearby had found the phone and were able to meet us in the park to return it. We found them quickly and were very thankful to have the phone back! We also found that there was a flee market going on in the park, so we stayed and walked around for a bit. Leah bought a few things, but I didn't find much I liked. I did find a nice bento box for picnics that I can use now that the weather is nicer and decided to get it! We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the weather before going back to her place. I helped her finish her unpacking and finding a place for everything and by the time we finished it was dinner. We went to the store for groceries and made dinner. I went home soon after and headed to bed.

This is the last full week of school in Japan, our closing ceremony is next Tuesday. I'm at Midorigaoka and Ishimine this week and will finish next week at Ishimine. I'm also going out tomorrow night for a special English teacher enkai with the English teacher moving away and meeting Caol for our now weekly dinner on Thursday. I also finalized another trip and will be heading to Korea in May. I'm getting really excited for spring break, the weather is becoming beautiful and the cherry trees are almost budding!

柳川

I had a great week last week! I saw Caol again on Thursday for more 焼肉 (yakiniku, BBQ) and karaoke. To celebrate the Pitch Perfect 2 trailer coming out we only sang songs from Pitch Perfect or the new trailer. It was a lot of fun! I also got together with Lisa again. We're both from Kitakyushu, but didn't hang out much until we both met for the after-JET conference in Tokyo. We had a great dinner together at the Turkish restaurant in Kokura and then went to karaoke. It was another great karaoke night and I really look forward to seeing her more before we both head home in August.

Saturday I went to 柳川 (Yanagawa) on a school trip! The teachers, principal, and vice principal. They rented a huge bus and we all arrived around 8:30. The teachers in charge had loaded the bus with drinks and snacks and we started our two hour trip south. Yanagawa is famous for it's wide canals running through the city and is a popular tourist destination because of its riverboats. They boats were long, probably room for about 10 - 15 people. We were there on the last day of February, which was also the last day the boats had 炬燵 (kotatsu, heated tables) on them. The boats run all year long, so for winter (December - February) they put kotatsu on the boat to keep people warm. The kotatsu spans the length of the boat and, like all kotatsu, has a large blanket to put around your feet and keep the heat under the table. It was so much fun seeing everything from the boat and our guide was great at pointing stuff out. The boat dropped us off at a restaurant for lunch were we had boiled eel, Yanagawa's specialty food. Some people bought snacks for before the meal, deep fried eel spines! I tried one and it was not too bad surprisingly, although I'm not sure I'd eat another. The eel for lunch, however, was incredibly good!

We had some free time after lunch and I did a bit of souvenir shopping for a small さげもん (sagemon). I also saw a beautiful hina doll and sagemon exhibit for 雛祭り (Hina Matsuri, Girl's festival) on March 3rd. Sagemon are hanging decorations typically used during 雛祭り and Yanagawa is one of the most famous places in Japan for these types of decorations. We saw hundreds of them and they were all incredibly beautiful and detailed.

We eventually found our way back to the bus. We started traveling back towards Kitakyushu, but stopped once more about 40 minutes into the drive. We stopped to tour Kitaya brewery in Yame. We did a quick tour of the brewery and were given free samples of their award wining sake. In 2013, the brewery won the International Wine Championship in the sake category and we got to try that winning sake along with others. Everything was really good and I can see why it won! We headed back to the bus and back home after our visit and arrived back at school by dinner time. We all went our separate ways for dinner and I was glad to be home after a long, fun day.

Sunday was uneventful, I just cleaned and ran some errands. This week should be quiet again and mostly preparation for next weeks graduation. My last school day at Shinozaki is tomorrow before I start visiting many different schools. I will be back at Shinozaki next week for graduation on Thursday, but that will be my last day at Shinozaki. I'm really sad to be leaving, but I know I'll still be able to see many of the teachers outside of school and I couldn't have asked for a better place to work!

百人一首

I'm updating a bit earlier than usual! I arrived in Tokyo this morning and wanted to get something out because I don't think I'll have time to update again until I get back to Kokura on Wednesday and hopefully I'll have lots of exciting Tokyo stuff to talk about then. So I'm updating now to let you know about my week at Shinozaki before it gets totally overshadowed by my Tokyo adventures.

Last week I was working at Shinozaki and there weren't many classes. There were high school entrance exams as well as regular end-of-the-year exams and the 7th and 8th graders had something called 百人一首 (hyakunin isshu, 100 people one poem). The students have been practicing all month for this competition by memorizing 100 short poems. The poems are two lines long and the second line is written on a card. All 100 second-line cards are placed on a mat and students sit around it. The teachers read the poems and the students had to find the second line of that poem and slap it first to get the card and the student with the most cards the end wins. The teachers read the whole poem, but the idea is that if students memorize the poems they can find and slap the second line before the teacher reads it, thus increasing their chances of slapping it first.

I missed the 7th graders' game because of a meeting at the Board of Education, but I was able to go for the 8th grader competition the next day. It was really cool listening to all the teachers read the poems, they're kind of chanted and each one has a certain melody that goes with it. I even learned three of them and they let me read them as part of the game. I wasn't perfect, but everyone really enjoyed it, especially the students! I had a ton of fun!

On Friday we also had a half day at school and elementary students came in the afternoon. The students will be joining Shinozaki in April for the new school year. We did a short English lesson for them. We did alphabet drills and taught them how to use an English dictionary. I think they really enjoyed it and I definitely had fun. On Friday night Caol and Megan came over for dinner. We watched some movies and had a great time!

This morning (Saturday, February 7th) I headed out for Tokyo! I caught the shinkansen at 9:20 AM and got into Tokyo a little after 2:00 PM. I have a JET conference on Monday and Tuesday, but I'll be exploring Tokyo a bit during the weekend. I went to a pizza place for lunch and had some really weird pizza. I had a slice of beef and pickle pizza and a slice of squid ink pizza! For dessert there was chocolate banana pizza and apple walnut pizza. Despite the weird toppings, everything was really good! I even liked the squid ink pizza! After lunch I stopped by the new Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo that launched two months ago. I have a lot more stuff planned for my trip and I'll update you at the end of the week!

Happy Birthday Nate

I'm happy to say this will be a fairly shot post because I spent most of this week relaxing. I was back in school at Shinozaki all week and laid pretty low. I stayed at home and worked on a puzzle during the evenings and cleaned up around my apartment a bit. It was really nice to be back in school and see all my co-workers again. On Friday, it was my friend Nate's birthday. About twenty people got together and had dinner at a BBQ place to celebrate. It was so nice to see so many of my friends again after being away most of the vacation and we had a blast. Everything was delicious and we all had a great time! Some people stayed out later, but I went home after dinner to try and save some money for my two trips in February.

Saturday was also pretty uneventful. I spent the morning cleaning before heading out to the store for groceries and some things I needed for around the house. Megan came over later and we went to Juha's for dinner. We met Caol on the way and all went together. It was just the three of us and Juha and Kyoko. Kyoko made gyoza filling and when we all arrived we all made the gyoza. It was really fun and the gyoza turned out really good! (Although that's mostly because Kyoko made a great filling.) We stayed for a while and talked and even tried some home made 梅酒 (umeshu, plum wine) that Kyoko and Juha made. After a while we all went home, althought Megan came back to my place for hot chocolate and movies.

Sunday morning Megan and I had a small breakfast before she went home. I continued tidying up until lunch time when I went out to meet Leah for lunch. We went to a small pancake place with her neighbor, Mizuta. It took a while to get a seat because the restaurant, RusaRuka, had recently been featured on local TV as the cutest cafe in Kokura. Inside the restaurant was definitely very cute and the food was delicious. I didn't get a dessert pancake set because I was worried it would be too sweet, but everything came with pancakes so I could still try them! Even the sandwich at the restaurant had pancakes instead of bread! I had a garden salad with chicken which was very good and the small pancakes served with it were also delicious. Mizuta invited us over for dinner during lunch, so I decided to stay out by Leah's apartment for the rest of the day. Mizuta had to go home after lunch, so Leah and I took a short walk before deciding to go shopping. We went to a small thrift shop and both found some cute stuff. We decided to head back to Leah's afterwards and walked despite the bus or monorail being faster. We had some tea and hung out at Leah's until it was time to go to her neighbor's. Another of her neighbors came as well and all four of us had なべ (nabe, hot pot soup). We had seafood nabe, so in the soup along with some vegetables were shrimp dumplings, scallops, and squid. Mizuta had been joking during lunch about a workout DVD she had called カ－ヴィーダンス (Curvy Dance). The four of us decided to try it after dinner and it was pretty funny to see all of us trying to follow along with the DVD. It was a lot of fun and it was really nice getting to know Leah's neighbors. I hope I can see them again soon!

This week I'll be at Ishimine and I think it will be another quiet week. Leah is coming over on Friday for a movie night and Sunday I will go to see a concert that the Ishimine chorus club is performing in. I'm very excited for both!

Merry Christmas!

This will be a short post, but I don't want to have too much stuff to talk about when I come back from my trip! I updated during the day on Monday, but I had a great night! I went to my 忘年会 (bonenkai, end of the year party) with Shinozaki. We went to a very fancy restaurant that was meant for weddings. The two youngest teachers in charge of the party came in down the stairs as if they were getting married, it was really funny! Also, the principal came about half an hour late and they made him come in with the youngest teacher down the stairs again. He walked her over to her seat and pulled it out for her before going to his table. It was great fun! I sat with the first year English teacher and the special education teacher. They're both really nice! The food was delicious and we played a 'Quiz Millionaire' game. They asked questions and we had cards that read A, B, C, and D. We had to hold up the right answer for each question. Our team didn't do so well, but we all got prizes! After dinner we went back to Kokura for 二次会 (nijikai, second party). I met Mike and he came with us, too! All the teachers were really excited to meet him and we all had a great time!

Tuesday was a national holiday, so Mike and I met Megan, Leah, and a friend of Leah's to see Interstellar at Cha Cha Town. We all liked it and afterwards we got lunch at a sushi place. Megan had a bit more Christmas shopping to do, so we headed over to Riverwalk. We ended up going to the temple near-by and on our way we saw a huge line of people by Riverwalk. We asked what was going on and found out there was a gospel concert starting at 5:00. It was 4:30, so we decided to grab a coffee and wait for the concert. It was about an hour long and really cool! There were about 100 people singing and the soloists were amazing! They had special lights, streamers, and even giant balloons that popped and let down a bunch of smaller, heart-shaped balloons. After the concert Megan and Leah's friend had to go home, but another friend of ours, Satoshi, came. We went to Konya-machi for dinner. We meet Kikumi and Shinki at a restaurant called 赤ちょうちゃん (Akachouchan). It had opened a few days before and Kikumi and Shinki hadn't been around to celebrate with the owners. We had the restaurant all to ourselves and it was delicious! I will definitely be going back! We went to meet Caol after dinner and had a few drinks at a Korean bar before heading home.

Wednesday I had my school's closing ceremony. There was no school lunch, so I went to sushi with the same teacher's I had sat with at the bonenkai. It was really nice seeing them outside of school (or a school event)! I left after lunch, but not before Mr. Kawai gave me a present. He even got a present for Mike. I'm not sure of the official name for them, but they're decorated Japanese badminton rackets. It was really nice of him to get them for us, I'm so happy!

Last night was Christmas Eve, so I went out to dinner with Marc, Tanya, Dan, Younglim, Juha, and Kyoko. We went to an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink Korean BBQ restaurant. It's a restaurant I really like and everyone else liked it as well! We had a great dinner and then went out to a sake bar where we met Leah, Satoshi, Patrick, and Caol. We didn't stay out too late, but we had a lot of fun! It was a great night!

Today for Christmas we're having a small potluck as my apartment. My friend Jake is coming over early to play some games before dinner. It will be a small gathering, but it should be a very cozy Christmas. Mike and I will Skype with my family tomorrow morning before heading off to Nagoya! We're so excited to go on our trip! We're all packed and everything. So merry Christmas everyone! I'll update again after my trip!

Another Short Post

This will be another short post. My week was very fun, but pretty uneventful. I had many Christmas classes at Shinozaki and will be sending the cards to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on Wednesday. Other ALTs are using my Christmas card activity in class, I'm glad I can make something everyone likes! On Friday we had an assembly for the last two periods of the day. It was a concert that included many styles of music in different instruments from pan flute to piano to taiko. Many of the songs that had words were also done in Japanese Sign Language and the group included many people with mental handicaps. All the music was great and I think the students really enjoyed it!

After school on Friday Megan came over for dinner. We watched some movies before bed and the next morning we went to Hakata for some Christmas shopping. I got a few things from the Pokemon Center and a gift for my secret Santa. She got a lot of stuff, much more than me, and we had a really delicious lunch before heading back to Kokura. In Kokura we went to Aru Aru City, an anime mall behind the train station. There was a pop culture festival going on and we saw a lot of people dressed up in costumes! We played some games at the arcade there and I got a few books. That night I had dinner with Patrick and met up with Canadian Dave and Chris. We went to the Turkish restaurant before heading to a sports bar to watch the Newcastle v. Chelsea game. Patrick and Dave were pretty bummed about Chelsea losing, but Chris and I just enjoyed hanging out. I also played darts for the first time at the bar. I got one bulls-eye, but Chris still beat me.

Sunday was very relaxing. I slept in late and then went over to Marc's apartment. He just got a Wii U and the new Smash Bros. game, so Caol, Megan, and I all went over to play. We spent the day gaming and watching TV. It was a lot of fun! This weekend I'm thinking of going to see a movie on Friday (Gone Girl comes out then and I want to see it). Saturday I have a secret Santa party, and Sunday I will clean everything so it's ready for when Mike gets here the following weekend. Probably another week of not-so-much excitement, but soon I'll have lots of trips and fun things to talk about!

Thanksgiving!

Happy first day of December! These months have been going by so fast! Last week was pretty exciting and thankfully my weekend was very relaxing to make up for it. The beginning of the week was spent getting ready for Thanksgiving. I cleaned my apartment and even cleaned my closets (which they really needed after all my shopping two weeks ago). I was preparing the food for Thursday and making sure everyone else knew what they could bring to help. It was a lot of hard work, especially in my little kitchen with a borrowed oven, but it was well worth it!

On Thursday I was running around crazy making sure everything was ready. It was a beautiful day and I was very anxious to leave school to finish preparing. I got to work right away finished up my cleaning. I had just started cooking the vegetables and sausage for the stuffing when Patrick showed up with a bottle of wine and helped me finish the preparations. My friend Dave had cooked the turkey for me the previous day (my borrowed oven was too small to fit it) and I had picked it up the day before. So when all was said and done I had made cranberry sauce, apple cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, and green beans with almonds. Leah brought a salad and Caol brought mashed potatoes. I heated up the turkey that Dave had cooked and got pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert. It was a great meal! Thirteen people ended up coming over for dinner around 7:00. That meant that there were fourteen people in my tiny apartment including me. Thankfully it was less of a squeeze than I had originally thought it would be and I'm just so happy I invested in a small table and two chairs for my balcony. Everyone had a great time and it was even better than last year! The last few people left around 11:00 and a huge thank you to Bec who did many of the dishes before leaving. I do miss my family around the holidays, but it was an amazing Thanksgiving with the people in Japan who have become a second family to me.

In true American fashion, the day after Thanksgiving I was doing Christmas things. My classes at Shinozaki are making Christmas cards that we will send to the children at St. Jude Children's Hospital. We have to start early so that the students have time to work and there is time for the cards to get back to America. I did this activity last year with Futajima and they liked it so much they are doing it again with Juha, their ALT this year. The students are really enjoying it and there have been some great cards made already!

As fun as it was making Christmas cards with the students, I was glad when the school day was over. I was still tired from Thursday. I had a quite night of eating leftovers and Patrick came over to watch a movie. We saw Edge of Tomorrow and although neither of us knew much about it before hand, we both really enjoyed it. Saturday again was quite. I stayed home most of the day and we out to meet Marc, Tanya, and their friend Dan for dinner. We ended up getting 食べ放題 (tabehoudai, all you can eat) 焼肉 (yakiniku, grilled meats). It was really nice to see them and I got some errands done. Sunday I stayed in all day. I was going to meet Megan and go into Fukuoka, but she was feeling a little sick and the weather was terrible. It's been a great week!

So Much School

Last week was just as busy as the week before it, but I will finally have some down time now. Golden week (a week with many national holidays) is coming up and I'll have a nice few days off work. I don't have any solid plans, traveling that week can be very crowded and expensive, but I might go to onsen with some friends for a few days. There are also many festivals in the area, so I'm hoping to go to some of those as well.

Last week I spent mostly in school or out with my coworkers. I was in Shinozaki and as I said before, it was very nice to be back in a familiar school with students and teachers I already knew. I spent any free time I had talking with the students about how their Spring vacations were and telling them about the other schools I'd visited. Two girls who just started their last year of middle school have started coming to visit me during lunch. They always come with a topic they want to talk about and we talk in English. It's a lot of fun! They asked me to come to their recorder club after school. I went and I was so impressed! I remember playing the recorder in 3rd grade, but it was nothing like what these students could do. They played beautifully and even had bass recorders for the lower notes. They played me the theme song from 魔女の宅急便 (Majo no Takkyubin, Kiki's Delivery Service) and we talked about different music we liked.

I also went to 美術部 (bijyustubu, art club) at the request of another student. That students is also now in her last year and just became the head of the of club. I've been to the art club before, but hadn't been in a while. The students showed me things they'd made in all different mediums from miniature silicon desserts to mural paintings. They explained to me how they made all these different things and I even got to try my hand at 書道 (shodou, Japanese calligraphy). The club captain, the girl who asked me to join, goes to calligraphy class every week and she's amazing. I took a class in college on it, so I knew some of the basics, but she was amazing. I had a lot of fun learning from her and I think she really enjoyed being able to teach me something in Japanese. I learned how to write　花火 (hanabi. I like the way these kanji look and I like the meaning. The first kanji, 花 (hana), means flower and the second, 火 (ka or hi/bi), means fire. Can you guess what those two kanji mean together? (And before you guess, no, it's not the fire flower power-up from the Mario games.) It means firework. I also picked it because it's fairly easy. I won't be back in Shinozaki for about a month, but when I go back I hope to learn more! My students want to teach me 墨絵 (sumie, ink wash panting), painting with the same brushes, ink, and paper used for calligraphy. I'm excited to learn!

I also got to see my chorus club in Ishimine this Saturday. The school was having an open campus event for parents to come and see the school and clubs. The students and teachers were very excited I came! I really enjoyed watching the students sing and meeting some of their parents. I brought a small bouquet of flowers so I could give a flower to each student. They really liked it, but I think they were very surprised! It doesn't seem like it's customary to give flowers for a school performance here. The students and chorus director were very happy for the flowers anyway and it was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon.

After visiting Ishimine, I took the bus back to Kurosaki where I met Juha for coffee. We had a beginning of the year enkai (work party) that night with the teachers from Futajima. At the beginning of the year party it's customary for both the new teachers to the school and the teachers who left to attend. The teachers who left (including me) all made speeches about our new schools and the new teachers made speeches about what they hope to accomplish in Futajima. It was at a nice Chinese restaurant and I was so happy to see all my old friends from Futajima. It was also my first (and will probably be my only) enkai with another ALT. I talked to all my friends and we made plans to go to the upcoming festivals together. It was a great time! The new teachers all seem great and Juha is having a good time with them. We went to nijikai, second party, and sang karaoke. Juha and I started it off by singing a song by きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ ( Kyari Pamyu Pamyu), a famous Japanese singer and model. We sang the song インベーダインベーダ (Invader, Invader). I was really happy to see everyone again!

The night before I had gone to another beginning of the year enkai with the teachers from Shinozaki. I sat next to two new teachers and it was great to get to know them better! I also had the chance to talk with some of the teachers who left for other schools. We had dinner in the ステーションホテル小倉 (Station Hotel Kokura) where my parents stayed when they came to visit. The food was excellent and I had so much fun!

nikai was held at a karaoke place not far from the station called カラオケ館 (Karaoke Kan). This place opened a few months after I arrived and I have avoided it since then. It has huge illuminated pictures all over the building of Westerns that we all find fairly off-putting. I was supposed to meet some friend for karaoke, but wanted to stay with my coworkers as well. So my friends ended up coming to カラオケ館 and although I mostly stayed with my friends, I was able to join my coworkers for the 乾杯 (kanpai, cheers or toast)and sing a few songs. Some of my coworkers even stopped by my room I had with my friends and sang a song before going to their sanjikai, third party. I'm really happy we went there because it was actually incredibly nice! They had little stages in all the rooms and it ended up being cheaper than Shidax, where we normally go.

It's been a great few weeks getting back to school, but I'm so happy to have a short break for Golden week. I'm still visiting many different middle schools and can't wait to go back to just visiting my base schools, Ishimine and Shinozaki. Tomorrow I have a holiday and will be going to the wisteria gardens with some friends, so I'm very excited! Look for some amazing pictures from me next week! (Unless it rains too much, then we'll go to Korona World instead, but I'll still make sure to take some awesome pictures.) Now I have to go make sure my bike is still outside where I left it so I can get home, I'm a bit worried it's blown away from all the wind and rain today!

A Busy Week

This week I've been a bit all over the place. I started my week working at Ishimine. I had a great time there and again stayed late to hang out in chorus club. They have a concert next Saturday that I'm really excited to see! I barely finished making the other two English boards for the students, but they seemed to be interested in at least the Pokemon board. When I go back to that school in June I will have to clean it up a little, I ran out of decorating time and it looks a little thrown together. I'm just glad I could get everything up there before leaving.

The rest of the week I was working at Shinozaki. It's nice to be back in a familiar school. I had a great time meeting everyone in Ishimine and I think I will have a great time working there, but meeting a whole new set of teachers and students and the new school layout and atmosphere can be a bit overwhelming. Coming back to Shinozaki and saying hello to my vice principal and sitting next to the teachers I've been working with since August is a kind of relief.

I've also started a very ambitious project this week. I'm applying or a Japanese credit card. I've heard many horror stories for foreigners trying to apply for credit cards in Japan only to be turned away for not capitalizing every letter in his or her name (they're not kidding when they ask you to print exactly the name on your passport) and other such complications. My friend Leah initially got rejected by an internet service provider when we first arrived because the address printed on the back of her 在留カード (zairyu kaado, residence card) was too messy. They told her she would have to get another card printed in order to receive internet in her apartment. (She ended up going with a different internet provider that didn't have the same complaint.) Even buying a cell phone when I arrived required my residence card and passport and it still took about three hours. I've heard positive stories as well, but so far my experience with Japanese bureaucracy has not been a pleasant one.

Thankfully one of the teachers at my school has been a big help. I was supposed to apply online for the card, but because my name isn't in Japanese characters the website would not accept it. I also had to write my full name as it appears on my passport, but since I have two middle names there wasn't enough space allotted to the "Given Names" section. My teacher ended up calling the company four times. They are sending a paper application to my apartment so I can fill it out and send them back. Hopefully it will be accepted and I will have a credit card in about a month. I could not be more thankful to my friend at Shinozaki who helped me talk to the company and will help me fill out the forms when they come. This process would be a lot harder if it wasn't for her.

The whole reason I want a credit card is for miles. The card I'm applying for is a JAL (Japan Airlines) card. It stores miles and between my trip home in July and Phuket in August I'll have enough miles to pay for a domestic flight in Japan. I can also use it to pay for future trips and hotels. I'm now paying for everything by using my American credit card and paying it off with the money I left back home. Since my income is now depositing to my Japanese bank account, using my American account doesn't make much sense. My bank also only lets a person put a trip on file for a month at a time. So although I spoke to them and explained the situation before coming to Japan, my card is still sometimes reported as stolen when I try to use it here. I can usually fix this problem online in a half hour or so, but it's quite annoying. A Japanese credit card will make everything much easier.

Another exciting thing this week was an opportunity offered to me by my supervisor. The chorus teacher at Ishimine told the Board of Education good things about me staying after school to help the chorus club. A school supervisor at the Board of Education heard about it and she is also a conductor for the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra in Kitakyushu. They will be singing an English song (not sure what) and want me to come in and work with them and teach them how to sing in English. I'm really excited! I will only go for about 20 minutes once a month, but it's still such a great opportunity! My first meeting is next Saturday, so I'll have more information next week. I hope it goes well! I have plans to go out after I finish the practice to karaoke with my friends. So my Saturday will be the chorus concert at Ishimine in the early afternoon, symphony orchestra English practice in the evening, and karaoke at night. It's going to be a very musical Saturday!

I've also seen a ton of people this week. I went out to dinner with my friend Leah on Wednesday, cooked dinner for Patrick on Sunday, went out Friday night with a lot of people I don't usually get to see, went shopping in Tenjin on Saturday, and had people over for an Easter brunch on Sunday. I didn't get too many things, but I had a lot of fun shopping in Fukuoka city. I don't go very often, but I love it there! It has the best shops (and a Pokemon Center). We had lunch at a great burger place, shopped in the afternoon, and had dinner in Canal City. We even splurged a little and took the shinkansen. Usually on an express train it takes about forty minutes to go from Kokura to Fukuoka. On the shinkansen it only take ten to fifteen minutes! It is a little more expensive, but I think it was worth it, especially since we had a lot of shopping bags between all of us.

At the end of the week on Sunday night my friend Kikumi come over for dinner. We ordered a pizza and watched Frozen. Mike sent me a box full of Easter goodies and included was the DVD and soundtrack. アナと雪の女王 (ana to yuki no jyoou, Anna and the Snow Queen) just came out here a little less than a month ago, so Kikumi was really excited that I already had a DVD for it. It was a really nice end to a pretty hectic, but very fun, week.

卒業おめでとう！

卒業おめでとう！(Sotsugyou omedetou, Happy graduation!)

My third year students graduated last Thursday and I was so proud! I attended Shinozaki's graduation and we started by getting all the chairs set up in the gym. The stage had a podium, piano, and giant flower arrangement. The graduating students sat in rows by class and name in front of the stage, the teachers sat on one side of them and people from the Board of Education sat on the other side. Some other students sat behind them and all the parents and siblings sat in the back. The ceremony was very similar to American graduations, many speeches by faculty and students and walking across the stage to receive a diploma. The major differences I noticed were the clothes (both students and teachers) and the atmosphere.

The first thing that really stood out to me was, of course, the lack of graduation gowns. Students wore their school uniforms during the ceremony. There was no dress code for the teachers, but almost everyone wore black suits. I wore one as well, one of the teachers told me ahead of time that I should wear black, but it was still odd. It seemed to me like everyone was dressed for a funeral. All the teachers and students also got a boutonniere type flowers. They were fake, yellow daisy's with a small safety pin in the stem to so you attach it to your jacket or uniform. It was a really nice pop of color to the mostly black outfits!

Another things I noticed was that it seemed more like a high school graduation than a middle school one. There were many tear-felt speeches and hugs as the students not only said goodbye to the teachers, but also to each other. I remember my middle school graduation was exciting and although I was sad to leave behind some of the teachers, I knew I was moving up to high school with most of my friends. That's not the case in Japan, since the students end up going to different high schools all over the city based on their entrance exams. I think this is why it felt more like an American high school graduation than a middle school one.

Mostly everything else was the same. There was a speech given by the principal and vice principal as well as a student. All the students walked across the stage and received a diploma from the principal. The PTA had flowers for all the third year teachers and the teachers who were leaving. The students even all sang a song to their homeroom teachers and the leaving teachers. It was really nice!After the ceremony, all the students gathered in the field and the teachers, students, and parents mingled. Many pictures were taken and it was a great time!

After school that Thursday, I had a graduation enkai (work party) with Futajima. We went to a really traditional restaurant and they gave me a photo album of pictures they had taken of me during my time there. It was a really great gift. The next day I went to Shinozaki's enkai, which was right near my apartment! It was great to be able to go to both enkais, since normally they are on the same day and I have to choose between my two schools.

The rest of last week and this week have been finishing up the textbook with the students and playing games. Tomorrow (Friday, March 21st) is a holiday and then Monday is　修了式 (shyuryoushiki, closing ceremonies). Spring break starts Tuesday, but I'll be going to the Board of Education instead of having time off, which is a little silly in my opinion. The other JETs will all be there as well, we'll be together in a room without anything to do. So at least I'll have people to hang out with and play games. The Board of Education is also right next to Riverwalk and Kokura Castle, so we'll probably get food from Riverwalk and picnic by the castle for lunch most days. I'm really excited for that!

The only other thing of interest to happen was my first earthquake in Kyushu! Japan obviously has a lot of earthquakes, but usually they're farther north, much closer to Tokyo. Since I'm so far south in Japan it's uncommon to have earthquakes here, but last Friday there was a 6.1 earthquake in between the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku. It hit me at a magnitude of about 3.5, so not too bad. The most startling thing about it was my phone. The earthquake happened around 2 A.M. and my phone started yelling at me. It woke me up and at first I thought it was my alarm for the morning, but realized it wasn't my normal alarm ring. It took me a few seconds since I was half asleep, but I eventually realized it was yelling, 「地震」(jishin, earthquake). Only a few seconds after I woke up from the alarm I felt everything shake! I'd been in an earthquake in Tokyo, but it was during the day and I was already sitting and it didn't really bother me. This time, however, as pretty terrifying. Earthquakes are not a pleasant way to wake up with my phone screeching; being alone in the middle of the night feeling like your on an extremely rocky boat is also not very pleasant. I could also here the fish tank sloshing water all over the floor. My poor little fugus were okay, but I had to clean up the spilled water and didn't get back to sleep until close to 3 A.M. I've learned I really dislike earthquakes and I especially dislike that my phone screams at me when one is about to happen, even if I know it's useful.

That's really it for now. There's a big party on Friday and I'm going to help bar tend, which I'm excited for. Other than that, I plan to have a very quiet weekend doing a bit of Spring cleaning. Possibly going to Patrick's to watch House of Cards and eating some pizza. Mike will arrive Monday night and I'm really excited to spend 花見 (hanami, flower watching season) with him! The first week in April check back and I should have a bunch of beautiful pictures of the cherry trees!

Sports Day

I don't think I've ever experienced anything like Sports Day. This past week we've forgone classes in favor of Sports Day practice, setting up tents, and constantly reapplying paint to the dirt track. I spent probably seven or eight hours in the gym with all the girls in the school learning a dance that we performed today while the boys were outside doing handstands and making the largest human pyramid I've ever seen. We spent two hours doing yard work make the field beautiful and then ran around the track hundreds of times. Even the teachers got in on the action and had relay races against the student captains. It was all fun and games, but I never expected the actual day to be so amazing!

I started off by jumping out of bed. Even though it's Sunday, it feels like a Friday. I have the next two days off and today I just had sports! What could be better? I put on my yellow shirt (I was part of the yellow team) and hopped on my bike. When I got to the school there were signs up and people directing traffic into the parking lot. I found my way to my seat through the craziness of parents and siblings claiming spots around the track to set up blankets and lawn chairs. The students all started marching in, we did some warm up stretches, then got the games under way.

My first thought when I heard about Sports Day was that the students would be playing soccer, baseball, and other games, but really it was much more track and field oriented. First the students started with 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and 800 meter dash. There would be fifteen or so races for each category. The students would line up at the starting line and as soon as one race finished the next would start. Other events included relays, an obstacle course, a variety relay, a "downstream," and a "whirlpool." The obstacle course consisted of jump rope, hurdles, a horse to jump over, and crawling under a net. The variety relay was a relay, but ever lap the students had a different challenge while running. For example, some students had to run while carrying a volleyball on a tennis racket, two students with their feet tied together, one student carrying another on hi back back, and many more. The "downstream" race consisted of students standing in a line and bending over so their backs created a path. The smallest student ran along their back and the students bending over had to constantly move to the front of the line to keep up the track. Finally the "whirlpool" consisted of four students holding a huge bamboo rod and running in circles around cones. On the way back to the rest of the team, the other team members had to jump over the rod and duck under it before it was dropped for the next four people to start running.

I had a ton of fun today hanging out with the students, their families, and the other teachers. I ran in a relay with the teachers and did a huge dance with the students. I've yelled 「黄色がんばれ！」(kiiro ganbare, Go yellow team!) so much I think my throat will be sore tomorrow. I apologize for the lack of pictures, I was not allowed to take pictures of the students. I have an enkai (work party) tonight with the teachers I saw at Sports Day today, so I'm off to meet them at the Chinese restaurant and then go to karaoke!

Shinozaki

Today was my first day at my second school, Shinozaki. I had such an amazing time at Futajima last week, I was skeptical that I would have a good a time at Shinozaki. I have also been listening to some of the other JETs complain about their placements. Some people say they are used only has a human tape recorder and some say they don't get brought to class at all. Leah wasn't in the classroom for two days. When she did finally get to go to class, the teacher had her read passages and nothing else.

Thankfully, my first day proved me wrong! I still have more friends at Futajima, but everyone at Shinozaki has been incredibly welcoming! I sit across from the school counselor, Kawai, who doesn't know much English but is really happy to be sitting near me. He used to be the principle of another school. He photocopied a seating chart of the teachers room for me and went through all the names to make sure I could read the kanji. He also pointed out all the English teachers to me and made a note on the seating chart. He gave me the school schedule for the next two months and even showed me the menu for school lunch for all the day's I'm here. Everyone is always worried I won't be able to eat kyushoku (school lunch) and is amazed when I can.

For my classes both here and at Futajima I have been doing a self-intro lesson over and over. I'm a little tired of it, but I still have about fifteen classes to go. I have big pictures I printed out showing many things about me and things from America that I talk about with the students. Then they can ask me questions. They always ask me how tall I am. If there is still time I have a self introduction worksheet for them where they can both draw and write. That way lower level classes can relay more on drawing, while more advanced classes can write more and still get the fun of drawing the pictures. It's been a big hit so far! I even had one class ask me if I liked Pokémon. I said yes and as part of their introduction to me they all drew their favorite Pokemon.

So far the teachers and students at both Futajima and Shinozaki have been amazing! Everyone is helpful and always willing to answer any of my questions. All the students run up to me in the hallways to say, "Hello teacher!" The staff at Shinozaki even pitched in and bought me a mug as a welcome present. I think I will enjoy Futajima a little more only because I sit next to Sugiyama, the first year English teacher. She is completely fluent in English and we have a lot of the same interests. We already have plans to hang out outside of work. That being said, Shinozaki is still an amazing school with wonder people.

I have a long weekend next weekend, so some friends and I are renting a car and driving down to Beppu! Beppu is about two hours away by car and is south east of Kitakyushu. It is in Oita prefecture and is famous for its hot springs. So next Monday or Tuesday I will let you all know how that trip goes! I can't wait!

First Three Weeks

Hello!

I know it's been a while since I updated. I just got internet in my apartment today and I couldn't be happier! So I'm going to try and do a quick run-through of my first three weeks here.

We started by going out to lots of welcome parties that were very fun! It was great to meet all the new JETs arriving as well as all the JETs in Kitakyushu staying over from previous years. Our PA Dan was great at making us all feel welcome. I'm also super grateful that Patrick, another new JET this year, is in the building across the street from me. We have done lots of shopping and exploring together since we are in the same area. Leah is also someone I'm getting very close to, she is from Detroit and the only other American Kitakyushu JET.

During my first week I went to an amazing festival in Shimonoseki. There are two towns across the river from each other, Shimonoseki and Mojiko. People bring blankets and sit on both sides of the river. Then both Shimonoseki and Mojiko shoot off fireworks and try to outdo the other side. The fireworks went on for hours and it was amazing! There were also food stalls around selling all sorts of food and desserts. It was amazing and a great chance to wear my yukata!

As for work, I have spent my time going to many different schools to help the students with speech contest. School isn't in session until next Monday and I haven't been to either of my base schools yet. In October, many middle school students recite a speech in English as part of Kitakyushu's annual speech contest. We are going around to different schools and helping students with memorization, pronunciation, and intonation. It's nice to meet the teachers and students, but unfortunately none of these schools are my base schools. So I will be in different schools during the year. Starting on Monday I'm going to be in Futajima and Shinozaki middle schools. I have only visited Futajima so far and everyone was very nice. I've heard nice things about Shinozaki and will be visiting it later this week!

Kantsu, my professor from Hofstra, came to visit me for dinner one night. He was on his way to Korea for work and stopped in Kitakyushu for a few hours. I got to show him around my apartment, Shiragane (my district), and the city. We had dinner with Patrick on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city, it was amazing!

I took a trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima last weekend and it was really fun! I got to see Hiroshima Castle, which I didn't get to see last time I was in Hiroshima. We went to a great okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki the specialty dish of Hiroshima consisting of a pancake-like batter, cabbage, noddles, and any topping of your choice (I had oysters) grilled at your table and topped with lots of sauce. We also went back to the Atomic Dome and Peace Park. It was kind of nice to show the other JETs around an area I knew. The next day we went to Miyajima, the floating shrine island. I have been before, but I had a lot more time this weekend. I went to see the five-story pagoda and climbed the highest point of the mountains. It was really cool!

So that's the very short version of what I've been up to. I've been having a great time and am so happy to be here!