1 YEAR~

March 25, 2013 ~ I arrived with three suitcases to Narita Airport... After a 10 hour flight of not much sleep, the feelings of excitement and panic were running throughout my body.  I was the first to arrive from my team of teachers... I decided to venture on my own and catch a flight before them.  After I went through immigration and customs, there were two familiar faces smiling and greeting me.  At that moment was the beginning of a new adventure of living and working in Japan.

One year later, I survived.  There are many changes with the job, and there are still many changes to come.  That's life... always changing...  We have 10 teachers joining us this semester, and 4 more teachers joining in the fall semester.   We are in the process of deciding to re-contract or not, and in the end they will decide to offer us a contract.  It is quite interesting this whole process... I'm not sure what will happen... I just hope that things will be smoother this semester.  I think that things will be alright... :)

Graduation Ceremony with Jason, Sona, & LeeLee. [3.21]

Graduation Ceremony with Aiko [3.21]

Spring Forward!!!

I was fortunate to have a lot of time off in February and March, and I traveled around Hong Kong, Macao, China & South Korea. I returned shortly back to Japan before heading back to California, Oregon, & Washington to visit my family.

I truly love to push myself to go to places where I am unfamiliar with, and challenge my mind to be in an another culture or even to think differently than I would normally see things... yet I know I have a set way of thinking that I was conditioned to think.

I realized that whether I am abroad or in the States, there are still some things that challenge me... I know that I will always have the "Travel Bug," and as I get ready to start the new school year... I am thinking about my future and where I want to continue to challenge myself.

I am grateful for a full-time job, loving people in my life, and a family who cares about me to the point of annoyance. haha!

When I was back in the States, and had a chance to catch up with some friends & family... people would ask, "So, do you love it there?"  "What do you usually do on the weekend?"  "What are you going to do when you finish?"  "What are your classes like?"  "How are your students?"  The usual questions anyone would ask, and even I would want to ask...  One thing I know for sure is that I love my students, and I want to continue to improve my ideas and techniques so that everyone is learning and enjoying the time together.  I know I'm not perfect, and by no means I think I could be perfect... I just want to continue learning...

I choose not to be limited by my fears & my comforts.

The Great Wall of China - Mutianyu [Feb. 19]

Culture Shock or ... ???

Besides the nice photos that I just posted, some other situations have came up in the past 4 months...

• "Stalker" - ... Yes, oddly enough a young high school boy rang the doorbell of my apartment twice within two weeks.  The first time I thought he had the wrong apartment, and was looking for someone. He did not understand English from what I could gather, and I don't know Japanese... The second time he came to my apartment I was flabbergasted and shocked.  He handed me a DVD, which I assumed was porn. I quickly gave it back to him and told him to go away and shut the door.  He knocked on my door for about 5 minutes until my coworker came and shooed him away... I haven't heard from him since.  

• "Torn Ligament" - It was a chilly morning, and I haven't been getting much sleep since it was the last full week of the semester. I quickly walked up the stairs, and in one swoop step I twisted my left ankle.  I didn't fall, but I collapsed down in the stop that I took the step.  I was in pain, but I thought, "It's just a small sprain. I'll be okay." As I gathered myself and got up and walked, it was painful, but I made it to me office and continued on with my day. Five hours later I was in much more pain.  I couldn't even stand or walk on the ankle... I went to the school nurse and she wrapped it up for me.  I went on with my duties in the English PLAZA, then I decided to go to a clinic to check my ankle... They did an x-ray and the ligament was swollen, so they quickly wrapped it and gave me medicine.  I had work the next day, and I slowly crutched my way to work.  I went back to the clinic and they checked if it was swollen.  It wasn't.  It's not easy to get around with crutches.  So I asked about getting a wheelchair. They said, no... I had another visit last week on Tuesday.  I asked to get a copy of my receipt that was reimbursed, but they said they didn't have a copy machine.  Then I asked if I could take a picture. They said, no. Maybe they thought I was going to do something with the receipt??? Not sure... I had another appointment on Thursday... They said they were going to do an x-ray again... they did, but then right away they put a cast over my leg. I was disturbed because I think that I don't need a cast, but they insisted on it.  The language barrier doesn't help.  I was very upset... and they wanted me to come in the next day.  Like I said, it's not easy to get around on crutches... I complied and went in... It didn't take long, but they checked if the cast was okay.  Then they said to come in on Monday... I complied again. "No remarkable changes." I have another appointment this week.  Hopefully, I get this off my leg by next Thursday. Luckily, I was able to borrow a wheelchair from school yesterday.  Now I can wheel around, but the streets aren't paved well, and there aren't many sidewalks.  You hardly see anyone in a wheelchair or anyone with "disabilities" around... Maybe they stay indoors all day...?

• "Visas" - No, not the credit card visa, but the travel VISA.  I am planning to travel around China next month... I knew I had to pay for the visa since I am a U.S. Citizen, but since I also have a Japanese work visa... I have to pay more than I expected because I am supposed to go through a travel agency to apply for the visa. I don't understand why I need to go through a travel agency... Is it just another step to make money for the travel agency? Is it a security issue since there's "bad blood" between China and Japan?  This left me feeling dejected... because I think there is already some discrimination against "gaijin" (foreigners) in Japan already.  -OR-  it could be totally unrelated. I'm not sure how I feel about this... I tried to look at the other side of the story, and think about how I usually don't have to pay for VISAs to go into some countries like other nationalities do.  I just don't like the feeling of being treated unfairly... I would think no one wants to be treated differently because of their background/ ethnicity/ nationality/ race/ gender/ gender orientation/ etc.  Am I totally off on this topic??? I'm not sure where I stand...

Any comments? suggestions? advice?

Fall Semester... DONE!

Excuse me while I wipe off the dust on this blog... It's been ages!!! So many things have happened. Here's a recap:

• October

Kabuki

JALT Conference in Kobe

Halloween Party

•  November 

Fun in Ikebukuro

• December

Merry Christmas!!!

• January 2014

Fun Festivities in the Fall

Sumo!!! [9.28.2013]

Odaiba [10.12]

Kawagoe Matsuri [10.19]

Fellow Teachers @ the Kawagoe Matsuri

Did I tell you that I went to a sumo tournament??? It took me awhile to upload the photos from my camera onto my laptop... I finally took the time today to upload the photos to my laptop and some to Facebook.  So here we go!!!

It was a new experience to watch sumo. It was my first time watching it!  I never watched it on TV or online or anywhere, and so the first time I saw a match was at the dohyo in Tokyo.  I enjoyed my experience because there were various traditions that go along with sumo.  From the design of the dohyo to the actions of the rikishi, every action and design is planned and is part of a ritual.  It is amazing how the tradition of sumo integrates Shintoism to the practice.  It was an interesting experience and I would like to attend another tournament.  Luckily, the tournament comes to Tokyo three times a year.  The next tournament in Tokyo will be in January.  I hope I can go again!

Yesterday and today was the Kawagoe Autumn Festival.  The Kawagoe Matsuri is the third weekend of October, and it occurs once a year.  I was fortunate to attend yesterday's festivities.  It did not rain until mid-afternoon.  By then we were done with our duties of pulling the dashi/ float.  We returned our "happi" coats, but we were able to keep the other fabric. I'm not sure what it's called in Japanese, but it says Kawagoe Matsuri on it!!!  It was a great honor to be able to participate with the local community in this amazing event!!!!! I was so overwhelmed with joy that I almost cried... There were crowds of people in every direction.  The streets were closed.  There were no cars, but the people, food booths, dashi-s filled the streets.  Happy to have the happi-coat. Happi-ness.

Visitor #7

My friend that I know from California is in Japan!!! She is working in Australia, and is on holiday... She went to other Asian countries, and is stopping by here before going back to work!!!  On Saturday we went to Odaiba, and saw the Statue of Liberty replica and the giant Gundham.  On Sunday we went to Harajuku and Ikebukuro.  Today we went to Koedo old town in Kawagoe.  It was a very nice weekend of site-seeing around Tokyo and Kawagoe!!!

View of Rainbow Bridge & Tokyo Tower in the background.

Kaiten sushi in Ikebukuro!

Disneyland Ticket Winners!

Congratulations Mai!  Mai won two tickets for completing the Summer Challenge.  The summer challenge consisted of weekly writing assignments and completing the Summer Passport booklet!  A great way to practice English.