Katie's journal

Wow, crazy evening. The blessing of free (and nice) furniture on the sidewalk right as I was thinking I needed some for the kitchen, then dealing with the accompanying spiders (Thanks for the warning Danny!). Meanwhile, bats are flying around, and I know there are rats running around too. It's kinda creepy around here at night. Then, reorganizing the house, that's what happens when I get left home alone too long! Then, FINALLY getting a bottle of juice open that was stuck. I couldn't open it, brandon couldn't open it, it was the wrong size for pliers, wrenches, and bottle openers. What did it? Hot water and a rubber-backed rug. Thank you google. I held onto the rug and Brandon turned the juice bottle. Useful!

Usually I'm pretty good about not letting my mind jump to worst-case scenarios. I know they are unlikely to happen, and don't think about them. Yesterday, though, I got overwhelmed with bills and paperwork and multiple friends weddings happening on the same day and not having the dishes done or the laundry and we need to buy toilet paper and we're both working overtime constantly. So, when I went to renew my tabs, and couldn't, I was, well, a little upset. Don't get me started on they WHY...My little energy efficient manual-transmission Ford focus that is less than five years old shouldn't need an emissions test yet, and I stand by that. But, the fact was, I couldn't renew my tabs until I got that done. Immediately, in my mind I wouldn't get my tabs renewed on time, and I'd be driving around and getting pulled over for expired tabs while just trying to get to work, and meanwhile trying to find time during business hours (when I happen to be working) to go wait in an hour long line just to have them tell me my car doesn't pollute as much as the SUV next to me.

But, I decided to try to get the test done this morning before work. The place opened at 9:00, fortunately was near work, and I didn't have to be at work until 10:00. So, I figured I'd get there around when it opened, and hopefully have time.

Here's the interesting part: I left home at 8:30. For some glorious unknown reason, there was NO traffic. I got to the emissions testing place in 20 minutes. They were already open. The cheerful (???) workers said when they have a line out front, they like to open early rather than making people wait. Car passed fine (at least that part I had figured to be fine even in my worst-case imagination), and by 9:00 I was done! I had time to go get coffee and breakfast at the Starbucks down the street.

Still need to renew my tabs, and yes it was a hassle. But, my point was that not only was that situation nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but I can honestly say it was better than I could have ever imagined. I would Never have predicted the people working there to be friendly and cheerful, or to open early to better serve their customers. I always think of the chapter in The Screwtape Letters, about worry, where he points out that getting someone to worry is much more effective at tormenting them than actually living through what they are worried about, because they experience it multiple times in multiple ways.

So, I'll hope for the best - all green lights on my commute tomorrow, right?

*Note* I apologize to anyone for the spam that keeps appearing in the comments section. I blocked the user but now he is posting anonymously - I'll keep deleting it as it comes in.

Now that I'm back in the US, there are some things I didn't anticipate that I really missed while I was away. I already had my list of what I was looking forward to, but here I'm keeping an ongoing list of what I like about being back. Please note that my "living" experience in Japan was limited to Koga. I traveled a lot, but didn't do things like grocery shopping elsewhere.

*Wide roads! While we don't have great mass transit, we sure are a country optimized for car travel. Driving here has never felt easier.

*The smell of green growing things. I thought Koga had this, it's a farm town. But, actually, after smelling the fresh air here, I realize it smelled more like dirt and dust.

*On that note, no mud all over the sidewalks! I can wear my nice shoes on a walk and not get them muddy. Again, A side effect of being a farming town.

*The variety of accents, cultures, styles, and looks. I think Japanese accents are charming, I loved practicing my Japanese, but I really missed the mix of so many countries and cultures that we have here.

*Lawns! Well cared for lawns! Especially now, in the spring, they are gorgeous. In the summer they serve as a great place to play or picnic or take a nap.

*Not being forced to use an umbrella. We don't usually use umbrellas here. The rain passes in an hour or so, why carry it all day.

*Grocery shopping - not only are the stores not always jam-packed, because most Americans don't shop daily for food, but if someone wants something and you are in the way, they will either reach around you, or if being polite, say "excuse me" and reach around you. In Japan, they inched closer and closer with their shopping cart until I felt like they were running me down, and eventually I'd realize THEY wanted to peruse the tofu section that I was perusing, and I'd move. Even if I wasn't finished, because I didn't want to get run over anymore.

*Fresh milk, available in nonfat or 1% in GIANT LOOKING half-gallons or gallons

*Road names! Being able to give someone directions and an understandable address.

3/8/10 月曜日

Yesterday was Brandon's birthday. There is a restaurant and bar here in Tokyo that he's been wanted to go to - it's themed after Dragonquest, a videogame that is VERY popular here. We made plans to meet a few people there, and started towards Tokyo at about 3:30, stopping for coffee on the way. We met Sarah M. briefly at Excelsior coffee - she was on her way to a job interview - and stayed there until it was closer to dinnertime.

We arrived in Roppongi at about 6:30, and quickly located the restaurant based on the directions Brandon had memorized. It was bustling, and the podium out front had a bunch of time slots covered up by stickers. Not a good sign - we'd known we were taking a risk not calling ahead first, but it's a little confusing making reservations over the phone unless the other person has a lot of patience.

We went up to talk to the person at the podium, who explained something about it being full. He kindly repeated himself, and we understood the second time. In the morning they hand out tickets for different time slots, so you have to get there very early to get tickets, and come back. There is no way to do it over the phone. He added that it is very crowded on weekends, so weekdays are best. We'll try to combine it with a trip to Tokyo tower when Dad, Andy, and Danny are here.

We walked around Roppongi a little bit - there is a giant tower over the station with shops, restaurants, offices, even a park. There were foreigners everywhere - Americans, Europeans, and a large populations of Africans. (Maybe Nigerians?) It's interesting to hear Japanese spoken with an African accent.

Fortunately, a friend of Sarah's that we were meeting knew of an Izakaya above TGI Friday's. Izakayas, at least the ones I've ben to, are Japanese style restaurants/bars. They usually have lots of drinks to choose from, and the food all comes in small pieces served family style, so you can try a LOT of food. In this one we got our own room, with a big table "on the floor" but thee was a hole in the floor so we didn't have to kneel the whole time.

When we got to the restaurant they told us that we maybe would only have two hours. I think they meant if we stopped ordering, because we continued to order food and drinks for about three hours. I had roughly two drinks, and just about fell asleep. Alcohol makes me so sleepy!

It got late very quickly (we hadn't sat down until 8:00) and despite the use of iPhones I didn't know when the last train was. I tend to get panicky about stuff like that (mass transit is stressful!) so I'd already resigned myself to the fact that we may need to stay in a hotel. They have better heating anyway.

Roppongi got busier and busier the later if got. There is no set time for bars to close, so they can stay open into the morning. Once the trains stop running, people often stay in the bars all night until the trains resume at about 5:00 AM.

We got on the subway, not sure which station to take it to, and decided on Ueno, then to Akabane (the next big station towards Koga) if that failed. We made it to Ueno, no trains to Koga. We got on the train going North, but it splits away from Koga when it's still forty minutes away. I got a little worried when I thought I heard a girl on the phone next to us say she was going to take the train to Omiya and get a taxi to Koga.

At Akabane, there were no trains bound for Koga. We asked the super helpful station staff just to make sure. He confirmed that there were no more trains to Koga that night. We walked through the gates and asked from the other side if he knew where a Toyoko Inn was - we have their membership card and I knew it would come with a breakfast, so at least we'd get a little something extra for not making it home in time. I'd seen one from the train, so I knew there was one in Akabane, but I couldn't remember how far. The station attendant pulled out a map and gave us directions, it wasn't too far. Maybe a ten or fifteen minute walk. We passed a lot of other hotels, but there advertised rates were a bit higher (and probably didn't come with breakfast) than what we ended up paying.

One of the only rooms the Toyoko Inn had left was a wheelchair accessible one. It was a BIG room! The beds were still small, unfortunately (something between a twin and a full) but if we'd been staying longer or had more people, the space would have been nice. Our total, including a toiletry sample set for me, taxes, and free coffee and breakfast? 5,600 yen, or about $56. We stayed warmer than in our apartment, there were mirrors so I could do my hair in the morning (we have one tiny mirror in our shower room, I usually do without) and the room had a ticking clock on the wall. That is a nice touch. I've stayed in some hotels with NO clock. Even with a little clock radio, it's hard to see. It was about 1:00 AM when we checked in, and the same lone front desk woman was there when we checked out at 10:00 am. I don't ever want to work in a hotel again - I don't know how she could stay so polite.

We found a Starbucks in the station, and then headed home. Because it was Brandon's birthday, I made him french toast and bacon for lunch. I still owe him a present though.

3/9/10
火曜日

They've been getting ready for graduation. It's interesting to see - they've practiced twice so far, maybe again today? And the actual ceremony is tomorrow. They've practiced standing up in unison, sitting down in unison, and bowing in unison. If there is an unexpected bow, it looks like people doing the wave, and takes a few seconds for the people in the back to bow. If there expecting it, it's an incredibly efficient synchronized movement of 500 students, with no sound but a slight rustling of fabric. The band has practiced each song through, the kids have practiced their singing, speeches, and throwing of invisible cherry blossoms onto the graduating students. They've brought in industrial size space heaters for the unheated gym. I hope they use them, I was shocked to see the rain turn to snow again today.
They were using the heaters yesterday, but a girl fainted. I doubt it was the heaters, but they turned them off anyway. It was scary to see her slumped in her chair when everyone else stood on command. They brought in a stretcher, and with help she could stand up to get to it, but she looked like Dorothy in the poppy field just trying to close her eyes and lie down. My first thought was "is she diabetic???"

Today I ate lunch with the third years for the last time. There's definitely an air of excitement that was missing most of the year. They can be so kind. 3-5 gave me a potted tulip and a card signed by everyone in the class, some other 3rd years gave me a zabuton, or floor pillow they made with my name on it, and a picture with a note. These are treasures to me and I don't think they know that, but I did make sure to thank them in both Japanese and English.

3/10/10

水曜日

Graduation today! For some reason I was asked to get here a half-hour earlier than normal, but I've spent the last hour not sure what I'm supposed to do before the ceremony at 9:00.
It's interesting…Normally I think it's silly at home to have a middle school graduation ceremony - they're all going on to high school anyways. However, in this case, it makes a little more sense - for one, they are 9th graders, or high-school freshman age. And, like the girl I was sitting with yesterday, they may not be continuing on to highschool. When I first heard that kids can do that, I thought it was bizarre, but again, really, it's like leaving highschool after your first year. And, just like in America there are options to get your degree equivalent or technical training later. Plus, attending highschool is somewhat like attending college in the states. It can be very expensive, although there are both public and private school options, and often the highschool determines what colleges will accept you.

[Later]

The graduation ceremony finished fairly quickly - less than three hours including all the speeches and singing. Now the kids are all leaving…I don't know if they'll come back today or not - it's only noon.

After receiving diplomas, each class said a thank you speech to their homeroom teacher. One of the girls had to pause because she was crying! It was very touching. But she recovered enough to finish - she had to project her voice because she wasn't using a mike, so it kept cracking as she held back tears.

Now, like always, I have no clue what is going on. If I had a schedule I could probably make sense of it, but I didn't get one like everyone else did. I think it's kind of a break time - everyone is gathered around a kerosene heater. The bento boxes were brought out, but no one is eating yet. I don't ever know where I'm supposed to eat. Some people have coffee, but my coffee mug mysteriously disappeared from my desk. (It's probably in the tea room).

Ah, thank you math teacher! (Y-sensei). She speaks good English, but more importantly she is outgoing. She explained to me that we're waiting on the third year teachers and then we can eat, and we'll eat in the teachers room.

[Later]

Ate lunch in the tea room - got to talk to the tea lady and teachers a little. It's nice, despite the fact that they are not extremely outgoing, I haven't run into issues that others have had of being downright excluded and ignored. I guess knowing some Japanese helps, but I'm always having to ask them to repeat.

Now, I've got some time to kill. The only kids that returned are the ones that do after school activities, and not all of them at that. I did help clean up the gym, that was a start. Oh yeah, it snowed again last night. But here's the strange part - it started snowing mid-afternoon, and got very thick and started sticking around 11:00 PM. By the time we woke up, much of it had melted.

I'm so cold - I might have to bump the thermostat on the water heater up again for a hot bath. It seems to heat very quickly. So, no more third years - we only have a week and a half left but they are done. I'll miss them, hopefully they had a fun time.

Some kids are playing badminton outside of the teacher's room windows, but I looked up to see something larger than a birdie and black fly through the air. They're batting around a glove - it doesn't fly very well though.

3/3/2010

I've been enjoying Pokemon Soul Silver. Pokemon Gold, on an emulator on my PC over ten years ago is how I first learned to read hiragana and Katakana. The improved graphics are a nice plus for having to re-buy the game.

I'm glad Dad, Andy, and Danny are coming! They'll get to see our home here before we leave it. Funny thing is, their round-trip tickets were roughly $30 less than our one-way. No problem, though, it was still below what we may have had to pay if we waited too long to buy.

3/4/2010

Ooh, 5 free periods today thanks to testing. I was felling okay, but the battery of my computer finally gave out, leaving me with just paper and pen, and VERY tired eyes. If I had an office job I'd be overweight, have a sore back, and need glasses. I like the mix here, about four hours on my feet mixed with four hours sitting, and walking and stairs in between.

[Later]

Finished the last class of the day…One of the assignments in class was reading the English text and filing in the blanks in a translation. I'm happy to say that from living here my Japanese has progressed faster than the second years' English, so I was able to help them with the assignment.
One of the kids waved me over, "Katie!" he looked at me, looked at the paper, then said "nandemo nai….nothing." He does that a lot, so I ignored it. (You know, where you try to get someone's attention, and then tell them "Oh nothing.") Then I heard him tell the girl next to him "nihongo ga wakaranai." ("She doesn't understand Japanese"). He'd realized the assignment required me to read Japanese, so he figured I couldn't help. I turned around when he said that and looked at him to let him know I understood that. "Yes I can," I whispered, and showed him how to translate the sentence. (With Japanese, when you have it written out and the time, it's a process of reconstructing the sentence. For example, the English sentence had the words "man," "threw," and "into hole." But what did he throw? It is given in the English sentence, but not the Japanese translation, so there is your answer. Translate the listed word "koishi." (Stone).

Now I have thirty minutes left and no brainpower - I try to listen to what's going on around me, but they're all talking at once.

This Sunday is Brandon's birthday - I need to figure out what to get him and where to get it… Maybe some rum. The problem is I don't really have a way to get to the store here, and there's no time we're apart except for work. I'll offer to bake him his choice of a cake, cookies, french toast, or pancakes. I'll owe him a main present when we get home.

I don't know what we're doing for dinner - we no joke had chocolate ricemaker cake/brownies last night - it filled us up…maybe I'll boil some chestnuts - they taste like coffee! I want to learn to cook with chestnuts when I get home! They're healthy, too!

Even the tea lady noticed I've lost weight - she mentioned it today. I'm wearing four layers!!! I'm going to be careful when we get home to keep it off. My weight loss trick? Coffee! Even a cup of black coffee settles the rumbling in my tummy until lunch time. Tomorrow I only have three classes. I want to compose notes and letters in Japanese to the people here, as well as our friends elsewhere in Japan. It's intimidating with Japanese people always looking over my shoulder, but I'll first compose my notes in English and then translate them so I'm not limited by what I can already say. Then, I could always write it out in roomaji - they've already told me they can't read cursive - especially mine. (It's pretty messy). Sometimes I look at what I wrote a day ago and it's like a foreign language to me.

Just five minutes left…I wouldn't care if I had something to do, but I asked all the English teachers and completed the worksheets they assigned me. They ran out of things for me to do. I'll be glad when I am home, where there is never a lack of things to do.

What a strange day, confined to a desk for six hours. I'll be glad for three classes tomorrow. I did read more about coffee this afternoon, too.

Disneyland Memories

My earliest memory of Disneyland, barring those that may have come from photographs, is of being asked, I think by Aunt Laura, if I would like to go with her to Autopia or stay with my parents (in Fantasyland). I stayed with my parents but very quickly decided I'd rather go to Tomorrowland to Autopia. After Laura had left of course. (No cell phones then!) So we took the skyride to Tomorrowland to try to catch up to her. I remember being completely unaware of where one place was in relation to another, just that my parents always knew which way to go.
That trip with Laura was right around the time I turned three years old.

Also, I remember being told about the electric light parade, but not actually seeing it, and being told I fell asleep during it.

From our later trip with Uncle Billy and Aunt Gail, I remember a bit more. (I was four or five at the time). I remember sitting next to Gail, as she and I made up stories. Either my dolls, or more likely invisible people, kept having problems and needing surgery. Either I had just become aware of the concept of surgery, or that Gail was planning to be a doctor, (or maybe it was my love of The Wizard of Oz), but it would go something like "this is so and so [made up name] he needs a new heart." Then I'd look out the window, spot a large building and decide it was a hospital. "He can get one there!"

I remember watching fireworks from our hotel balcony (The Jolly Roger?). I remember mom or dad pointing out my My Little Pony shoes glowing the in blacklight on the Peter Pan ride. I remember a guy with a Donald Duck hand puppet telling me I wasn't tall enough to ride Thunder Mountain. I remember being terrified on Star Tours. I remember making everyone take me on It's a Small World over and over again because it wasn't scary and I liked the dolls. That's the cool thing about Disneyland - you name a ride, and I'll come up with a (or many) very specific memories to go with it.

I also remember mom and dad looking at a map, because I wanted to see the characters. This was before Toontown. I had no comprehension of the layout of Disneyland or even how to read a map, but they, after looking at one, announced "we need to go to [something] square." It could have been New Orleans Square, or more likely, Town Square on Main Street. From the pictures we apparently found characters.

I remember being told that we had to go back to the hotel for a nap, and not wanting to. I remember finally getting to ride Thunder Mountain, but that it terrified me so much that I wouldn't go on another roller coaster for years.

There was a gap that separated the short trips when I was little from when we went back for one of our first extended trips (1996?) and stayed in the Disneyland hotel with Grandma and Joey. That one I remember quite clearly (it was when I finally went on Thunder Mountain again) but the trips before that all run together.

3/2/10 火曜日
Two interesting stories. In 2-2 we're reviewing, so the students had to bring their first year textbooks. They've had them for two years, and haven't used them in a year. I noticed the classroom smelled like an old apartment or house when I walked in - odd, but the kids don't wear deodorant, so I don't think much of odd-smelling classrooms. When we got to the review portion of class, I noticed the girl with red glasses (Miho - she has Minnie Mouse everything) crinkling her nose. I looked at her inquisitively. She pointed to the boy next to her and held her nose. The girls often tease the boys about being stinky, so I didn't take it seriously, but then the boy pointed to his textbook. There was an area of it that looked like it had gotten wen and then dried. I realized the smell could very easily be old cat pee. Oh…I felt bad for the kid, but I could see the hilarity of the situation. The teacher asks everyone to bring their first year textbook, he goes to pull it off the shelf/out of storage, only to find an animal has gotten to it. Now he has to go to school with a stinky textbook.

Other strange thing today - lunch with the third years because it's their last week.
They'd just gotten back from gym, and needed to change before we started eating. They don't use locker rooms to change - the girls just wear their gym clothes under their uniforms. They boys, on the other hand, have to actually change in the classroom. They usually have an extra layer of clothes on, so it doesn't seem like a big deal. For some reason, today, they all stripped to their boxers! I definitely felt like I shouldn't have been in there, although again, I found it a very funny situation, as lunch was being served simultaneously. They would literally not have time to button up their shirts before getting a big tray of food, but their clothes were all over their desks so they had nowhere to put their food and therefore couldn't finish dressing. No one else seemed to think it odd, but I found it pretty funny watching everyone juggle their food and clothes like that.

3/1/10 月曜日
Plans for returning home continue. We're pretty excited about it at this point, as much as I'll miss my school. Dad, Andy, and Danny are flying out to help us move home. The cherry trees are just starting to bloom, so I think we'll be here for that. We had another quiet weekend, full of movies, homecooked meals, and videogames. I finally bought pokemon soul silver - I'd been meaning to get it because I missed out on the last round of Pokemon games (Diamond and Pearl) plus I never got to play gold a second time through because it had a battery problem and stopped saving. The graphics on this new one are really good, and it's a great way to practice Japanese - they speak so simply. And it came with a pedometer shaped like a pokeball so I can take geodude (or any pokemon) on walks with me :)

2/23/10 火曜日
Well, we're still planning on going home next month. Kinda sad, but there is a LOT I miss at home, although I am not looking forward to job hunting again.
So, this past weekend, we went to Tokyo with Hiroko. She took us to the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno to see some national treasures, (13,000 year old treasures!!!) and dinner in Ginza at an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant.

It was fun seeing her again - Her English is good, as always, and our Japanese is a little improved, so it was pretty easy to communicate. She's working hard, and recently went to visit her sister (our first exchange student) in Hawaii.

On Sunday, after getting chores and grocery shopping done, we drove to Oyama with Sarah for coffee. Strangest thing (Oyama is a half hour away from Koga) we were stuck in stop and go traffic, and a group of boys walked past on the sidewalk. Sarah said "Katie, those boys were staring at you." I was on the phone, so I wasn't really paying attention to them. Then she remarked, "oh, they're turning around. They're coming back." I was a little nervous at this point, but looked out the window to see the smiling faces of my students! In Oyama! Not only were they my students, but they were the class clowns/leaders or three different classrooms. It makes sense they're friends, even though they are in different classes. I was very surprised to see them, I rolled the window down and yelled "Hi!" and they all yelled "Hi Katie!" Traffic started moving, so they all yelled "Bye Katie!" I knew I'd hear about that on Monday. And I did, retold over and over in Japanese.

2/25/10
Things are hectic feeling in Koga - It's sad to see everyone going different directions, after having become a close network of Koga foreigners. It's like graduating again. Plus, it feels strange at work - I was instructed not to tell my school, but I don't think anyone else has bothered to tell them either. So, I'm trying to act like everything is normal, and meanwhile we just bought plane tickets home!

The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom =) Ah, I love spring! We're having a bout of warm days again - probably 65 degrees and sunny in the afternoon. After dark, It feels like a summer evening.

So, while I don't want to set anything in stone, I do want to try to do a few things before we leave. Here's the beginning of a list.

Tsukuba
See Kishiyo
See Mr. Nishiiri and Mutsumi
Dragonquest Bar in Tokyo
Tokyo Tower

Find Susie a birthday present
Find Mom a present (I know what, just need to find it)

Things to do in Koga w/ visitors
Navel Park
Marumatsu
Coco's/Joyful food
Saty/Ito Yokado
Hyaku-en Plaza

2/19/10
Parent's day today - it means parents are invited to come watch classes after lunch. Ms. M had planned a pretty amazing lesson, and seemed quite agitated when no parents showed. "This is Japan! No…This is Sowa! This is Koga! This is Japan! The parents don't care about education! They are busy! They have jobs! They don't care!" (See, her English is good!) I told her America is pretty much the same. As it turned out, four or five moms showed for the last ten minutes - not the most interesting part of class, by far. Mostly kids taking notes. Some elderly gentlemen came in with the vice-principal for about five minutes, too. I was wondering if they're from the BOE that no longer needs us.

Gosh I'm going to miss these kids! I'm finally starting to recognize them from week to week (not just the crazy ones) and one kid keeps tracking me down it the hallway and making me speak Japanese.

Yay it's Friday! We can go discuss things over a good cup of coffee, or some curry. Tomorrow we're meeting Hiroko in Tokyo, that will be very fun. Sunday we may try to see a movie, despite the fact that they are twenty dollars a person here…