Time Enough
 

I am writing tonight just because I have to tell this strange thing that happened to me the other day.  Just this past Wednesday, I woke up at about 6:00 in the morning. Still half asleep, my hand grazed my stomach, and I noticed that the end to my bellybutton ring was missing.  This woke me up a little, and I decided that I needed to get up and find it right away so that the whole piercing didn't fall out and get lost.  I was just laying on my back, so I just swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up.  WHUMP!  The next thing I know, I am on the floor, my legs sprawled out underneath me.  I just sat there for a moment or two, not sure what had happened and not sure if I had broken something.  Luckily I wasn't hurt at all, and I slowly realized that my right leg was completely asleep.  While in this position on the floor, I found the end to my piercing and quickly fastened it into place.  I carefully crawled back into bed and was asleep before the first painful tingles of a waking limb began to creep into my sleepyhead-leg.

 

I haven't written in a while, but it's for a good reason.  I have been working a lot, exploring Japan a little, and sleeping even less.  But the good news is I am having a good time, enjoying my students and learning some Japanese.  And I don't have swine flu!  (Although one of my co-workers students did  claim to have SARS...)

I could catch you up on the past few weeks, but I think I will just give you a brief overview:  I worked, I went to a few Japanese baths, and I ate a lot of good (and interesting) food.  I also learned that if I ever get lonely, I can check out the local 'cat cafe' where I can pay a small fee for a few hours of feline companionship.  I  have also discovered that I love Japanese television.  They are so enthusiastic!  I have never seen anyone bite into a rice cake with such genuine pleasure...  And this is a TV show, not a commercial!  It's really addtive too- I could watch it for hours without blinking!  It's as mindnumbingly overstimulating as music videos... I love it!

It's funny the  things you suddeny need/don't need when living in a new place.  For instance, I never in a million years thought I could survive without a toaster or an oven of any kind.  But I also find myself buying things I never owned in the US.  The  other day, for instance, I bought a small towel to put in my purse.  I've never, ever carried a towel in my purse, but here it's a pretty common item.  And the funniest part is I have no idea why I bought it,  but I have to admit it has come in handy more often than I expected.  

This past weekend I finally got to sing kareoke in a real kareoke place!  It was a life changing experience, and I want to go again as soon as possible... actually I think I am going again this weekend.  I opened with my usual: You may be right (Billy Joel).  Then I sang: The girl from Impanima (the female solo), La tortura (Shakira featuring my other boyfriend), Gasolina (Daddy Yankey), Top of the world (Carpenters), 99 Luftballons (German version, just for kicks!) and some others... I forget them all!  So fun!  Before that, I had my picture taken in one of those picture booths where you can draw all over the picture and make it really gaudy and ridiculous looking!  It's such a Japanese thing to do, and I also thoroughly enjoyed myself and carry the pictures around in my wallet to look at whenever I am feeling down!  I wish I could scan them and upload them to this blog so that everyone could see them! 

Well, I am feeling tired and want to upload some pictures for you, so I am going to stop writing for now.  Just two more days before the weekend... I can't wait!

 

Serious question:  Am I Anne Hathaway?  I had never asked myself that question, until my first day of class in Japan, which was this past Thursday.  My lesson plan involved going over basic introductions (ie. My name is Bob.  Nice to meet you.  Are you a student?)  and we also practiced asking some simple yes/no questions.  Yes/No questions, as opposed to your wh- questions (who,what,when,why,where, and that rebel, how), will always result in either a yes or no answer. (ie. Are you a student? No.  Do you like reading this blog? Yes.)  So at the end of class, I had students work in pairs to come up with some yes/no questions to ask me.  The first question was almost always "do you like Japanese food?"  ("yes. I love it.  When I leave Japan I will be very fat." I would answer.)  Some brave students would ask "Do you have a boyfriend ("That's private.... but yes.")  And one clever student asked "Are you hungry?"  ("Yes, especially after the first question.")  But then one student asked, "Are you Anne Hathaway?"  Hmmm, good question. I don't know if he was just being funny, or if I just looked indistinctly Western enough for him to think we look alike.  I guess we also have to consider the possibility that I am in fact Anne Hathaway.  But then that brings up another question.  Which Anne Hathaway was he talking about?  The American actress, forever remembered for her powerful performance in Princess Diaries, or Shakespeare's wife, forever remembered for being in a loveless marriage to the bard.  I think given the option, I would just stick with being me.

Well, all things aside, the first two days of teaching have been exhausting and really intense.  I am pretty much gone from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.  I teach the same lesson about 7 times a day, with breaks for prep, lunch and the occasional "teacher meeting" which is really just an extra prep.  The other teachers are I teach with (two Americans, one Brit) are great, and so far we have worked pretty well as a team, making sure no one sleeps in or goes crazy.  The campus is beautiful.  It's in a residential area, so it's rather quiet, but still only a few minutes walk from the train station so it's very convenient.  Wow, that last sentence just reminded me of my Japanese lesson today, where we described where we lived, using the words for quiet "shizuka" and convenient "benri".  When you learn a new language, you also, half-conciously acquire cultural values and perspectives.  It is really striking as a beginner, because the first words you learn in one language are often different than the first words in another.  It's really no surprise that I learned how to describe "quiet" and "convenient" places because there is such a difference between quiet and busy neighborhoods and conveinent and inconveinent locations in Tokyo.  It's just important here.

It's getting late, and I need to pay school loans, get something to eat and go to bed.  Tomorrow is Sunday so I have the day off, but I will need to do some lesson planning and cleaning!  I have only been here a week but there are already hair tumbleweeds rolling around the hallway.  It's disgusting!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.  Love and miss you!

ps.  Sorry I haven't posted more pictures.  I will try to do that soon, so stay posted!

 

Hello Everyone! 

I received a request from my Mom today to update my blog, so this one is for her!  Really, I am glad she did.  It was just the kick in the pants I needed to get back to writing.  I haven't written in a few days, so let me get you caught up.  I will also try to tack on some photos, so you can see my tiny but amazing apartment! 

So, Sunday and Monday I had orientation.  I had to take a train (along with 9 other teachers) about an hour and a half to Kudanshita in Tokyo.  Orientation was long, and really not so exciting, but I did finally found out what level I would be teaching (Basic, which is like mid-beginner), how many students I would have (over 60!), how many students I would have in each class (between 4 and 12) and how many classes I would teach a day (a whopping 7!) .  It sounds like a busy schedule, and at first I felt TOTALLY overwhelmed.  The think every teacher in the room was feeling a kind of panic, or at least the new ones.  The good news is, I will only need one lesson plan per day (yes, I teach the SAME lesson SEVEN times a day...).  The bad news is my schedule goes until 6:40 pm every day, so I can't make the free, weekday Japanese classes at the community center.  I can still make the weekend classes, but I was really hoping to get more than that.  I am still looking though.  And who knows... maybe at the end of the school day I will be too exhausted to take a class.  Or maybe I will just want to go to the beach!  I did talk to a friend of Koichi's, who said she could tutor me, although that will also be on the weekend.  Oh well, if all else fails I can just study on my own and take an ikibana class instead! 

On Sunday night, after orientation, I met up with one of Koichi's friends in Tokyo, but about an hour away from Kundanshita and an hour away from my house!  (Japan, like facebook, is vast!)  We had some drinks and I met some of her friends and colleagues, who were mostly older women.  They knew I was Koichi's girlfriend, and so kept saying I was "Kawaii", cute, and asked me a lot of questions.  Since I was a pesca-vegetarian, they ordered pretty much every fish item on the menu for me.  I have never eaten so much seafood!  The octopus was pretty good though.  It was in a really tasty sauce, but it was so chewy i thought I would never be able to swallow it!  After about half a drink (plum wine and soda water.... yum!) the exhaustion started to set in, and I could barely keep up with the conversation.  We chatted for a while and then I headed back home.  A few of the women escorted me halfway home, which was so sweet, especially because it was in the opposite direction of where they needed to go.

Tuesday and Wednesday (today), I have had time off.  It has been rainy and a little cold, so I have stayed in mostly.  I did some grocery shopping and got some household goods at the hundred yen shop (like a dollar tree).  I have really enjoyed "nesting".  I had to be creative because we are not allowed to hang anything on our walls.  And my apartment is brand new, so even the tiniest pinhole would look like cannon ball had gone through the wall on casual inspection.  So, I clipped some pictures to my curtains using paperclips, and got a ton of magnets and covered my fridge in pictures as well.  I got a small pillow to throw on my bed or in case I want to sit on the floor,  I think those little things have made a pretty big difference, so it's really starting to feel more like home.  I guess this is a good point to add some pictures, so here goes:


Welcome to my apartment!  This is the view from the front door.  To your left you see two doors.  The first one leads to the washing machine and the bathroom.  The farther one leads to the toilet.  Come on in, but be sure to take off your shoes and leave them in the special shoe cabinet to your left (not shown).


As you enter the first door to your left, you will find yourself in this room, which is a combination laundry room/bathroom.  To the right is another door (not shown) which leads to the actual shower/bathtub. 


And this is the shower/bathroom.  In Japan, it is customary to wash before entering the tub, which is used just for soaking.  That is why you will see the shower does not point in to the tub.  This whole room is like my shower really!  Then when I am done, I sit in the deep tub, and relax in 44 degree water (Celsius, of course!).  I just bought some cherry blossom bath salts and am really eager to try them out!


Here is the most amazing toilet you will ever sit on.  Notice the buttons to the left. This controls the pressure and temperature of the bidet as well as the heated seat.  Notice also the "sink" on top, which is actually part of the toilet and uses the drain water to flush the toilet.  AMAZING!


This is the main living room.  It functions as bedroom, living room, office and kitchen.  The balcony is beyond the curtains.  Notice my pictures hanging from them!


This is where I am sitting right now!  Hi Mom!


This is the view from the balcony.  Notice that the kitchenette is conveniently located next to the bed, perfect for those mornings when you are hungry but just don't want to get out of bed.


My fridge, which also functions as a mantel, displaying my photos of friends and family.  Notice the indispensable rice cooker and the water heater.  No toaster.  :-(


My closets.  I am proud of them because it took a lot of organizing to find a place for everything.  Notice the discreet blue and pink boxes.  I love them!


Step out on to the balcony to get some fresh air, or to make a phone call, since my cell phone doesn't get reception inside!  As you can see, it's not the best view, but it is very private.


Well, that was my tiny apartment.  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Thanks for stopping by!  Come back again soon!  :-)


 

I am writing this, my second blog, from my tiny apartment in Atsugi City, Japan.  It's a one room apartment, and I mean one room!  I could cook from my bed and do laundry from my bathtub!  But I love it.  It's brand new, very clean and ultra-modern.  Everything talks to me.... even the toilet!  I have never enjoyed using the toilet as much as I have these past few days in Japan.  The seat is heated, it sprays warm water to clean you when you're done, and has a special, water-saving spout where I think I am supposed to wash my hands.  I haven't actually done it yet, first of all because I don't have soap yet, and second of all because washing my hands in toilet water kind of freaks me out.  I'm sure it's clean, but it's still coming out of the toilet.  And that freaks me out.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me back up a little.  My last few days in Pittsburgh were wonderful, except for head, throat and body aches  (this is a long running family joke.  If you didn't laugh,don't worry, that probably means you are normal.)  I caught a bad bug a few days before I was supposed to leave, that wiped out my voice for a day.  It was great, people would call to say good-bye to Alaina and talk to Kermit the Frog instead!  So, I had to cancel my plans for the last two days and just take it easy, drink lots of AirBourne, swab the Zicam (a miracle drug) and try to sleep a little so that I would be ready to fly on the 29th.  It was no longer even a matter of comfort.  News was speading of 10-day long quarantines for travelers suspected of carrying the dreaded swine virus into Japan, a country without any incident of the epidemic as of yet.  And although I had one of the symptoms, I feared that panic would make health officials a little too "quarantine happy" and that I would end up spending my first 10 days in a sealed room.  I wonder if the toilet seats are heated in quarantine...

Needless to say, I made it through the grueling quarantine inspection at Narita Airport, and it only cost me an addition hour and a half of waiting on the plane.  Might I remind you that I had already been in seat 43A for over 13 hours!  The health officials, dressed in gauze from head to toe, worked their way down the aisles with infrared cameras, checking for feverish passengers, and then took a few suspicious individuals temperatures with a digital thermometer.  We all had to fill out a health questionnaire, and sign that it was true by penalty of law.  10 days in a Japanese prison sounded a lot worse that 10 days in some quarantined hotel in Tokyo, so I mentioned that I had been taking a cold remedy.  When I handed it to the official, he looked at me twice, set my paper aside and walked away.  I kept expecting him to come back to ask more questions, but he never did.

Finally, we were let off the plane and for the first time, I set foot in Japan.  But I think I will save that story for another day.  I did want to add the first picture I took in Japan, on the train home from the airport.  Enjoy!

Miss you all, and hope to hear from you soon!