Taking notes... A TON of notes.

Oh man, this week was he rice the whole way through. I was happy to embrace the weekend, only to have it literally rain on my parade.

So far the children are sweet but it takes them a while to learn and ease up to me. The babies especially.

The babies are adorable! They have cute little faces, cute little eyes, chubby little cheeks, adorable little outfits, everyone is adorable!

I think I will have a hard first couple of classes. I just have to know how to manage my time, how to have students speak up, and especially, how to properly lesson plan a class.

So now that talking about work tomorrow, I'll go into my day yesterday!

It was my first day off after working a whole week straight along side my NET trainer, so what I wanted to do was head out and explore the city on my new bike that my NET left me. As cliche as it will sound, I pulled open the blinds that morning and saw cloudy skies and wet roofs. It was raining.

That didn't really deter me from going on and exploring. I took out the bike from the bike rack and departed.

As I was biking I wasn't hit with any serious gusts of wind, or any splashes of water into my face. It wasn't until I traveled close to the school that it was getting ready to pour.

I stopped by a stationary store and bought me some little trinkets to get me through the year, and then walked outside to a downpour. My bike was getting soaked like crazy! And if it wasn't for my waterproof trench coat, I would have been as soaked as my bike.

And let me say for the record, it is hard to bike with one hand while you hold up an umbrella with the other.

I needed groceries as well, so I dropped by the Cibico, all the while not realizing that it was going to get worse as far as raining goes. The rain got a lot worse after I left the grocery store.

Once I arrived, so did my fellow new NET, his name is Fred. It was nice to meet a new arrival, and I hope to have a good working situation as well as a good friendship. God knows I can use a friend.

Yesterday was also my NET's last day in Okazaki, so to celebrate a bunch of amity and aeon NET teachers were going to meet up in the big city of Nagoya. I was excited to see and meet new people, and it was great to be reunited with Mark! We talked about work, our first few days, our apartment, and everything in between. It was great seeing an old face and so much fun to meet new ones!

Chicken wings here are incredible! Not as good as the ones at home, but still in its entirety, they were good enough for me, and I don't even like bone wings or traditional as they like to say.

Saying goodbye made me realize that my NETs kids, were now mine. And I had to figure out how to make it work, as Tim Gunn would say.

I will make it work as smoothly as I can. That was my promise, to care for my NET's kids. :)

First day of school. Accomplished!

Oh man, since I have internet for a while it seems appropriate to actually be blogging and such. And I have a few minutes before my walk to work so I can talk about my time in Okazaki so far.

In such a way that Japan is modern and fresh and new, there are also instances in which Japan is old and keeps to its heritage. I have been placed in the latter of the two.

Okazaki is old, and still holds a ton of old roots to their culture. I have run into more old people that anything else. But they are incredibly adorable! And of course well mannered. I have yet to have anyone give me bad looks. But this could also be due to the Asian face my mother claims I have.

I got off the train station from Okayama where I departed from my friends Deren and Richard, and said goodbye to Naomi and Mark who rode along with me. Each one of us gave each other a big hug with the hopes that after we get used to everything in our area we would meet each other again. Hopefully, Nagoya, but we still worked out anything.

I was greeted by my manager and we walked with my heavy luggage (why did I pack so much!?) towards another train station that would take us into the heart of Okazaki. As we were traveling, I asked Manager (that's what she likes being called) about the apartment.

"I am very sorry, but your apartment is very old," She said.

In all honesty, I was thinking peeling walls, spiderwebs, broken sinks, things like that. But it wasn't the case.

We took the bus, got off and walked in a straight line all the way down to a little apartment complex. White Cloud III. I heard a ruckus upstairs, and I knew that was going to be Ayumi and Alex, the NETS that I would be replacing.

My first impression of them was that they were cheerful people. Ayumi I pictured to be a little bit taller, so you should have seen my surprise when I saw her as a fun size Snicker's bar (kind of like another friend I know).

I walked in and didn't notice much other than that it was spacious! So much leg room to do so much! I didn't care about the old feel to it. I was happy with it's condition (minus a few minor details).

Anywho, they took me out both days, and I ate merrily and happily so there is a happy note of things. I will talk about it later right now I want to get to the point at hand.

My first day of work. Man, it was not as hard as training was that's for sure. I think it's because you are working with children that you need to have a feel of what you will be doing with them. Yesterday, we had to work with one of each classes that I will be teaching on a regular basis, or when Manager changes my schedule. She is already primping me for the new and old moms to observe and see if I do a good job.

One student in particular was so scared of me that he didn't want to do anything at all for activities. He just held the rattle, the abc board, and clutched it. Kind of reminded me of Emilio.

The other students were happy and participating, so I have an idea of how to continue their teaching. I just hope I don't have any babies that cry. I don't think I will be able to handle it.

Yes I can. I survived five munchkins at once, one crying one shouldn't be that tough. :)

Japan week 1?

God, I feel like I can finally breathe.

I have finally completed my training for work. Now comes the real thing: working with actual children!!

Man, I can't believe it's been one whole week and some extra hours. I completely forgot that we landed here in Japan last Saturday at 3.

I didn't even notice that during time I was already in Japan for a week. It was that intense of a training week.

I feel as though I don't have enough time anymore because lesson plans will kill my downtime. Not only that, but also the fact that I lack the Internet connection. I am lucky to just have the wifi on my phone let alone my computer.











Overall, this training week has been exhausting but in a good way. And the dinner was delicious too. Hopefully I can upload them.


Here is some of them. My training group as well as my fellow NET trainers!

I am too tired to continue with my day. It's one in the morning over here. Not just that, I doubt you wanna hear about my awesome color coded lesson plans that will be the rest of my life.

Sleep. Sleep. Zzzzzz

Japan Day Two

The second day was a day of exploring. That sums up the feelings of yesterday along with the enjoyment and pleasure of another's company. I had the company of two awesome guys. And today, hopefully, it will be with the other two to complete our little group and bond together instead just three musketeers.

The adventure for me began when I was awake at almost six in the morning. I am either still getting accustomed to the whole time difference OR I really am a morning person.

I do have to recall that I was awake at 3 in the morning, so that was a nice pick me up. I was hoping this wouldn't be the case today since I was on my feet 24/7, but I still ended up waking up hella early, and I still woke up in the middle of the night. I think this morning it was like 3:50 am.

Anywhoser, where was I? Oh yeah.

So six in the morning greets me in the face and I am happy (?) that I was startled to awake with the sun hitting me in the face. I think today I am detaching curtains and pulling them over the balcony door. Light wakes me up so easily.

I decide to stay in bed because I still want to adjust to the difference of time. The essences of being in Asia: when it is morning here it is afternoon back home.

I eventually get up at 7 or 730 and hop in the shower, lather myself from head to toe and scrub. I get out and realize I have no hair dryer. So my hair had to dry au natural. I apply my face on and storm out to venture and find some hot coffee at 8 ish. What was funny was at the first convenience store I was at actually had hot coffee but I was merely looking in the wrong direction, so yeah. I ended up going somewhere else and found this coffee called BOSS which is pretty fucking BOSS. They have the right to be called that. I bring the coffee back home and start journaling in my mac rather than in my paper journal. I just feel that it will be a smoother transition if I just type everything up about my experiences in Japan to put in my blog this way rather than look at what I wrote. Maybe that journal will be reserved for a more personal experience, like when I am weeping away with the pain that I have no friends in this country.

After that, my roommate Naomi is all ready to hit up her mormon church, and we don't see her for the rest of the day. Mark, Deren and I decide to go explore for the day and invite Richard, but he is nowhere to be seen. Our first destination: the market.

I would have thought people were kidding when they said that their fruits were expensive. They weren't. Fruit is hella expensive here. Vegetables, kind of more or less the same.

Deren ended up buying some onigiri which is like a rice ball packaged in seaweed and ate that for breakfast while Mark and I were craving udon noodles that looked divine in plastic. I could only imagine what they looked like in real life. The picture should speak for itself. The broth, noodles, the ebi fry (which is shrimp in Japanese), everything about it screamed authentic and delicatessen. Delectable, not firm at all type of noodles, slurping in delicious sips to emphasize just how glorious it is streaming down your gullet with glee. The shrimp dipped in the broth to moisten the tempura batter encasing it, intermingling with the soup and noodles in a slow dance and I break up and speed up with the tempo of my chopsticks. Adding green onion, chili powder, sesame seeds, soy sauce to give it a flavor I can stomach that reminds me of home. Reminds me of Mexican dishes that is drenched in chili powder or flavor. I got so full I don't even remember finishing the broth. A very good 900 yen well spent.

After the enjoyment of a meal and company, we walked out to a train festival. I never seen so many little ones running around with their parents trailing behind, getting in line to ride a little train ride. Facing a bit of humiliation for one child's enjoyment is the ultimate sacrifice. Music was trailing through the festival, and we continued our adventures for the day. Next stop an electronics store.

The three of us hit the electronics BIC CAMERA, which had everything electric and not under the sun. There was a slew of video games, for the children. And toys in the other direction. I saw a power rangers figure and instantly became nostalgic of Dino, and luckily, there was wifi in the building so I managed to send him a picture of it and to tell him that I missed him. I was also able to update my Facebook and hook up my sister's with my whereabouts and that I had survived the second day so far. But the day was just beginning so that was sheer dumb luck I'm afraid. Going downstairs from wasting so much time on the internet, we stumbled upon the home goods section. Japanese people have a strange fetish with their faces. But I guess that is why their skin is as pretty as it is. We tried out some massage chairs in the back and I didn't necessarily enjoy the massage, but I did, if that makes any sense. If it doesn't, let me just say I was indifferent towards it. Happy I got it, eh if I didn't get it.

We walked so much. I don't know how much but we did. It was well over a mile. And if that's how its gonna be all the time, I might just lose the weight after all, unless the food is really good and I don't want to stop eating. Then I might not lose the weight after all. Which I am okay with. 

We found the garden after crossing a bridge and noticed that there was a food festival going on. Mark, Deren and I were bummed because if we would have known that there was a food festival we would have just eaten there instead of going to the udon place. Not that I regret the udon, but the food there was cheaper. Hella cheaper.

After checking out the spread of plenty, we sat down to watch some old ladies dance for us. A nice old young man began to talk to us in English.

“Where are you from?” He asked.

Deren pointed to us and said, “America.” I pointed to Mark and said, “Canada.” I don't want him to think that Americans will be selfish and plot us all together. The hoser must be identified!

We asked him about the festival, he asked us about our mission here, our jobs.

“We are going to teach English,” we said. Not in unison. We complimented him on his english, because he did speak it very well. We watched as the old ladies danced and paraded, the announcer waving his flag. Some were energetic, others looked bored, none looked confused. One thing I did notice was that there were no young ones in the group. They were all pretty old.

Once the festival was done, we paid our 400 yen to walk into the garden. There were a few flowers here and there, but what we really saw was grass everywhere. We sat down in it and I felt the grass: cushions well, didn't feel itchy in the least bit. Enjoyable to be sitting in grass that felt different from any other grass I have ever felt. After sitting we walked around some more, found a pond full of koi fish, fat ones, colorful ones, ones that looked like they had been there forever and young ones that looked as though they were born there. Oh, and spiders, lots and lots of big ass spiders. Rosie would not like it here for that reason alone.

After we were done touring the garden we stumbled into the Okayama Castle. It was beautiful, stone steps leading up to it, a rock hopping garden, but it cost to go inside it, so we just admired from afar type of thing. We stayed looking at it, and then walked to the rock hopping garden and posed for pictures, took a video, laughed at each other's antics. Seriously, I love hanging out with these guys. So much fun.

After that we stumbled into an anti nukes peace rally. Hippies. I never thought I would have seen hippies in Japan. And yet there they were. I thought it was funny that they had signs in English like Fuck Government. I kept thinking in my head, 'They probably don't know what that means.'

We walked into an imitation English/British square while we were looking for an information center, we were on a mission to find the arcade to play the table flipping game. Here, an arcade is called a game center. And they have gambling places called pachinko, but we didn't go in, much less gambled. I didn't have the best of luck in Vegas, I doubt here will be any different.

After the adventure there, which wasn't much to recall or recount because it was nothing but walking (I do have to add that the anti nuke peace rally was walking up and down it with pots, pans, hippies, peace signs, and other such cool people), we called it quits and went back home. We found out that there was a game center by where we are at, found no game flipping table, went to McDonalds in search of wifi with no such luck but we did find a nice japanese girl who told us of said game center who spoke English just as good as the old man from the garden, and then went back home to the annex. We found Naomi alive and well, back from her church group and getting ready to soak in a bath. Mark, Deren and I were jumping towards the wifi zone where mamakari gives us such wifi powers and reconnected with the world we have left behind.

Then soon after we got hungry, sat down relaxed watching mean girls from my mac, then went in search of curry but found a japanese conveyor belt instead and had that. Now I am eating a bowl of ramen for breakfast that I bought last night before changing into pajama bottoms and bidding good night to my fellow brethren who are embarking on this journey with me.

Ramen here I come. :)

Japan Day One

I am happy to report that the first day in Japan was not as bad as I had imagined. I pictured myself lost in the vast valleys of squinted eyes and yellow skin, with signs shouting at me in a language I have yet mastered. But in all honesty, not so much so.

The plane ride was more unbearable. But I will get to that in a second.

The morning of departure my mother was telling me to be safe and not do anything she wouldn't do. Not to trust anyone and so on and so on. In other words, the language of look out for yourself because she will no longer be able to. And it is understandable, she is a mother she has feelings and she wants nothing but her child's safety. I gave her my promise that I would act accordingly, and not do anything she wouldn't do. But therein lies a dilemma. I am not her, and she is not me. I am my mother's daughter, but I am not a mother. Do you see the flaw in that careless statement? I mean, I have been doing things that she wouldn't do, and garnered knowledge from those mistakes. I guess it just takes a life to know a life and hope for the best in things.

All the way down the long corridor I was still crying. I even the dramatic turn my back to look to see if my mother was still looking at me departing from her arms and I would rush back to her and stuff like in the movies. She wasn't so I continued.

I passed TSA without a hitch and boarded the plane for San Fran. Got there in less than an hour. Unpredictable only towards the end of the plane ride when there was an object in our way and stuff. So that was fun waiting in the plane for like an hour. Give or take.

My last meal from America was breakfast a lá Burger King style, with some tasty fries and a disgusting tea. Raspberry iced tea my ass.

The second plane ride was a total of almost 11 hours. That was the longest plane ride of my life. Granted I have only been on 2 plane rides before but hey shut up.

The good thing is that we had tv shows, and movies, and other cool stuff. You could even play games if we wanted to. I didn't want to.

I crashed in 21 Jump Street (again) Brave (not really as good as I would have thought), The Italian Job (again), Stand by Me (a movie that I was wanting to watch for a while) and TV shows Family Guy, New Girl, and HIMYM. From the haziness that is my memory I think that was it. If there is more I will try to include it as I continue with the entry.

I met my fellow NET Mark on the plane ride over, but he was further behind me so we didn't have a chance to talk. Oh, and a plus, I had the economy plus (see what I did there?) seat that provided a pillow and blanket. I was like yes!

I also tried sleeping on the plane, so I accomplished that somewhat, and went to pee twice, once in each bathroom beside me which was unintentional.

The plane food was adequate, but I lost my brownie from the first meal. I had chicken and rice with a side salad for the first meal (where the damn brownie got lost. I swear I should have lost the tissues and spared that poor brownie). For the second meal we had noodles with dim sum which again adequate. There was nothing bad about the plane food, I don't know why people complain. Shit, food is food. You want something gourmet go to the fucking restaurant that is hidden somewhere in the airplane.

Getting off and going through customs was again no big deal. Everything went off without a hitch and picking up luggage was no big thing either. The problem was that my fellow NET Mark Meihm (I should ask him how to pronounce his last name) got his luggage lost. Only one so he still had something to work with for training.

We walked out together to get greet by Alex, Stephanie and the rest of our group. I was happy to know that I was not the only girl. Too much testosterone would have been problematic for only one girl like me to handle. She is my roommate for the time we have for training. We are only five in total. Mark, me, Naomi, Darren, and Richard.

Any whoser, after two train rides, heavy lifting thanks to my dumbass for packing heavily when I just needed one bag, we got settled in and shown around our rooms for the week and started to unpack so things could get unwrinkled. Something exploded in my suitcase and got some things wet but nothing was soaked so for that I am grateful. I am assuming what exploded and until I get my scent back (did I mention I was fighting a cough? No? Well I am fighting a fucking sore throat, coughing and sniffles) was my cleanser and make up remover, but innocent until proven guilty.

Afterwards, we walked around to look for something to eat and went to a restaurant that had really decent food. In all honesty, the noodles were my favorite. The shiskabob meat was good and the japanese pancake was also pretty good, but the noodles were out of this world. I am hoping to try some curry next. Maybe for lunch with the guys.

So after that, we were just walking around some more. We found a Karaoke bar (damn you sore throat!) and were told that we couldn't walk through somewhere because it was an exit so weird number two. That's how they could tell we were foreigners. And that's how I felt really bad that I was a foreigner.

I was able to get in contact with Nancy and not so much so with Edith, but I was happy to know that I could give them a heads up about my situation. I am alive and well, I do miss them. But I am excited to be in Japan.

It's my second day, and after waking up at 3 in the morning today it still feels very surreal. Like I am still asleep or something. And then I pinch myself and realize, no I am not. I am actually in the place that I have dreamed of going to since I was a little girl. And I know that I still miss everyone, I am just happy to be here. And can't wait to get on with the day and take my camera, my non working phone, and money wallet with a passport.

Everything feels surreal. And I can't wait for it to sink into me more, so I can learn more from them.

I will let you know how day 2 goes after day 2 is over and done with.

Holy Crap I am in Japan...

It all seemed like days ago, well weeks ago when I was looking for clothes like suits and such to get everything ready and hop a plane ride over. Now I am closing in on the third day here. If anything, I am going to post what I have already written about my first two days here, and then add on as I continue typing until I don't know what to write about.

I doubt the latter will happen because this is Japan. How often can I be willing to say that I am working in Japan? How often will I be working my butt off to get somewhere I have always wanted since I was a little girl?

The emotions are going to run through me if I continue talking about it. So instead, I will just post up what I have written up until now. :)