life as it is and some ramblings
School today has been rather unproductive..well teaching-wise at least. Because of tests, I have had only one class in the last two days. During my time in the office, I instead did a bit of lesson planning, changed my English board, read a lot of news, and have studied Japanese. Maybe I also should have devoted some time to writing emails to people.
Yes, I am very bad at writing updates or emailing lately- because they involve typing on either the Japanese keyboard at work (which is a pain to remember the differences of, few though they are) or on my laptop at home. My laptop is good and all but the keyboard is still new to me- smaller than normal and my fingers hit the caps lock key instead of the A button far too often. Did I mention I got a new computer in January? Well, I did thanks to my computer dying in December as I last reported. It is a Mac- yes I switched over to the dark side- or perhaps it's the light side from many a point of view. Anyway, it's done. It's nice and new and does what I need though I still get confused on some basic functions occasionally thanks to my former Windows association.
In the last few months, a lot has happened. I went on my winter break trip- it was really interesting and fun for the most part. Two friends and I went to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in that order. I'm really glad I went though I was sometimes frustrated with one of my companion's penchant for complaining. But it was all well and good. I loved the beaches in Thailand, The Bayon and Angkor Wat in Cambodia are pretty much the most amazing places I've ever seen (and I wanna go back), and Sapa, Vietnam was the most beautiful, mountainous place full of villages. The big cities in all the places, on the other hand, aren't so spectacular but worth seeing nevertheless. We went to the north of Vietnam- Sapa and Hanoi- and it was the one cold stop on my trip. I had to buy a coat. :( But it was totally worth it. The countryside is beautiful and the food and *shock* even the coffee in Vietnam is really nice. I don't normally drink coffee...
I definitely saw dog meat in a market place in Vietnam though and it was rather disturbing. But that and food in Japan has really gotten me thinking about what we eat and what we see as normal to eat or not. I'm not into eating fish heads or pig's feet- have tried the first even- or bugs but I can respect that other people and other culture's do. I don't really mind so much as long as it isn't detrimental to the environment or general populations of the animals being eaten (*ahem* whales ). I just choose not to eat it. Though I accidentally ate whale meat without meaning to or wanting to thanks to school lunch here. Whatever you do, if you are opposed to eating something based on a conviction, ASK what you're eating...at least twice just in case.
But don't refuse to eat something just cause it's scary. So far in Japan I've eaten sea anemone (not a good choice), a WHOLE fish (not good, not bad), and cow's tongue (extremely yummy)- none of which I would have tried in the US, but I'm glad I did. being out here can be a little mundane- going to work everyday and such is just normal life- but it's the trips, the foods I try, and the friends I make that keep life interesting and exciting when I start to feel frustrated with being here.
And I am definitely frustrated occasionally. There are times when I really feel like the local people want to treat me like a Japanese person or like a foreigner, depending on when it's convenient for them. There are times when the government frustrates me so much with its occasional subtle and overt displays of racism, sexism, and somewhat extreme nationalism. There are times when I get frustrated with the weather (it's extremely cold here and rainy/snowy too). But in the end I like Japan a lot. It's where I wanna be for now. My life is here and I have many good friends. Still, sometimes I wanna go back to the US to get some GOOD American-Mexican food (cause let's face it, it's not authentic Mexican food) and see my family and friends and watch good American tv (cause Japanese tv is sorely lacking for the most part, though I do like some drams....).
Ok ok, that's the end of that rambling...let me finish what I was saying about what has happened really quickly. After winter break, we went full speed ahead into the musical and it miraculously came together and turned out well. It was difficult and frustrating at times but overall I had a good exrpience with it. :) Not sure I'll do it again next year though haha. And, yes I will be here again next year, though it will definitely be my last year as a JET. Went to the local deaf school's school festival which was a blast, and went skiing for the first time in Japan at a local mountain. I stink at skiing still, unfortunately. But it was worth it. This next month I will go to a sumo tournament for the first time. I'm pretty excited. And at the end of the month I will be taking a trip to Malaysia with the boyfriend for spring break. It's sure to be fun and exciting! I can't wait. That's my life at the moment in a (not very small) nutshell.
Yes, I am very bad at writing updates or emailing lately- because they involve typing on either the Japanese keyboard at work (which is a pain to remember the differences of, few though they are) or on my laptop at home. My laptop is good and all but the keyboard is still new to me- smaller than normal and my fingers hit the caps lock key instead of the A button far too often. Did I mention I got a new computer in January? Well, I did thanks to my computer dying in December as I last reported. It is a Mac- yes I switched over to the dark side- or perhaps it's the light side from many a point of view. Anyway, it's done. It's nice and new and does what I need though I still get confused on some basic functions occasionally thanks to my former Windows association.
In the last few months, a lot has happened. I went on my winter break trip- it was really interesting and fun for the most part. Two friends and I went to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in that order. I'm really glad I went though I was sometimes frustrated with one of my companion's penchant for complaining. But it was all well and good. I loved the beaches in Thailand, The Bayon and Angkor Wat in Cambodia are pretty much the most amazing places I've ever seen (and I wanna go back), and Sapa, Vietnam was the most beautiful, mountainous place full of villages. The big cities in all the places, on the other hand, aren't so spectacular but worth seeing nevertheless. We went to the north of Vietnam- Sapa and Hanoi- and it was the one cold stop on my trip. I had to buy a coat. :( But it was totally worth it. The countryside is beautiful and the food and *shock* even the coffee in Vietnam is really nice. I don't normally drink coffee...
I definitely saw dog meat in a market place in Vietnam though and it was rather disturbing. But that and food in Japan has really gotten me thinking about what we eat and what we see as normal to eat or not. I'm not into eating fish heads or pig's feet- have tried the first even- or bugs but I can respect that other people and other culture's do. I don't really mind so much as long as it isn't detrimental to the environment or general populations of the animals being eaten (*ahem* whales ). I just choose not to eat it. Though I accidentally ate whale meat without meaning to or wanting to thanks to school lunch here. Whatever you do, if you are opposed to eating something based on a conviction, ASK what you're eating...at least twice just in case.
But don't refuse to eat something just cause it's scary. So far in Japan I've eaten sea anemone (not a good choice), a WHOLE fish (not good, not bad), and cow's tongue (extremely yummy)- none of which I would have tried in the US, but I'm glad I did. being out here can be a little mundane- going to work everyday and such is just normal life- but it's the trips, the foods I try, and the friends I make that keep life interesting and exciting when I start to feel frustrated with being here.
And I am definitely frustrated occasionally. There are times when I really feel like the local people want to treat me like a Japanese person or like a foreigner, depending on when it's convenient for them. There are times when the government frustrates me so much with its occasional subtle and overt displays of racism, sexism, and somewhat extreme nationalism. There are times when I get frustrated with the weather (it's extremely cold here and rainy/snowy too). But in the end I like Japan a lot. It's where I wanna be for now. My life is here and I have many good friends. Still, sometimes I wanna go back to the US to get some GOOD American-Mexican food (cause let's face it, it's not authentic Mexican food) and see my family and friends and watch good American tv (cause Japanese tv is sorely lacking for the most part, though I do like some drams....).
Ok ok, that's the end of that rambling...let me finish what I was saying about what has happened really quickly. After winter break, we went full speed ahead into the musical and it miraculously came together and turned out well. It was difficult and frustrating at times but overall I had a good exrpience with it. :) Not sure I'll do it again next year though haha. And, yes I will be here again next year, though it will definitely be my last year as a JET. Went to the local deaf school's school festival which was a blast, and went skiing for the first time in Japan at a local mountain. I stink at skiing still, unfortunately. But it was worth it. This next month I will go to a sumo tournament for the first time. I'm pretty excited. And at the end of the month I will be taking a trip to Malaysia with the boyfriend for spring break. It's sure to be fun and exciting! I can't wait. That's my life at the moment in a (not very small) nutshell.