LONG Post
Monday, April 27th
Today was the first day at my new school. It is WAY smaller than Kurodahara. At Kurodahara, there are the 3 grades (1,2,3) and 4 classes in each grade. At Takaku, there is one class for each grade and only one English teacher. The teacher's room is smaller and there are more teachers my age. So I did my introductions to 2 of the classes and ate lunch with the 2nd graders. Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful, the teachers came over to talk to me while I was studying for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). Then, they showed me where I could have a locker for my stuff (random) and then I asked where the bathroom was. They showed me, and there are NO WESTERN STYLE TOILETS. SHOOT!!!! So that means I get to hold my bladder for 8 hours. not good! So the day ended and I returned home.
Tuesday, April 28th and Wednesday April 29th
Today was interesting. So, I only had one class to go to today and then ate with the 3rd graders. I was surrounded by male students and they kept talking with me and it was cute. It's been a challenge though, because at this school, they serve me lunch in the teacher's room and the students take me up to their classroom. The only problem is that in the teacher's room there is more food, so I get served more food than the students. Which would be fine, but between the extremely limited time to eat and them talking with me, I barely can finish it all, and it's considered rude not to finish everything, especially from a teacher. So it's been a struggle to finish my meal AND not go to the bathroom. Well, after lunch, I just /couldn't/ hold it any longer. So I made my way to the bathroom and decided to disrobe from the waist down. Let me tell you, not as easy as it might sound! So after banging around, strategically placing my pants over my shoulders and realizing that there was no toilet paper in the holder, but in a plastic bag above my squatting head, that really, after 10 minutes, I was surprised no one heard the banging around and came to check LOL. So classes ended and on my way home, I noticed that at the entrance to the school, there is a farm. A very small farm. WITH A BULL in a stall! Seriously! That close to an elementary/junior high?! So yea, on my way home I hit a bird :(
So I got an invite to go out to Utsunomiya for karaoke and bar hopping, and I got to the station around 8pm. I waited about a half hour before people started to show up. We all gathered, about 10 of us and headed to the bar. We get to the bar, not to drink, but to pick up another couple people. Here's where the night gets weird. So, one of people we picked up was a Japanese girl, and so we were all deciding to get some drinks and take them into karaoke. We start walking into the convenience store and she pips up and says "We should buy the drinks at the supermarket, it's cheaper." So we agree and start to follow her. And we walk. And walk. And walk. And walk. It was a seriously epic walk for like AN HOUR. We were so pissed off, and by then the last trains had left and we had no choice but to continue. Finally, we come to HER APARTMENT where she wanted to DROP OFF HER BIKE. I can't even express how livid I was. So then we walked another 15 minutes to the supermarket and bought beer. Then we went to the karaoke place, come to find out that there is AN HOUR WAIT for a room. So we pounded some drinks and the Japanese girl (who felt really bad for making us feel bad...so Japanese) invited us back to her place to wait. So we walked 15 minutes back to her place waited 30 and walked back. So, finally, after like 3 hours we were in the karaoke booth! We reserved it for another 3 hours and had some good karaoke times. So, we finished around 2am and some people decided to go home because they lived close and a handful of us decided to go back to the station area and wait for the first train home. We took a taxi back (no WAY we were walking back!) and then started to look for an izakaya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya) to chill in til it was time to go home. Well, we came across a HUGE cluster of tiny izakayas that were all full. So we wandered around trying to find one that had seats for five. We stopped to regroup (because decisions are hard when everyone involved is inebriated) and this Japanese girl was passing us with a huge strip of meat in her hand. We all were salivating and for some reason, maybe someone in the group said something to her, but she turned around and gave us the piece of meat! It was amusing to see five foreigners passing around a piece of beef and nibbling on it like vultures. So we finally went into a Yakitori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitori) restaurant around 3am. But it turned out that he was trying to close, so we ate quickly and left around 3:30am. Then we found another izakaya really close to the station and ate a little there. Finally, the first train came and we got on. I passed out on the train and honestly have no idea how I woke up at my station (luckily it is the last stop on the line) and so I slept until around noon because today was a holiday from work. Then I just spent the day doing some laundry and recovering :)
Thursday, April 30th
Today was an uneventful day at school, not much to report!
Friday, May 1st
So today was a physical test day at school. The students had one class, and then had to report to the field to start their testing. They all did warm up exercises together and then split off to the gym and field. In the gym they had to do sit ups, jumping, hand grip testing, flexibility testing and some sort of agility testing that I can't even explain what it was like. On the field they had to throw a ball and record the distance and do some sprinting. I have no idea why they were doing it, it was like the first day of any gym class where they test your beginning stats. So that took up until lunch, and after lunch there was a PA meeting, so they let me go early! So I decided that it would be a good day to go get my alien registration card. So I start driving towards Kurodahara, and when I get near the school, I realize that I am going to the Board of Education building and that I have NO IDEA where the building was that I went to register for it! So I start driving back-somewhere-feeling silly, so I stop at a convenience store to see if they have a pay phone. They don't, but I remember that most train stations do, so I went over to the very small Takaku train station. I got out of the car and brought a couple hundred yen and called Joytalk. After explaining to them like three times that I got out of school early and wanted to get my ARC, I finally got on the phone with Mr. Nagaoka. He tried to give me directions in English, but my time on the phone was running short, so I just had him tell me in Japanese and even then I was a little confused so I had him tell me what "city hall" was in Japanese in case I got lost. We hung up and I drove. Luckily, I recognized the area and got there ok. I finally picked up my ARC! yay! Now only like 15 more hoops to jump through before I can get a bank account and phone. After that, I went to the supermarket and picked up food for the next week. I've been trying to save money to pay off my initial costs of this adventure (i.e. first month's rent, deposit, car stuff etc.) so I've been really watching my wallet. I got home and went for a run. Then, just chilled.
Golden Week
Saturday May 2nd- Wednesday May5th
So, this week is Golden Week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(Japan)) which is nice, but sucks at the same time because I can't spend any money, which means lots of doing nothing for a week. I guess it's not that bad, I have the internet to entertain me. On Saturday I got to talk to my sister and my parents on Skype so that was nice :) Most of the weekend I just hung out watching movies and tv shows. It sucks to not be able to do anything, but at the same time, I'm proud of myself of doing nothing because it's what I need to do. It's the responsible thing I had to do. So on Monday I got to talk to Alifay and Dayl on Skype so I was excited about that :) Then on Tuesday I decided to walk around my town a little bit. I thought I'd find the post office and just see what was around. So I walked around for a few hours and went window shopping at Don Quijote (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quijote_(store)) where everyone seemed to be. There was A LOT to look at, and I wanted to buy so many things! But I was proud of myself of not buying anything! I'm sure once I have some money I'll be getting lots of stuff there ;) I found some restaurants and went to the supermarket and bought 3 dollars worth of snacks. I wanted to stay out later, but it looked like rain so I headed back home. I watched "The Uninvited" which was pretty decent. Of course, I was drinking Ume-Shu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeshu) so it maybe was a little more scary! Today is "Children's Day" but really, it's "Boy's Day" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodomo_no_hi) and all over there have been koinobori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koinobori) so I snapped a pic of one near my place
Oh, and I just thought I'd share what was on TV the other day.
In case you can't tell, it's a man, and two people dressed in a cat and dog suit.
Oh Japan.
So I'm thinking about coming home for a little while in the summer, I'm a little worried about the timeline, I really need to get my visa in place so I can get a bank account and buy a ticket, so it's still up in the air, but if I am able to come home, it will probably be from sometime in July to the end of August. so, yay?
That's all for now! Thanks for reading and commenting!
Today was the first day at my new school. It is WAY smaller than Kurodahara. At Kurodahara, there are the 3 grades (1,2,3) and 4 classes in each grade. At Takaku, there is one class for each grade and only one English teacher. The teacher's room is smaller and there are more teachers my age. So I did my introductions to 2 of the classes and ate lunch with the 2nd graders. Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful, the teachers came over to talk to me while I was studying for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). Then, they showed me where I could have a locker for my stuff (random) and then I asked where the bathroom was. They showed me, and there are NO WESTERN STYLE TOILETS. SHOOT!!!! So that means I get to hold my bladder for 8 hours. not good! So the day ended and I returned home.
Tuesday, April 28th and Wednesday April 29th
Today was interesting. So, I only had one class to go to today and then ate with the 3rd graders. I was surrounded by male students and they kept talking with me and it was cute. It's been a challenge though, because at this school, they serve me lunch in the teacher's room and the students take me up to their classroom. The only problem is that in the teacher's room there is more food, so I get served more food than the students. Which would be fine, but between the extremely limited time to eat and them talking with me, I barely can finish it all, and it's considered rude not to finish everything, especially from a teacher. So it's been a struggle to finish my meal AND not go to the bathroom. Well, after lunch, I just /couldn't/ hold it any longer. So I made my way to the bathroom and decided to disrobe from the waist down. Let me tell you, not as easy as it might sound! So after banging around, strategically placing my pants over my shoulders and realizing that there was no toilet paper in the holder, but in a plastic bag above my squatting head, that really, after 10 minutes, I was surprised no one heard the banging around and came to check LOL. So classes ended and on my way home, I noticed that at the entrance to the school, there is a farm. A very small farm. WITH A BULL in a stall! Seriously! That close to an elementary/junior high?! So yea, on my way home I hit a bird :(
So I got an invite to go out to Utsunomiya for karaoke and bar hopping, and I got to the station around 8pm. I waited about a half hour before people started to show up. We all gathered, about 10 of us and headed to the bar. We get to the bar, not to drink, but to pick up another couple people. Here's where the night gets weird. So, one of people we picked up was a Japanese girl, and so we were all deciding to get some drinks and take them into karaoke. We start walking into the convenience store and she pips up and says "We should buy the drinks at the supermarket, it's cheaper." So we agree and start to follow her. And we walk. And walk. And walk. And walk. It was a seriously epic walk for like AN HOUR. We were so pissed off, and by then the last trains had left and we had no choice but to continue. Finally, we come to HER APARTMENT where she wanted to DROP OFF HER BIKE. I can't even express how livid I was. So then we walked another 15 minutes to the supermarket and bought beer. Then we went to the karaoke place, come to find out that there is AN HOUR WAIT for a room. So we pounded some drinks and the Japanese girl (who felt really bad for making us feel bad...so Japanese) invited us back to her place to wait. So we walked 15 minutes back to her place waited 30 and walked back. So, finally, after like 3 hours we were in the karaoke booth! We reserved it for another 3 hours and had some good karaoke times. So, we finished around 2am and some people decided to go home because they lived close and a handful of us decided to go back to the station area and wait for the first train home. We took a taxi back (no WAY we were walking back!) and then started to look for an izakaya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya) to chill in til it was time to go home. Well, we came across a HUGE cluster of tiny izakayas that were all full. So we wandered around trying to find one that had seats for five. We stopped to regroup (because decisions are hard when everyone involved is inebriated) and this Japanese girl was passing us with a huge strip of meat in her hand. We all were salivating and for some reason, maybe someone in the group said something to her, but she turned around and gave us the piece of meat! It was amusing to see five foreigners passing around a piece of beef and nibbling on it like vultures. So we finally went into a Yakitori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitori) restaurant around 3am. But it turned out that he was trying to close, so we ate quickly and left around 3:30am. Then we found another izakaya really close to the station and ate a little there. Finally, the first train came and we got on. I passed out on the train and honestly have no idea how I woke up at my station (luckily it is the last stop on the line) and so I slept until around noon because today was a holiday from work. Then I just spent the day doing some laundry and recovering :)
Thursday, April 30th
Today was an uneventful day at school, not much to report!
Friday, May 1st
So today was a physical test day at school. The students had one class, and then had to report to the field to start their testing. They all did warm up exercises together and then split off to the gym and field. In the gym they had to do sit ups, jumping, hand grip testing, flexibility testing and some sort of agility testing that I can't even explain what it was like. On the field they had to throw a ball and record the distance and do some sprinting. I have no idea why they were doing it, it was like the first day of any gym class where they test your beginning stats. So that took up until lunch, and after lunch there was a PA meeting, so they let me go early! So I decided that it would be a good day to go get my alien registration card. So I start driving towards Kurodahara, and when I get near the school, I realize that I am going to the Board of Education building and that I have NO IDEA where the building was that I went to register for it! So I start driving back-somewhere-feeling silly, so I stop at a convenience store to see if they have a pay phone. They don't, but I remember that most train stations do, so I went over to the very small Takaku train station. I got out of the car and brought a couple hundred yen and called Joytalk. After explaining to them like three times that I got out of school early and wanted to get my ARC, I finally got on the phone with Mr. Nagaoka. He tried to give me directions in English, but my time on the phone was running short, so I just had him tell me in Japanese and even then I was a little confused so I had him tell me what "city hall" was in Japanese in case I got lost. We hung up and I drove. Luckily, I recognized the area and got there ok. I finally picked up my ARC! yay! Now only like 15 more hoops to jump through before I can get a bank account and phone. After that, I went to the supermarket and picked up food for the next week. I've been trying to save money to pay off my initial costs of this adventure (i.e. first month's rent, deposit, car stuff etc.) so I've been really watching my wallet. I got home and went for a run. Then, just chilled.
Golden Week
Saturday May 2nd- Wednesday May5th
So, this week is Golden Week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(Japan)) which is nice, but sucks at the same time because I can't spend any money, which means lots of doing nothing for a week. I guess it's not that bad, I have the internet to entertain me. On Saturday I got to talk to my sister and my parents on Skype so that was nice :) Most of the weekend I just hung out watching movies and tv shows. It sucks to not be able to do anything, but at the same time, I'm proud of myself of doing nothing because it's what I need to do. It's the responsible thing I had to do. So on Monday I got to talk to Alifay and Dayl on Skype so I was excited about that :) Then on Tuesday I decided to walk around my town a little bit. I thought I'd find the post office and just see what was around. So I walked around for a few hours and went window shopping at Don Quijote (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quijote_(store)) where everyone seemed to be. There was A LOT to look at, and I wanted to buy so many things! But I was proud of myself of not buying anything! I'm sure once I have some money I'll be getting lots of stuff there ;) I found some restaurants and went to the supermarket and bought 3 dollars worth of snacks. I wanted to stay out later, but it looked like rain so I headed back home. I watched "The Uninvited" which was pretty decent. Of course, I was drinking Ume-Shu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeshu) so it maybe was a little more scary! Today is "Children's Day" but really, it's "Boy's Day" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodomo_no_hi) and all over there have been koinobori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koinobori) so I snapped a pic of one near my place
Oh, and I just thought I'd share what was on TV the other day.
In case you can't tell, it's a man, and two people dressed in a cat and dog suit.
Oh Japan.
So I'm thinking about coming home for a little while in the summer, I'm a little worried about the timeline, I really need to get my visa in place so I can get a bank account and buy a ticket, so it's still up in the air, but if I am able to come home, it will probably be from sometime in July to the end of August. so, yay?
That's all for now! Thanks for reading and commenting!