japan - noelle for 3 weeks

right now i am waiting in narita airport in tokyo about to board my long haul flight over the pacific ocean. isn't flying awesome and amazing?! i am so excited to be coming back. i look forward to seeing everyone and enjoying good old oregon. 

when i wake up, i will be home! yay! i can think of nothing i want more right now! :) 

see everyone so soon. happy holidays! 

hot chocolate + heated vending machine

i will admit japan does have some very cool things (among all the weirdness) that i have never seen anywhere else. one of these seemingly simple amazing japanese inventions is the heated vending machine. it's just so cool. well first off there are tons of beverage vending machines here (snack machines not so much) everywhere. on random street corners, in front of stores, by train stations and sometimes in a random residential area there will be one, two or even three vending machines in a line waiting to be fed with a few coins and spit out a drink for you. it's very convenient!

sometimes if there is a bank of machines there will be one that serves soda, green tea, water, sports drinks, juices - a nice variety of cold drinks. then another machine will have hot drinks - hot tea, many coffee varieties, milk tea and hot cocoa. and some machines have a hot and cold section, the coolest! the hottie bevs come in plastic bottles (not exactly sure how that works) or in (adorable, if i do say so myself) little baby cans. it's just such a genius idea to offer hot and cold. i love it.

coming on 9 months here i finally got my first hot vending machine drink this evening on the way home from school. i knew i had about ten minutes until my train came and as i got to the station the red marked hot vending machine beckoned me. i was debating between a warm milk tea in a short bottle and a hot chocolate in a baby tin can. hot choc won. i put in my 120 yen and out came this little piping hot hand warmer. it felt so good and as i sat down on the platform, drink in hand, i was just so pleased. kind of a novel idea but its so good! it heated my hands right up and once i cracked it open the drink was the perfect not-too-hot-but-hot-enough temperature. it was grand - cheap and convenient. and it actually tasted as good as, or maybe even better than starbucks - score!

me + homecoming

the departure for my christmas return to oregon is fast approaching. i’ve had my eyes set on my-december-19^th-flight-out-of-here prize for quite some time now. i am so excited and it feels weird to be traveling home for christmas. since this is the first time i have not lived oregon during this time of year it has been a very different pre-holiday season for me. thanksgiving was a tad lonely and completely incomplete due to the lack of turkey on my plate and the absence of anyone else at the (coffee) table with me! christmas time in japan, and yes, i do say christmas time in japan is strange. there is actually christmas crap all over the place, which i never really expected at all (and i don’t really understand since few japanese people are even remotely from a christian background). the decorations and lights do help to get in the spirit a bit but also really drives home the fact that i’m indeed 5,000 miles away form home during these weeks leading up to the holidays. i am so thankful the “i’ll be home for christmas” lyric is true for me this year. i am lucky to be able to travel home and spend the holidays where i belong. i think staying in japan for christmas alone would be absolutely terrible...

 i look forward to returning to my hometown in just 9 days. this is the longest i have ever been away from home (coming up on 9 months out of the country). i have such high expectations for how great being back home will be but i wonder if i could have romanticized portland a bit – what if i have made everything a wee bit shinier in my head? what if it isn’t as i remembered it? what if i am different than i was the last time i was there (cause know this is true) and it doesn’t feel the same anymore? what if my favorite portland things are different now since life has changed a lot in the last several months? what if? what if? what if?

well, i know for sure its impossible for me to be disappointed because even if the town fell to complete shit since my departure for japan i know my friends (less charles and sara (sad face)) and family will be there and that, is indeed enough to make me happy - this i know. it’s the people i miss most and that’s what i like least about my life here in japan... i feel weird here, out of place and then at the end of the day, i come home to a miniscule $700 per month, freezing, empty apartment – it can be (is) annoying and depressing. but like most things – however good or bad - it is only temporary. i will be back in oregon by the end of march, maybe sooner depending on how things play out. i know i can finish what i started here, i want to finish what i started and then i want to go back to oregon and see where a life surrounded by the people i care about takes me. i guarantee no plans for a japanese vacation are anywhere in my near future...

december + thoughts

december has arrived and it couldn't come soon enough. i will head home for christmas on december 19th and i am so so so excited. my time here in japan has been an experience and i am glad i came here but i still really miss home, even after nine months away. japan is full of amazing things and i have enjoyed many things here but i am ready to be back in oregon for the holidays and shortly thereafter for good! i have learned a lot since being here. i have realized that i enjoy and appreciate experiences when i can share them with someone close to me that i care about. while i do have a couple nice friends here, it's just not the same as having my friends and family around me. anyone who knows me knows that i am a people person and i love being surrounded by people but here i have sort of turned into a hermit a bit. i really like alone time now. i spend all of my evenings and sometimes the whole weekend by myself and that's how i like it. i think i just get overwhelmed being surrounded by japanese people all day everyday and i just need a break from it. i also hate being illiterate here; it is very weird to never really have any clue what is going on. i never know what's happening at school cause they all chatter around me and rarely tell me what is up. grrr! it's also really annoying to never be able to read anything! it was a little fun at first, everything being in japanese, but it has definitely lost its charm now! somethings still have their charm - biking around, taking the subway, the 100 yen shop and loft. i will be read to be home upon my return for the holidays and soon after for good. it's definitely going to be interesting to be back in portland and i can't wait.  

end of oct + all of nov

hey hey ya'll! long time no updates. after a several nudges from my mom another blog post is here! (although i think she is the only one who reads this and she already knows what goes down here in nagoya but i digress...) the fall in japan has been rather nice. the weather went from hot to cool, the rains are rare, i had two wonderful visitors, i turned 27 and celebrated my first thanksgiving away from family. 

towards the end of october my old roomie/bestie sara came to visit me in nagoya after completing an acupuncture program in china. it was so fun to have a good friend with me. i got to show her around the city. we shopped and ate lots of good food. she was here over halloween so we got to celebrate together as hello kitty and a nerdy librarian. good times had by all. the apartment is definitely not designed for two but we had some great fun reliving some of our fun pdx times! 

sara and i out for halloween!

on sara's last night in town, my boyfriend charles arrived in nagoya. let's just say the apartment is definitely NOT designed for three! ha ha, i kid, we got along just fine for the one night but all the suitcases really did make for a tight fit, that is for sure! charles' arrival was a few days after his birthday so i made him a donut cake as a late birthday present and i got to give him his birthday presents in person which was fun. we spent a lot of time relaxing, looking around the city and trying new restaurants. we also visited the aquarium, went shopping for electronics and japanese toys and squeezed in a little bit of birthday celebrating. 

charles and i out in nagoya!

charles was here on my actual b-day (i had planned to take the day off from work but that didn't work out...) and we went to outback for my birthday dinner. it was nice and i got lots of potatoes so i was definitely a happy camper. it was also great because my wonderful fam sent me birthday packages that i got to open with them over skype. i had fun and it wasn't so bad being far from home on my birthday.

charles and i at the nagoya port aquarium with our buddy, the groper fish! look at that face!!

when charles was here i experienced my first real sickness in japan and it was bad. the "new flu" (as it's called at my school) has been passing around and wiping out whole classes at a time so i guess i was lucky to not get any kind of flu. i woke up one morning with an extremely sore throat, so sore that i was unable to swallow even water. it was absolutely miserable and it felt as severe as when i had tonsillitis several years ago. i had to call in sick for the first time and visit the doctor. after a long wait and about 5 seconds of examination i was told i had a common cold. well boy, it was sure some common cold! i have never felt like that from a cold before. i ended up taking two days off work and felt crappy for nearly two weeks. it was not fun! i have heard the colds in asia effect foreigners differently than the kind we are used to and i for sure agree with that. here's to staying healthy for the rest of the year!

things at school have been... boring as usual. i rarely am given anything to do but i manage to pass each day somehow (thank you internet and trash magazines sent from home!). in the beginning of november quite suddenly it got extremely cold. and by extremely cold i mean like 55 degrees which feels freezing especially when all the buildings here my apartment included, have zero insulation. i would say the standard construction here is similar to what a warehouse or almost shed like structure would be made of in america. the school is basically a frame of concrete with very thin partition like walls and single pane glass windows on metal sliders (with no sort of seal). the school gets incredibly cold and drafty (and they LOVE to keep the windows open). at my desk in the teachers room it is 62 degrees. after sitting idle for a while, i get extremely chilled, uncomfortably so. my standard outfit is two layers on the legs and four layers on top, often times topped off with a scarf. i wear a red northface fleece pretty much everyday over the top of whatever i wear to work. when the temperature first dropped i asked one of my teachers if there was a heating system (because there are visible no vents or ducts). she said they have portable space heaters they move into the classrooms but not until december (no matter the conditions) and that it was a "test of tolerance" for the students to basically suffer through the cold. keep in mind, the girl students are required to wear skirts and knee high socks compared to my 6-something layers i don't know how they manage. i feel so bad for them and i wonder how they can concentrate on school when they are freezing! my apartment is usually only a few degrees warmer that outside. i often wake up to my room being 55-59 degrees, which is darn cold. after a few weeks of these cooler temperatures i am getting used to it a bit and know how to keep myself more comfortable but the whole no heat and inadequate insulation thing is one of those things i will never get about japan. it's a developed country, i do not understand why a public building like a school would not have modern equipment, especially since nagoya does has climate extremes. it just seems like this is how it's always been and no one is going to make a stand to change it. tradition i guess...blahhh.

new scarf and beanie to help combat the japanese cold!

thanksgiving was rather uneventful. i was a little bummed out being alone on it but i made myself a make-shift dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. i had to use chicken cause turkey is pretty unheard of over here. my potatoes were super tasty so all in all it wasn't so sad. i will never take another family holiday for granted though that is for sure. i will always have a different appreciation for family celebrations from now on! 

check out my gourmet kitchen! LOL!

dinner for one! 

the official countdown until my christmas oregon return is on. in 21 days i time travel (fly) home on saturday, december 19th. i leave nagoya at noon and arrive in portland at 8 am on the same day. weird, huh? let's just say this trip could not come soon enough. i miss everything about home very much and i miss everyone at home even more. i am so looking forward to being with my people and my city! =D it will be grand. until then i am keeping warm and doing lots of shopping so i can bring home some nice christmas gifts for everyone from japan. 

miss everyone. xoxo!

typhoon + kimono

this was a very japanese week here in nagoya for me. this past thursday a typhoon rolled in. it was expected to be the worst in 10 years and i will admit i got a bit freaked out over it but it turned out to not really do much damage in my area. from the news it was more severe in other parts of the country. here it just sort of blew and rained hard and then it was clear skies and a super sunny nice day, just with a little extra wind. what a relief!!! 

today my friend kim invited me to an event she found in a local newspaper advertising events for foreigners. this one was put on by a little group of older japanese ladies. they call themselves YY Club which means japan and kimono. they offer the chance for foreigners to try on traditional japanese kimono. 

the day was super fun albeit a tad uncomfortable. i was slightly concerned that the kimono would be too small for me and well, i was right but these ladies tugged, pulled and cinched me right into that baby. at one point there were 5 ladies assisting me. i did feel like a giant! not only am i literally 2-3 times wider than them but they all stood under my shoulder. they did a good job though and pretty much got me into it right. and boy, it is a process. first you wear an inner lightweight robe like kimono thing, then the actual kimono, a couple belt tie thingies, then a cinched thing and finally the middle big ribbon thing and a few ropes/ties over that! fewww, it took about 20 minutes to get it all settled. you also wear little bright white socks for sandals with the big toe separate. it sure was an experience.

after kim and i were in the kimonos, we went with three of the ladies to the shiratori japanese gardens next door. it was awesome and as a couple white girls in kimonos we did get a bit of attention and a few people even taking our photo! the gardens were a real treat. i didn't know ahead of time that we were visiting but it was great. the pond had the most koi/carp i've ever seen in all colors and they were super big. awesome, cause i love to watch koi. they were ruthless for the fish food people were feeding them. quite a thing to see. the gardens were beautiful and the weather today was absolutely perfect! 

after visiting the gardens, we returned to their meeting room for tea and sweets. the ladies were so nice and kind towards us. they even offered to show us more japanese things. i made a request to find out more information on where i could try traditional japanese taiko drums. i've seen it a few times and it looks awesome. i also said i wanted to learn how to make onigiri (rice ball) and they all laughed because basically it is the simplest japanese food to make. 

it was such a great day! i hope to see the ladies again for more japanese culture!

student + poem

today i was asked to look over some poems written by the third year students (9th grade). it was supposed to be 5 lines. 1 word for the first line, 2 words for the second line, 3 words for the third line, 4 or 5 words on the 4th line, and one word on the final fifth line. as i was marking them, checking spelling, helping with tenses and grammar i came across this sweet little poem:

feces

very smell

smell smell smell

have a bowel movement

happy

i literally burst out laughing in the middle of a silent teacher's room! 

mom + japan

blog hiatus. since my last post, i have returned from my philippine summer, started up the second semester at school and had my mom visit for 12 days! 

check some photos out on facebook in my albums titled "i'm in the philippines" [ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2259001&id=11500924 ] and "mom in japan" [ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=11500924&aid=2269795 ] if you would like to see more of what i have been up to.

mom arrived on a wednesday evening in japan! it was so good to see her walk out of the arrival gate at the airport. we took the train into town and taxi from the main station to my litttllle apartment. i don't think mom was quite prepared for how small it really is. she had her first experience sleeping on my futon. it is *hard* but she was so tired, she slept and rested okay. on thursday, i worked and mom hung out. friday mom came to school with me. it was fun to have her meet everyone and see how my days are like here. i happened to have five lessons that day (i usually have 3, maybe 4) so we were tired at the end of the day.

i had mom come the dates she did to take advantage of a 5 day weekend. on saturday we travelled to osaka by shinkansen (bullet train) and it was awesome. we stayed at a ramada and wow! it was a lovely change from the apt. we felt like queens in a real bed and i even got to take a few baths where i could stretch my legs out! score. 

we visited the tennoji temple and i took mom to my favorite store LOFT. she didn't really seem all too impressed but bought a few little things anyway. on monday we took a 30 min train ride to kyoto to see some more temples and shrines. we met a very nice japanese lady on the train who ended up sharing a taxi with us (refused to let us pay) and toured us through a shrine. she was there visiting graves of her grandparents. she spoke pretty darn good english and it was fun to felt taken under her wing for a bit. after she had to head to another grave, mom and i jumped on a bus to see a few more things. we got a japanese lunch and took the bus around the town to sightsee. the bus system was so easy and good to use. the people in kyoto were SUPER nice as well. for instance, when we got of the bus one time and started walking along, the driver honked at me and waved me directions to go the other way for sights. i nodded and followed him, but he waved me down a few more times to be sure i was getting it. he was really going out of his way to help us.

we didn't try too much japanese food mainly because menu reading is impossible but we did have some. in osaka we also treated ourselves to hard rock cafe and that was nice, especially for me! we returned to nagoya and spent some more time in my city. mom took my friends and i out to a nice dinner the night before she left. it was nice! 

mom flew out yesterday and is home safe and sound now. it was so nice to have a visitor! i cannot wait until my winter vacation visit! counting down the days already! mom is gone but she left me some good treats from home (bagels, annies mac n cheese, chocolate covered raisins, whole wheat bread, candies, luna bars, peanut butter, my favorite red raspberry smuckers and even some tillamook cheese). i am set for a while! :)

busuanga + coron

right now i am sitting at the open air restaurant of the hotel we are staying at in coron town on busuanga island of palawan. (not to be confused with coron island, which is the whole reason for this trip.) we will day trip to the island tomorrow hopefully although we have yet to arrange our island hopping as the booking desk was closed this evening and will open bright and early at 7am.

the flight here from manila was just an hour and upon landing offered some beautiful scenery just off the main island of little islands lined with white sands and clear aqua waters. just seeing that i knew i would like it here!

what spurred the mission to coron island were a few photos i had seen in travel mags and on travel adverts in the airport. i knew i just HAD to see this place and hopefully tomorrow it will happen. if you google image search "coron island" or "cayangan lake" you will see why i had to see it for myself.

photos of course to follow! been having loads of fun testing out all the functions of my G10 and can't wait to share them soon.

hope all is well with everyone. xoxo.

puerto princesa + el nido

this week charles and i ventured to the island of palawan. it is off the southwest side of the philippines and is an amazing grouping of over 1,000 islands. the plane ride into the capital of puerto princesa was just over an hour flight. our hotel was so cute and had hot water and a/c. we were so happy. we just had one full day so we took advantage by taking an island hopping tour in honda bay for swimming and snorkeling. my fears of fish have continued. i just don't like when they get near to me, i hyperventilate and start to feel claustrophobia or something but it was such a gorgeous setting i still enjoyed the trip.

(honda bay, puerto princesa, palawan)
(bangkas of the coast of el nido town, palawan)(an island off of el nido, palawan)
(big lagoon, el nido, palawan)
(pondering a cloudy el nido sunset)

the next day we decided to skip the public bus and take an air conditioned shuttle to el nido on what was said to be a 6 hour ride. well... the shuttle was so cramped and hot it was pretty miserable. to make it even more lovely, 6'3" charles and 5'8" me (two of the tallest people aboard) were stuffed in the very back row, very back corner of the van. we had no room at all and the a/c we paid extra for didn't even hit us... but in the end the ride that turned into 9 hours was so worth it after arriving in el nido. it was gorgeous and lovely and we (sort of) forgot about the bad van ride.

after we got to town we found a nice room at a guest house, we even had a view of the bay from the balcony. the next day we did an island hopping tour and stopped at 5 different sights off the coast of el nido. it was so pretty. i took many photos although, in my opinion they don't quite capture the magnificence of it all or the scale of the huge limestone islands jutting out of the aqua clear waters. we snorkeled and swam and got plenty of sun. the tour included a fish, rice and veggie bbq lunch on a litle beach which was a bit castaway-ish. i ended up getting super burnt on my face and back but it was still so fun!

the next day we wanted to get a sea kayak but the weather was too windy outside the main cove so we got a half day island hopping tour to get back out on the water, this time with me fully blocked from the sun in a t-shirt and hat.

the town of el nido itself was so cute and quaint. there are tourists but it doesn't feel toursity, yet. with the 9 hour ride and only expensive tiny air connections it is a bit off the beaten trail but i'm sure that will soon change so i am so happy to have seen a plain little beach town before it changes too much. a weird thing about el nido is that the power is shut off from 6am until 2pm, random, huh? a bit annoying as we paid for an a/c room to have it not work for a chunk of the day. overall though el nido was awesome.

our original plan was to take a boat from el nido to coron but we learned it was in a small 20 passenger boat and since this is monsoon season i was worried about the safety of it all so we bit the bullet and took the shuttle back to puerto princesa (only 6 hours for real this time :). we are planning to fly directly into coron from manila in a week or so because i just have to see coron. we're on a real mission now!

i posted ton more pics here:
facebook album

manila + boracay

i made it to manila last tuesday and have since had a fun-filled time in the philippines! i have been taking lots of photos and have even tried some really crazy filipino foods here (pork and chicken intestines and ox tail soup). my first impressions of the philippines were very friendly. charles family is very welcoming and friendly. everyday some one offers to take us out and show us around. my first day there charles and went to a fancy mall (where you have to pass thru security to enter) for lunch and once i saw taco bell, i absolutely could NOT pass it so it was TB for lunch and i was a very happy camper. philippines reminds me a lot of latin america mixed with asia mixed with american culture. i love it!

here are a few photos so far:

charles and i on white beach on boracay island (one of the two sunny times we got!)
the sun setting outside charles' family's house in quezon city, a suburb of manila.
white beach, boracay.
charles, me, tito boy (uncle) and cousin boom
yep, that's me eating chicken intestines! wasnt too bad really!

philippines + vietnam

tomorrow i leave for the philippines!!! i am so excited. my flight leaves from osaka at 7:30 pm and paranoid me is of course leaving with ample extra time. i catch a 3 hour bus ride to osaka at 9:15 am so i've given myself about a 4 hour cushion! charles will meet me at the airport in manila at 10:30 and the adventure begins. we will be staying with his family for the first few days and he is going to show me around, take me shopping and meet his family. a few days later we will head to boracay for some island-beach fun. hopefully its not raining so much but it is typhoon season so i am expecting rain. it's ok though, rain doesn't stop us oregonians! :) 

at some point we will buy tickets for vietnam and head over around july 30 or so and make plans as we go. i am thinking we will likely fly in to ho chi minh and catch another domestic flight up to northern vietnam hanoi and then go from there train, bussing or flying making our back down south and hopefully getting to see some mekong delta too. a few beaches will get thrown in, too. i am so excited to see everything, try the food, lounge on a beach, get an hour massage for four dollars, buy some cheap, cheap souvenirs and take a billion photos. 

there was talk of going to bali too so that is always on the back burner. we will have to see how the time in vietnam pans out. most of my friends here in japan are traveling too. some headed also the philippines, thailand and bali. i can't wait to see how everyone's trips went at the end of the summer. 

today i just have a few errands to do and final packing. as my reward (and deadline) i am meeting a friend for dinner  tonight at outback. we want steaks :P  tomorrow it's an early rise so i can not be rushed and leave my apartment in tip-top clean condition (yes mom, i cleaned really good) and head off for an amazing trip with chuck! 

yesterday i found an incredible shoe store and got myself a little prezzie: 

school + vacation

the last few weeks at school have been pretty slow. they haven't been giving me too much to do at school. lots of sitting around trying to stay cool. it has been incredibly hot! about 80 - 90 degrees which doesn't sound that bad but when you add in the crazy humidity, it is pretty unbearable. monday was sports day at my school so i spent the morning out on the field. it was blistering. it's the kind of heat where standing, doing nothing will cause a sweat. i sort of hate it. thank god for the air conditioning in my apartment and in the teachers room at school. the halls and classrooms get so stuffy, upwards of eighty degrees! sometimes i just sweat up a storm at the front of the classroom. it's embarrassing but oh well, i'm not designed for this weather!

tomorrow is my last day of school then summer vacation begins. i will spend the weekend getting ready for my big trip packing and cleaning. right now charles is en route to the philippines from LA. he will arrive on thursday and i will meet him there next week! my flight is tuesday evening out of osaka so i will take a 3 hr bus ride over in the morning, grab lunch, maybe look around osaka station for a minute and then catch a train or shuttle out to the airport. i will land at 10:30 pm in manila where charles will fetch me. we will probably stay in manila for a few days and then head to boracay, an island beach area. then we'll plan what we will do for vietnam! i am so excited to have an adventure!

happy + mac

i never knew how cheered up i could be by kraft mac n cheese. seriously, good! 

routine + lunch

12:40 usually can't come soon enough. i am so hungry by then after having breakfast at 7 am. the kids either bring home lunches or buy lunch at school. i buy lunch for 280 yen (about $2.80). i always like to check out the little lunches the moms make their kids, packed in compact little bento boxes. usually it is a two tray stackable container, often one is filled with rice, sometimes with flavorings on top, the other tray is a conglomerate of little bits of stuff, pieces of fish or meat, maybe a little cupcake tray divider of veggies or noodles. they eat very different than in the US.

there is a cafeteria (with a/c, yay) at our school (on the third floor, which i find strange) but it's small so each grade level takes a turn each week. this week it's the 2nd graders turn. the kids not in the cafeteria get bento boxes they pick up from a serving station and eat in their classrooms. they have two choices for bento boxes and there are two choices in the cafeteria. usually the boxes and cafeteria offerings are very similar or the exact same. we pre-order our lunches in advance and choose which one we'd like. everything is rationed out, nothing is wasted and they only prepare lunches that are ordered. if you miss an order, you miss your lunch. they run a tight system here! everyday i eat in the cafeteria so i pick choice A or B. the teacher next to me helps me read the menu and pick which one sounds best. thank goodness for her!

the lunches are usually pretty nice. a few times i have gotten a less than desirable choice but usually it is pretty good. the lunches usually have rice or noodles, a kind of meat, and a couple little veggies or fruits. the veggies are very different. usually little pickled, shredded type stuff. i usually don't mind it. sometimes there are weird jelly pieces that i usually pass on. overall, the food is mild on flavors and pretty easy to eat. it's always a bummer when i walk in and get the lunch that now see/know i don't want. that's no fun. ramen day and curry day are always good! i am a happy camper! ive had spaghetti, too and that was ok. it's always a little mystery for what's to eat because i have pre-selected but i can't re-read the menu so everyday it's a surprise. i've stray away from fish orders and usually from what i see, it's the right move. the worst thing i tried were these whole bodied little fish, about five inches long, breaded with the skin on and everything. everyone was just gobbling the little suckers up, so i tried it too. first bite wasn't too terrible, second bite, my teeth went through the fish belly and i felt fish tummy goo in my mouth. it was simply disgusting. my stomach is turning just thinking about it. i will never eat those again. ever.' 

i sit at a teachers table at the front of the cafeteria. sometimes another teacher or two will sit at the same table but sometimes i am alone. the kids will say hello when they walk by and i do a lot of waving and saying hi to whoever gets up enough courage to call my name. often times, a kid will say my name, i will say hi back and then the whole group of kids start to laugh. i don't know what they are laughing about, i hope its just nervous laughter. 

they recycle everything here. there are bins for plastics, tin foil, paper and the glass bottles of the milk. when i am finished eating and the trash crowds have started to dissipate, i'll get up and drop any recyclables where they belong and take my tray to the dishwashers. lunch is done in about 25-30 minutes. afterwards, i head back to the teachers room...

afternoon, to be continued... 

routine + average lessons

i am usually scheduled for two or three lessons in the morning. a few minutes before class is supposed to start i will head to the classroom. often times i will walk with the JTE to class through the halls. the third graders are on the first and second floors, the second graders are on the third floor and the little first graders are way up on the fourth floor. i will sometimes have little conversations with students and i say hello, hi, how are you to many kids as i make my way through students. 

a usual lesson begins with saying "good morning everyone" they reply "good morning noelle and ms. ...". i ask, "how are you today?" they respond, "i'm fine, thank you, and you?". i always say everything but "fine" usually i am sleepy, hungry and/or hot. sometimes if i have prepared a game or activity, i will explain it with help of the teacher and then usually i would get about 20-30 minutes for my stuff. afterwards, pretty much no fail i will do some human tape recorder where i read from the textbook and they repeat. sometimes it's small paragraphs about the most random stuff like braille, e-pals, shamisen concerts (traditional japanese instruments) so it can be somewhat weird, in my opinion what they read and what vocabulary is chosen. but they do it! it is strange though, because sometimes the book gets fairly advanced with different tenses, vocabulary, etc. but when you ask a simple question, often times there is no answer. i guess this is mostly due to shyness though but still! 

if the teacher has prepared an activity or game i will assist and play if they need one more person. sometimes they pass out worksheets and the kids all put their heads down and furiously bust them out, many students work quite fast. very little goofing off happens. during worksheet time, it is often silent, or very near silent for the duration. it is kind of amazing, very different that my middle school experience, that's for sure! the students all seem to be very serious and good. i hardly ever have any goof offs and if there are, they are more like class clowns types cracking jokes or just talking a bit. there aren't really any little brats causing trouble. in fact,  i haven't really even seen anyone get in trouble yet but maybe it would be very hush, hush and i wouldn't know anyhow. when the kids do worksheets, i will walk around and try and help the best i can without being able to speak or explain in japanese. sometimes i just point if an answer is wrong and let the kid figure it out. i will give a simple hint if i can. 9.5 times out of 10, the kid will correct it on the first try. they are all very smart! if there are extra minutes at the end of a lesson, sometimes i will do hangman or simple games. the kids usually like that and it's really fun for me too. 

fourth period ends at 12:40 pm, i am ravenous and it's lunch time. to be continued...

routine + morning

i thought i would write about my average daily routine over here 4900 miles away.

firstly, i am paranoid of being late because late doesn't exist over here. it simply is not allowed. even if there is a problem on the train, whatever you gotta get to where you gotta be on time. (mom, be proud, i haven't been even close to being late!) this is one reason i have my clocks set 10 minutes fast, a little buffer time. so my alarm goes off at 6:45 am (really 6:35), i usually do a few (or several, depending on the day) 5 minute snoozes. once i wake up, i get out my computer and check email, the weather (to check for rain and bike to work conditions) and facebook (yes, i'm addicted and i'll admit it). then i proceed to do average morning routines. have a little something to eat, usually cereal or pbj maybe some fruit. i get dressed, pretty much skip makeup all together (i sweat it off anyways in about 5 minutes), fix my hair which consists of pretty much one style over here, pony tail/bun with bangs swept to the side with a bobby pin. this is due to the massive amount of sweat i create getting to work. i need to leave my apartment at 7:40-45.

then i get on my bike. if its rainy or i am tired i bike about 7 minutes to the station and catch the 7:58 train which arrives in my school neighborhood about 8:04, ten min walk to school and i am at my desk at 8:15. i am supposed to show up early but my official paid time starts at 8:30. if i decide to bike to school, it takes about 35 minutes so i arrive at school about the same time either way. if i bike, i have a cool down routine first thing. i walk into the school and open my cubby in the lobby to get out my school shoes and put in outdoor shoes. then i walk into the teachers room. (in japan the students are in classes like 1-1 (first year, first class), 2-3 (second year, third class), etc. the students stay in the same class room all day while the teachers come and go. so all the teachers desks are in the teachers room. it is a pretty active place, everyone buzzing around.) so i go in to the T.R. and say "ooo-hi-yo  goo-zai-mas" or good morning and whoever is near says the same back to me. this is custom and all you hear in the morning are multiple voices saying mostly "masssss". they kinda mumble the first part of the phrase and really like to drag out the masssssss. seriously for like 3 seconds. it was weird at first, now i am used to it. 

after the hellos, sit down at my desk and immediately fan myself for a while and begin my cool down routine. others are doing this too so its not weird or rude or anything. i usually am sweating tons at this time, so i am also swabbing my face with a mini towel, also standard. then i usually pass on the hot morning tea and pound some cold water to try and regulate my elevated body temperature. i'm maybe also doing a little prep if i have any, making copies, cutting worksheets but its mostly just cooling off. sometimes one of the japanese teacher of english (JTE) will come have a quick convo about the lessons we have together so i will have a heads up, sometimes we have chatted the day prior in the afternoon though).

at 8:30 the teachers have their morning meeting. a bell rings and the principal comes in, everyone stands and says "ohiyo goziamus", bows and sits to listen to whoever talks. (the principals office is attached to the TR at the front, the VP and head teachers desks are adjacent to the door of the principal but are in the main TR. my desk is two desks from the back, fine with me!) the meeting is all in japanese so i of couse dont catch a thing. at 8:50 classes begin. i usually am not scheduled for 1st period, so its more "preparation time" but usually i am already prepared so it has turned into an extended cool down time or reading a book at my desk time, doodling at my desk time, studying japanese at my desk time, writing letters or postcards at my desk time, you get the drift. 

the classes are 50 minutes each. with 10 minutes between lessons, so the 4 morning lessons being at 8, 9, 10, 11 on the fifty. 

to be continued...

likes + dislikes

things i am liking in japan:

• living alone. it's kinda nice. i think i would prefer to have my awesome roommates from past times of course, but my little apartment and i get along quite well. i like leaving a mess around if i want, i know its mine. if it's a trashy, it's my trash. when i want it clean, i clean it. i keep it at the temperature i want. i can do whatever i want, fill the whole fridge with my crap, granted my fridge is super tiny but you get the idea. so living alone, i like it.
  
• my toilet paper dispenser is plastic with two little pegs to hold the roll up. to remove the empty roll, you just pull the roll up and the pegs swivel up and allow you to just pull it out with out removing that dumb little spring loaded dealy. to put a new roll in, you just do the reverse - push the roll up under the pegs from the bottom swing up and then come down and catch it. okay, hard to explain but trust me, its awesome and i wonder why this little, simple invention is not in america yet. it's so cool.
• also in the bathroom, the sink on top of the tank of the toilet that runs water after a flush to refill the toilet bowl. genius. 
• mister donut. sugar, glaze, strawberry, angel creme. oh yeah, very nice.
• in the schools, everyone has a role, a responsibility. kids are assigned little jobs. they erase and clean the chalk boards after each lesson, one kid brings their class or table a crate of milk and another kid takes a kettle of tea. its just nice, everyone is part of the daily routine for the greater good.
• riding my bike.
• living close to the city center.
• riding the subway.
• onigiri. a lot. such a great snack.
• my bank book. i insert it into an ATM and it can access my account without a card. it then prints your transactions in the book. so i don't use online banking but this little book with all my account action on it is so cool. and if you take money out or activity happens on your account not using the book, the next time you use the book, all transactions get printed in date order. very nice.
• everyone is so genuine and caring here. if you have a problem, the japanese people at school will do anything to help. it's really nice and means a lot to me being here so far from home and my comfort zone.
• the dehumidify option on my a/c unit. a godsend. and thanks to my fellow portlander neighbor for showing me it!
• the store LOFT. i've said it before but it's truly amazing.
• all the rad japanese stationary, art supplies, gadgets, etc. love it.
• my job. i like it. the kids are mostly awesome and i am enjoying it. 
• my favorite students. i know you're not supposed choose favs but i can't help it. sometimes they're the cute ones, or the littlest ones, the friendliest ones, one kid i love cause he has a huge smile and the biggest head of fluffy, spiky hair i've ever seen, sometimes i like the dopey ones, the smart ones i can always count on to answer questions for me, the super genki (excited, energetic) ones, the kids who try hard, the ones who have a little trouble, the sleepers (sometimes i wish i was doing the same), the ones with sweet faces and of course sometimes i like the little brats, too.

a few things i could do without:

• the humidity. it's outrageous. this morning it was 91%. big uggg.
• the loud noise at my apartment from the highways and most recently the hordes of gigantic black crows at night. they congregate on the power lines of my block. lots of them, like 150 of the nasty things each night. its very eerie. and i really hate birds, crows especially. the make the ugliest squawk sounds. 
• sometimes i get a little bored and isolated feeling being the only non-japanese person i see most days.
• some of the school lunch choices are to be desired.
• the two bridges i have to cross on the way to work on my bike i kinda dread everyday. the first one is worse, it gets me every time, it's nearly impossible on the cruiser but i manage it most days. on tired days, i walk her.
• did i mention the heat. today we recorded an oral section for an exam in a teeny, tiny recording room, must have been 95 in there. it was like a little sauna.
• sweat. lately it's pretty much all day, everyday. annoying.
• the lack of certain foods i really miss. i really want a turkey sandwich, a real piece of pizza, a fat chipotle burrito, red robin, thai pod, etc. (of course, i miss the fam's home cooking too).
• my futon "bed". it's starting to become less and less comfortable. a real bed is gonna be so nice. oh, so nice!
• the 16 hour time difference between japan and home, it can make talking to home hard. 
• the lack of friends and family. they're all are so far away. i miss all of you!
• the inability to use plastic in japan. i cannot remember a time not using a credit or debit card for so long. i only use it on the rare occasion to get cash since i only have an ATM card anyway but the majority of the time i use my rad little bank book.

birkies + nachos

this week at school was pretty good. i taught a lesson with new responses to the question "how are you?" to 1st graders 6th grade in the states). i made cute flash cards with a little cartoon guy. they learned i'm good/o.k./terrific/sick/sleepy/hot/cold/tired/hungry/thirsty. i first went through the cards and had the kids repeat and translate into japanese so they knew what the words meant. then we played a game with the flash cards lined up on the board and the kids divided into two teams on each end of the line of flash cards. when it was their turn, each kid had to read the cards out loud working their way down from their side, when the players from met in the middle (or wherever they happened to make it to) they rock-paper-scissor and winner continues, losers teams sends out another player to challenge the remaing player as they are still working their way down the kind. once a student reached the final card on their opposite side a point was scored and a new round began. the kids got so into it. they were yelling and routing each other on. we played about 10 rounds in each game and the kids seemed to really like it. i had fun. and my japanese english teacher said that i was popular with the kids. (yay! i so wanted to be popular!) i was so happy when she told me that. next week i teach the 3rd graders (like 8th graders).

friday night i went out for dinner with some friends from training to celebrate a girls birthday. we went to this italian place on an outdoor patio on the 13th floor of nagoya station. there were great view and good company. the plan was to go out after for drinks and karaoke but we ended up just calling it a night about 11:30 and catching one of the last trains back. my friend meaghan from canada stayed over. saturday morning we walked down the street for dennys breakfast. we actually ate a club sandwich thing (they don't have the same items that you would expect in an american dennys) and it was pretty good. after, we headed to town and shopped. meaghan lives about 30 min commute outside of nagoya so she likes to shop whenever she's in town. we bought weekend eco train passes so we took 3 subway rides to different stores. we went to my favorite LOFT, uniclo, an outdoor store, a bookshop, a department store called tokyu hands, a few random shoe stores (of course). i found some super discounted birkenstocks for about 50 dollars so i picked up a pair of those. i hope i like them as they break in. i have thought about getting them before but just haven't. i think they may be perfect for this summers travels. 

the most exciting part of the day (after having a mr. donut snack in the afternoon, yum) was returning to an import grocery store. i had been once before the 2nd day i was in nagoya and briefly had a look around, i knew there was imported stuff but today i realized how special this place is! it makes me feel like home a bit. i splurged on some items including real cheddar cheese, black beans in a can, a small bag of tortilla chips (i'm making nachos for dinner in a bit), philly cream cheese, 2 bagels, half of a rustic bread loaf, and salad dressing called california creamy (hoping it was ranch-like, and it was) all for about 2300 yen (23 dollars). yes it pricey but i felt i really needed all of these items in my life right now.

fixin's for nachos =D

omg, i need mexican food way more than i get it.

philly and carbsss! bagles are good, so good.

its no hidden valley but...

 

yummm, that california creamy isn't too bad...

kakegawa + photos (finally)

i visited a friend i met during training this weekend. she lives in kakegawa, a small city (100,000 people) in the next prefecture over. she is really funny and we got to hang out and catch up. we drove around the city, went out to the coast and drove around. it was fun, nice and easy. i stayed the night saturday and headed home sunday afternoon after a delicious ramen lunch. it was good to see a new area and get out of nagoya for a bit. 

also! taa daa! i have photos again. i was having major major tech difficulties but 2 memory card readers and 2 corrupted memory cards later i think i am back in business so here are a few recent pics.

reflection of me on my bike.

my new "trunk"

nagoya

donuts from mister donut, maybe one of my top 5 favorite things in japan!

sarah and i at the beach near kakegawa

awesome weekend + plans

i am really settling into nagoya quite nicely. i am in my third week of teaching and it is going pretty well. i am still gaging how much english comprehension the kids have and seeing what works well and what doesn't work so well. i have done a few activities that have worked, some that have just been okay and a few that have fell a bit short. i'm not sure if it is the game itself, how complicated it is or if its just plain dumb. i hope to learn more as time goes on what will really be fun and educational for them and i am sure i will. 

i had a great couple days last weekend. on friday night a friend suggested we try and find a mexican restaurant. of course, i was into that! we walked in and it was filled with other foreigners! kind of funny, all of us feigning for our mexican food fix! it took forever, but the food was pretty tasty. i had a bean and rice burrito and split a quesadilla. yum yum! we started talking with some other people in the restaurant and ended up going to another bar with them.  some of them had been in nagoya/japan for 3-5 years, mostly teaching english at various companies. 

saturday a friend who lives in a nearby suburb came to town and we spent the day hanging out. we had mcdonalds lunch. then shopped for english books. they had american magazines. cosmo was like $22! ridiculous! then we headed to a big mall because my friend was searching for running shoes. the mall had a big sports store. also a huge department store called jusco. it has stuff for cheap so i picked up two pillows. then we navigated our way to a thai resutrarnt we found in a brochure. it was pretty tasty! then we decided to visit a "canadian" bar because my friend is from canada. well... we found it but nothing about it was canadian. kind of funny.

sunday i wanted to shop at LOFT, my favorite store in japan thus far. i decided to bike over there. it was a little bit of an adventure but i didn't get too lost. i did have to check my map about 12 times but i made it. the ride was about an hour so not too bad and all flat. this was a great discovery because now i have so much freedom on the bike. it was great! the weather was lovely and biking around was so fun. i got to see some of downtown that i hadn't yet seen and it was very nice! nagoya is lovely. new, clean and modern. 

today was my first day biking to school and it was nice and quick. work was boring but oh well. gives me time to write letters! charles is visiting me in 5 weeks and we are talking about visiting the philippines. i found super cheap airfare online so we are looking into it. from what i have seen, it looks beautiful and is very cheap. score, score! our initial plan was to ferry into china because it's very cheap, too but it requires a visa and a two day ferry trip which could be awesome or maybe kinda lame. we'll see what works out, either way this summer is going to sure be some fun! i can't wait! hope everyone at home is doing well! i miss it. 

earth + quake

a couple hours ago there was some shaking in japan. i was sitting on my bed and felt a few rumbles. at first i thought it was a big truck going by because sometimes rattles the building but this rattle lasted way longer than a truck. maybe 10 to 15 seconds. i wasn't scared but i was ready to be and got up off the bed trying to think of the safest place in my apartment. a doorway, right? anyways, no damage or anything but it was shaking pretty good. maybe i can catch some news on it tomorrow. it happened at about 8:30 monday night. 

in other news, schools are going well. everyone is so incredibly welcoming, it just makes me want to work hard and be a good help for the staff and the students. i have my first introduction presentation tomorrow. wish me luck! i will be doing it 19 times i calculated, to about 665 students total! yowzers!

1st classes + bike

i have survived my first two official days of school without any major problems. the staff are very friendly and have given me a very warm welcome. there are a few teachers (mostly the one's who speak english, teach english) who i can communicate with without problems. and the others who don't speak much really try and get out dictionaries to help me understand what they are saying. i found out today (day 2) that the teacher who sits next to me  lives in my same neighborhood. i immediately asked her where a bike shop was because i have been looking for one but it is a bit hard doing internet searches since everything is in japanese so i had not found one near yet. she pointed one out to me on my map just down the road. she even called the shop for me two times because i told her i wanted a second-hand bike. she got me prices, bike details and the store hours! i went there after work and the store owner knew i was coming and greeted me by name! i bought a $60 used bike but when i rode off with it there was an ungodly squeaky break (and i already stand out, i don't need a screeching sound to draw extra attention/annoyance) so i rode right back and ended up getting all set up on a brand new cruiser for $120, what i was expecting to pay anyways. (lesson here: do more than a 3 ft test drive when buying a bike.) my new bike is a lightish metallic blue and super sweet; came with a basket, a rack on the back, a peddle powered front light, a kickstand, and a built in lock. in the states all of those accessories would probably add up to 100 bucks as it is! my bike just the basic style most seem people have. i am so excited. now my radius is so much bigger and faster. on the way home i stopped at the store and it was so quick to get home and throw my groceries in the front basket! 

as for classes, i have just done a brief hello speech because they have big tests next week so the following time i see them, i will do a longer presentation about myself and where i am from. i have been getting it together now. mostly so far, i have just been doing readings aloud from their english book. it is a big strange though as the english class is primarily taught in japanese so i am still in the dark for much of the time.

on day 1, i said a quick hello at a morning meeting in front of the whole school. i did ok but it was a little weird, oh well! they asked me to give a short speech in japanese for the teachers so i did that this morning. i memorized a simple thing that said: good morning, how do you do, i am noelle. i am from america. my hobby is photography. i am very happy to be here at this junior high school. please come talk to me, please watch out for me (a friend told me this saying and that it is good to say although it sounds weird in english), and a polite very nice to meet you. later i was told they were impressed by my good japanese; boy have i got them fooled! then after lunch they had a short reception welcoming me. they brought japanese cream-puffs and a bubbly, teddy bear type younger teacher read me an speech in english. it was so cute, i could have nearly teared up. i also gave my salt water taffy and tea. everyone said thank you. even though it was a small token, i think it was appreciated. so far, i really like everyone. i am sure it will only get better! i think being here will teach me about respect, kindness and perseverance. not to mention being on time, 100% of the time, all the time. always good. now... am i going to ride my bike tomorrow or not? i haven't quite figured out the whole bike parking situation yet... if the lots are free or pay. the lady from my neighborhood said at the station i use it costs 100 yen to park but i don't know how it works out so i don't know, i might need more information before i move the bike down there!

meetings + first day

today and yesterday i met with my schools. i will be at nagara jhs one day per week and at kumaiden the other days. everyone was very nice and welcoming. i will be preparing an introduction lesson that i will give next tuesday at nagara (i am there every tue) and at my other lessons at kumaiden next week. i start work tomorrow at kumaiden and am scheduled to arrive early in the gym to say a short hi & hello at the morning meeting in front of 550 students then i will introduce myself to the 35 teachers in the teachers room. they want that introduction in japanese, i need to study it tonight but luckily it can be short! the rest of this week at kumaiden there is grade 3 testing so i will not be doing anything on my own, just assisting as they prepare for the exams but next week i will give my introduction and a quiz game to go with it to each class i assist. i am relieved to have the weekend to prepare for my first presentation! i am a little nervous but confident i can do just fine. i sure was a little relieved to not have to prepare much for my first few days. i think it will be good to get my bearings and get comfortable in a new environment before doing any lessons of my own. it should be fine. also, one of the main english teachers at kumaiden studied abroad for a year at good ol' university of oregon and has also spent time in portland. small world! wish me luck tomorrow for my first day!!!

settling in + iwatsuka

well... i am now in the comfort of my permanent apartment in nagoya! and by comfort, i mean comfort. i bought a lovely futon that is leaps and bounds better than what i was sleeping on in chiba. thank goodness! yesterday was the big move, and boy it was big. i hauled all my things in one trip and had to keep repeating to myself, "you can do this, you can do this" because it was so heavy and i could hardly move. i had a 50+ pounder on my back and was pulling my rolling duffle bag (60+ lbs.) with my computer case / backpack (25 lb) attached on by a clip and hanging from the handles i had two shopping bags with overflow. so i guessing it was over 150 pounds. i did it and arrived to my new apartment in the afternoon. it is a bit older than the last super new and hightech chiba place and also a different layout. it is a loft style. still very small and efficient. in the main room there is a tv on a little stand, a coffee table and a low twin wooden bed frame which i put my new comfy futon on. my plan is to get an additional futon or air mattress to put up in the loft so if i have guests, there will be 2 beds and 2 sleeping areas. its nice to have the futon in the main room too as it acts like a couch. i was missing a couch!

my neighborhood is pretty cool. lots of resources nearby like grocery store, drugstore, a 100 yen shop, a small department store, a few cafe's, restaurants and mini marts. i am pretty set as far as all that stuff goes. yay. the subway stop, iwatsuka is about a ten minute walk from my front door. i haven't met any neighbors yet or explored too much. i'd like to get a bike so i can start checking out the area a bit more efficiently. i am only about 5k from the city center so it seems plausible to ride to downtown.

haven't taken any photos yet but they will come soon. i wouldn't dare try and photograph my apartment in it's current state anyhow. i'd call it a disaster zone for sure.

nagoya city + me

today i took the shinkansen (bullet train) from chiba to nagoya city, my new home! the train ride was smooth and fast. very fast, they go up to 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour for us americans). it's almost like a cross between taking a train and an airplane. there is tons of leg room and plenty of space like a train but it hauls fast more like an airplane. pretty cool. the trip was 108 minuets. and as everything here in japan, runs perfectly on time without any hitches. we were scheduled to leave at 11:33 am and when we pulled away i checked my phone, and it was exactly on the dot 11:33. (this is why being late in japan is just not a possibility).

upon arrival in nagoya we were met by our coordinator and taken to the branch office here where we went over paperwork and got maps of our apartments and schools. i will be at two junior high schools and my apartment is between the two. on googlemaps it shows the location of the apartment right next to a very fat green line. i asked what that was and learned that it's an elevated highway... so i am surely be curious to see what that is like tomorrow when i check everything out for the first time. seriously, the map makes my apartment look like it is on top of this highway! there's also a dennys logo is right next to the little house icon along with a mos burger, a couple 7-11's, a circle k and a subway stop near as well. my new neighborhood (ward) is just southwest of the nagoya city center in a ward called nakagawa. i am excited. looks like i will also have some co-workers near by (and even share my apt. building with a kid from portland! small world). overall i am pretty happy about everything so far. the aptartment is a leopalace, like the one in chiba so it will be interesting to see if it is the same, i am hoping for maybe a tad more space that the last one but i can make anything work! 

the first thing i am doing when i land in my apartment is unloading every single thing, however big or small, from each one of my bags. there a few sections in my luggage that haven't seen the light of day yet so it will be nice to see everything and start to settle in. i imagine it will help solidify the fact that i am here, in japan living and working permanently for the near future. i am kind of also preparing to feel some homesickness and culture shock set in once i get into my new daily routine because up until so far, it has kind of felt like an extended vacation. 

although i haven't seen much yet, i'm thinking nagoya has a nice feel. seems a little more laid back with less hustle 'n' bustle than tokyo/chiba and today, a cool ocean breeze. i read that the average august temperature here is 35 C (again... 95 F for us americans) so i am trying to enjoy this moderate weather while it's here! walking back to the hotel tonight after an indian curry dinner the air was a bit chilled without any of that tokyo humidity. it reminded me of a spring evening in portland, it was nice.