4 days + funny convos

i have one final regular work week left at my schools. next week there is a national holiday on thursday so that makes just four days until i am done! this past week i have been having some of the last lessons in the classes. i have really been enjoying it lately because i have been doing more activities that normal. the lessons are so much more interesting, fun and faster when i actually do something aside from reading like a tape recorder. i felt busy and valuable in the classroom - it was awesome! i have been handing out the certificates i made the students and they seem to be liking them. the students are being more friendly and talkative with me than normal. maybe some of the shyer ones are just finally warming up to me or maybe since they know i am gone soon, they finally have an incentive/deadline to talk to me. one sweet little 7th grade girl stopped me in the hall and thanked me for the award i had given her the previous day. it was so cute and i imagine took quite a big of courage! (she seems very shy!). the little moments like that are what i hope to remember and take away. overall, the kids are awesome and super funny. they are what makes the job rewarding and memorable. i wish i could have connected with the students more - if i was staying longer i would surely handle some stuff differently. now that i know how the school works and generally how the teachers and students are, i feel i would be more comfortable going into a second year and be able to get to know students and staff better. i was somewhat afraid of stepping on toes so i was cautious, shy and a little intimidated when i first arrived (horror stories were told during our training) but if i started over, i would be even more friendly, outgoing and be less scared of the whole situation. it was a little frightening to show up to a job i had never worked, to be thrown into a completely different work environment and culture and just get the job done. it was a lot, A LOT to take on. it was a learning experience, that's for sure and i know i will take many valuable lessons, ideas, things away from this crazy time i have had here in japan.

i have been trying to make the most of the little time i have left at school. today after school i went outside to talk to the kids and take some photos. it was so fun (also freezing - snow flecks were falling) and the students were hilarious. a group of five 9th grade girls had gathered around me, asking questions and telling me things. one girl said she wanted a foreign boyfriend because they are "berry handsome, have big eyes, are tall, macho and have a long nose". i had to laugh! they were cracking me up. i showed them a photo of charles and i and they asked if it was "love-love"? ha ha ha - how cute is that?! they were so sweet and entertaining. they all worked together to translate and help each other make sense of what i was saying or what they were trying to tell me. we chatted about food and they asked me if i knew any of the J-Pop (japanese pop music) stars (which i don't know!) and one said she liked michael jackson, then proceeded to do a version of the moon walk and the crotch grab-hand to the sky dance move. one word: awesome! ohhh the kid's these days! gotta love 'em!

16 + teaching days

yes, that's right - i have 16 days of teaching left. i am starting to really be ready to be done here in the classroom. i wish i was doing more with the students but unfortunately i don't plan or lead many activities so my time in the classroom has become fairly boring. i will not be sad to say good bye to that but i will be sad to say good bye to my fellow teachers and the students. even though i don't know many of the staff or kids very well i have grown fond of them. i have started to receive little good bye letters from the kids. some of them are really cute and one even said "i hope that you teach us english next year." awwww, right? that did touch me but i don't actually know who wrote it cause i know the kids by face and not by name (feel kinda bad about that but hey - i see about 700 kids so i think it's understandable). even if i did stay on a second year i have heard that (and if my company did get the same contracts) they switch the AETs. why would that make sense? don't ask me so i wouldn't be seeing the same students anyways so i don't feel so guilty for leaving the kiddos hanging. i am in the process now of making certificates to give all the students. i designed them and across the top the say "Excellence in English" so they're a little corny but i think the kids will like them. i hand print in each students name in english, sign them and add some stickers too. i think some of the students will really love them. i think students that achieve here are recognized (i have sat cluelessly through a few assemblies where kids were getting plaques and awards) but i think it might be quite rare that all the students get something so i am really making them for the kid that doesn't think they'll get one. i hope they all like them though as it is a bit of an undertaking (700 students, remember!). that is keeping me busy.

i have found out more about the official move out of japan process. i think i will be flying home march 27 or 28th. the countdown is on - 68 days to go.

home + back again

i spent an absolutely wonderful three weeks home. it was awesome to see almost all of my family and friends. everything felt right again once i stepped off that plane. okay maybe i am being a tad dramatic but i loved being home. i loved loved loved it and i am excited to return to oregon for good in about ten weeks. it had been nearly 9 months since i had seen portland and wow, did i miss it?!

the visit started off with a nice welcome wagon at the airport bright and early at 7:30 am on saturday dec. 19th. with mom, dad, suzanne, grandma, liz and carly. then it was off for breakfast all together. it was only about 9 but i had a philly steak sandwich and it was nice! after that we drove home and i saw mom's new house for the first time. it is so cool. i was a little skeptical hearing she fell in love with and bought a floating home (up near savies island) but it is sweet. it really feels like you are at a resort on vacation. and it's only about 10 min from downtown portland. quite a package. it was a great place to relax and enjoy the northwest weather and environment.

i made visits to the mall to see friends and had some great meals out. i got my haircut. i also drove for the first time in 9 months. i was a little nervous but of course it comes right back. i went shopping at the nike employee store and that was quite a treat, as always!

christmas eve we went to my uncles house and celebrated with family. after that i met my dad, stepmom and grandma for the midnight church service and stayed over at my dad's house. on christmas morning i open gifts and was happy to find a new pocket digi camera. it's awesome! in the afternoon we went to my aunts house and i got to see my cousins. i had to leave a little early to go pick up charles (yay). it was so nice of him to fly to see me on christmas. we went back to mom's house and exchanged presents. i had to get him geared up in some green and yellow and also got him some sweet old school nike kicks. he searched high and low in LA to find me an big O oregon hoodie. what a guy!

after a few more relaxing days and a snowstorm charles and i pulled out for our rose bowl road trip. we left at 6:30 am and arrived in LA at 11:30 pm. it was one l-o-n-g day but we did it. the next morning it was nice and warm, quite a change from japan and oregon weather. charles showed me around LA a bit, took me to the best mexican place in town and we visited santa monica. for new year's eve we went to some of his friends house for a low-key party. we didn't want to do anything too intense since we had to get up and be at the big game the next day.

so... the rose bowl, it was AWESOME. sure, the ducks pretty much choked but it was such a sweet experience if you enjoy college football. the energy in the air once we got into the stadium was so electric. we happen to enter on the oregon side (yay) so there was tons and tons of green and yellow. i loved it. everyone was cheering and routing for the ducks. one of my favorite moments was as we were crossing over (on a little bridge path thing) a line of duck fans waiting to get into the stadium. everyone was smiling so wide, yelling "OOOOOOO" and giving the "O" hand signal to each other. such camaraderie. it was so cool! as we arounded the corner approaching section 22, it started to become more of a mix of green/yellow and red. in our section there were ohio fans to our left and front but duck fans to the right and back of us. the whole section was similar. the seats were awesome, row 37, right about halfway from the field and top seats (row 77 i believe) and we were on the corner section right above the "n" of the oregon end zone. we had a great view. i had charles cheering with me "OOOOOOOOooooo" and i was quacking away with my special rose bowl quacker. it was so fun. i think the ohios are jealous they dont have a cleaver noisemaker for their own. i was sure to quack about every 5 minutes or so (even as things went downhill for the ducks) and secretly the ohios loved it. especially the old man right next to me. he he he... 4th quarter was a little sad and i could have been really bummed out but i didnt let the loss get me down for too long (right, charles?). i'm glad we went but next time i want to see a W!

the rest of the time home was spent relaxing, seeing friends and eating my missed foods. the last night home i requested cinnabon for dinner and even took one home in my checked luggage (thanks ma) along with a 2 lb. brick of tillamook. i am set on good cheese for a while now, yay!

the flight back to japan was uneventful and on a rather crappy delta plane. the overhead movies quit working with 5 hours left so that was a tad annoying and disappointing cause i love watching the movies on planes. i got back to my freezing apartment about 9 pm and am now doing my regular japan routine. it consists of riding my bike to work where i do essentially nothing all day and freeze my butt off in the process. my main school used to give me a game or activity to prepare every once in a while but now i am hardly asked to plan anything so all i do is attend the lessons and assist as needed with reading aloud to the class for them to repeat. it. is. so. boring. this week i went to three lessons where 42 out of the 50 minute class the students did worksheets. the room was silent, completely silent for 42 minutes. why was i even there?! frustrating. i have 19 school days left.

the cold here is what gets me down the most. being bored is one thing but being bored and completely freezing is a totally different thing! the schools insist on keeping doors and windows open to let 40 degree F (or colder) air billow throughout the school. the halls are basically open air and the classrooms are hardly better. the teachers have, for the most part been using the gas space heaters but it hardly takes the chill off. i feel so sorry for the girl students in their skirt uniforms. they aren't allowed to even wear tights! and no one can wear jackets or scarves in the classroom. it's insane! yesterday when i got home from school the temperature inside my apartment was 46.5 degrees F. yes, that's INSIDE my apartment!?! have you ever even been inside a living space at that temperature?! it is freezing and an hour after i had the heat blasting it was up to cozy 49 degrees F. seriously, that's cold. i have to wear 4 layers, a beanie and get in bed under the covers immediately. i really do hate it. it's unnatural! but it's okay cause i know i will never have to spend another winter in a poorly insulated, inadequately heated japanese apartment ever again and there is some comfort in that!

i am definitely looking forward to moving back to portland, the city i love. thanks everyone for a great trip home!

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.