Organization Inspiration

I wouldn't call myself lazy. But I can get in a rut and not pick up the clothes, wash dishes, or organize my receipts for about 4 days to a week before it drives me crazy. Then in one go I can make the apartment spotless. These are just some of the benefits of living alone because there isn't a second person to disagree with my organization style (or lack thereof).

So tonight's example is brought to you by the letter "A" for Awesome. I...
-- balanced my bank book
-- organized my bills drawer
-- set up a budget for October on an Excel spreadsheet and separated it into personal spending and education related expenses
-- did laundry
-- washed dishes
-- vacuumed
-- took a relaxing bath because fall is FINALLY HERE
-- and caught up with all my American TV premieres like The Office and Family Guy.

It is 9:20pm now and I might just go to bed early. Wow.

Bank Statements Revisited

So I got it figured out.

In American checkbooks, I have pages to balance my account.

In Japan, they gave me a passport sized bank book. When at the ATM, I am supposed to insert the bank book, face up in a separate slot from my ATM card. Then when the transaction is finished, the computer inside types upon my bank book the transaction and ejects my bank book and cash card. I can request a receipt if I really need it.

To my delight, the ATM printed all of the transactions that I've made since my first deposit when I got here. So we're cool now.

I still have so much to learn about basic survival here...

Culture Shock: Bank Statements

Guess what?

Japanese banks do not send monthly bank statements to its patrons.

Guess who doesn't have a clue about deposits being made on her behalf into her account?

Guess who will be spending the weekend with an Excel sheet, withdrawal receipts, and paycheck notices?

I do NOT like this system! I WANT A MONTHLY STATEMENT!

More pictures from Mikoshi Festival

Here are some more pictures of my birthday weekend in Tokyo!



There is NO PLACE like home... well... home in Japan.






Yuri won a game like a pinball game. Get four balls in a row and win something special. Get four balls in a row three different ways and win 500 yen ($5)!




Because I was taking pictures of people fishing, I couldn't take pictures of ME fishing!





And everyone at the matsuri! It was SUCH a blast!

The birthday that never ends. =)

I have been celebrating my birthday for a week and a half now! It's been great!

At church today, the services were a little shorter and the church threw me a small, birthday luncheon complete with party favors and a beautiful layered buttered cake with whipped cream icing and topped with fresh fruit like pineapple, kiwi, and peaches. I even blew out 23 candles!

I am much improved since the meltdown on Wednesday. School is going well and I have an ultra-short week because Tuesday is another national holiday (Autumn Equinox) and Friday is Sports Day so I will have to go to school, but I will not have to teach classes. The Mid-Year Seminar for all JETs only a few weeks away so I will be able to see all my friends again soon. I am very much looking forward to that ^_^

The weather here has gotten much cooler thanks to a "typhoon". I hear that Japan gets many of them and this one happened to be just a heavy rainshower. Arkansas T-storms are worse than what we had on Friday night. It rained a little more this morning and I have enjoyed sleeping with the windows open and burrowed under blankets at night.

So again... Happy Birthday to me!

"Hand and Foot" at Work

Of course I am not REALLY playing cards (or To-ram-pu as they say in Japanese) at school, but I try to keep myself entertained at the workplace.

So in the card game of Hand and Foot, each player needs 26 cards at the beginning of every round. The cards can be taken from any number of piles, but there is a catch. If a player can collect exactly 26 cards by calculation of weight, height, and "feel", then that player's team gets 100 bonus points that round. If both team members get exactly 26, the team gets 200 points. Thrilling.

So at work, I have to make a lot of copies... A LOT of copies... I may be responsible for the deforestation of Japan. Well, I use recycled paper at least but still... I have 523 students. Did you get that? FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE STUDENTS! And one, ONE, me!
There are 5 classes of sophomores, 6 classes of juniors, 5 classes of seniors. Of the total 16 classes, I have 13 of them, but only teach 12 times a week because two classes only meet every other week. ANYHOW! The point is 523 students in all, approximately 37-41 per class, and I have worksheets and word banks and gamecards galore.

So in the copy room, I play a little "Hand and Foot". If I can pick up the exact number of sheets of paper that I need for a class, I donate 100 yen (about 94 cents) into my arcade fund. There is a fun arcade on the 2nd floor of JUSCO (Japanese Walmart) that requires patrons to buy tokens to play the games and some are very addicting. My favorite game is the dinosaur-digital slots-push over piles of tokens game. One time, I got a jackpot of 500 tokens! I only paid for 45 tokens and felt that I got my fair share of entertainment from them so I shared my winnings with a lot of elderly people sitting around me who were cheering when I won. The tokens can be redeemed for prizes and I THINK that there is a "black market" of sorts to exchange the prizes for money. But I am too nervous to ask about that... I know they are around the Pachinko places (another story, another time, but certainly worth telling).

What was the point of this post? OH YEAH! Hand and Foot at work... so in the copy room...

First Culture Shock Meltdown

If there is anything more that I wish I had learned in college, it would be the practical things. I do not think I should've been given a college degree if I can't do some minor maintenance things around the apartment such as how to fix a flat tire, what to do if there is a grease fire in the kitchen, how to change my oil, how to check the circuit breaker when the lights go out, etc. Maybe there should be some kind of Life Skills certificate that we have to get in addition to our degree. Not that I want to pay for more hours of college credit... but I think it's a necessary bit of knowledge.

For example, today, I came home earlier than usual because I worked REALLY hard during the day so I could come back to my apartment in time to watch the high-ranking sumo bouts in the evening. Everything is going great: I have my snack, drink, frumpy clothes, start the washing, put away the groceries i just bought and all those domestic things. I was even going to cook a dish for supper that my mom often makes at home: sausage and broccoli. You see... I WAS...

I used the bathroom before heading upstairs and I noticed that it's running a little longer than usual. Then I heard splashing sounds. Not the rushing water of overflow but the pitter-patter of droplets falling. This cannot be good.

And it's not.

Water is dripping generously from the top of the tank and pooling onto my WOOD LAMINATE floor!!! Normally, I would call my Dad but um, hello?, it's 3am his time and I doubt he would know exactly what to do either. So first thing I tell myself is not to panic. I go outside to find the meter thing and maybe find a knob I can turn to shut off the water. I find it, it won't turn, it's too tight.

So I kinda start losing it, the way I start breathing shallow and fast. I run to my neighbor's apartment and ring the doorbell. She is the wife of a fellow Nishiko teacher and as a mother, maybe she'd know what to do. Yeah right, but that small difference of life experience might be in her favor.

She's not home.

Now I'm really getting upset. It's not as though I can call a plumber here and explain to him that my tank is overflowing and I can't stop it. So I try to call my supervisor... and my cell phone dies.

Tears start pooling in my eyes.

Two ladies are coming my way, walking their dogs and I ask for help in Japanese and mime gushing water and they both come over to help. One of them, blessedly, knew a little bit of English and she managed to turn off the water from the INSIDE by using a key instead of a screwdriver. The ladies offered to help me clean up but I couldn't ask for more so I bowed many, many times and kept saying thank you. I then moped up the floor and tried to calm down; I must've been on the verge of hyperventilating because my head was getting fuzzy and I was in a mixture of laughing and pre-crying.

So I started ANOTHER load of washing and I noticed I have some mail.

It was a postcard from one of my Mom's classmate's, Ta-chan. She was considerate enough to write a short letter in the basic Japanese alphabet form so I could read it, but I couldn't fully understand it. As I read it out loud, I began to cry: a big, long cry, the kind you can't control and then start wailing and then the sobbing and funny gulps and hiccups that follow.

I suppose this is what culture shock does to people. That hopeless feeling that I'm not in control, even of the most simplest tasks. There I was on the tatami floor of my bedroom, leaning back against the bed, sumo blaring on the tv, and sobbing over a postcard I couldn't understand; a mixture of gratitude for someone being so thoughtful to write me, someone so kind enough to help me with the plumbing, and an overwhelming sense of lonliness.

Please do not misunderstand me; I am so blessed to be here and am enjoying myself. There are highs and lows and this is just an example of an intense low. Hopefully the weekend will be brighter as some other JETs are planning to see the Batman movie. It would be my 3rd time, but I need to be people and new friends who can understand what I'm going through so I'm willing to pay for that.

Answered Prayer

And I survived the day.

More than survived, I did it all with a smile on my face. Even when my students were loud and noisy, I kept on smiling because at least they were loud, noisy, and working on their worksheet.

All I could do today was say a prayer, "God, please help me through these next two periods. Remind me that the students are PEOPLE first who have feelings and interests and maybe English isn't one of them but that doesn't mean I shouldn't teach them with any less enthusiasm than all my other classes."

And I got some great ideas for next week consisting of students listening to American pop music and filling in the blanks with my advanced classes responding to how they feel when they hear that kind of music.

Dread

So I didn't fully prepare what I am going to teach today because I have three class periods and lunch to figure it out. The not-fully-planning situation is obviously my fault.

And I suppose that the reason I didn't plan anything is that I'm suffering from a bit of dread. Last Tuesday, my afternoon classes were back-to-back mandatory English OC I classes. The students in them obviously did not put learning English at a high priority. And I'm in an awkward position in that I'm the ASSISTANT teacher. There is a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) in the room with me, but I form all the lesson plans, make sure I have all the materials, and execute the lesson while the JTE mostly assists in translating directions and if we're floating around the classroom to help individual work. So since the JTE is there, I feel a bit out of place to be "disciplining" students although a few of them were outright rude.

And even as I'm typing this, I'm realizing.... that dreading something only brings out the certainty that the result will be dreadful. If I go into class with the attitude, "Oh no, I really don't want to teach this class," I will probably get the response, "Oh no, I really don't want to be in this class." Yet the practical side of me is kicking in, saying, "Why put so much energy into making a class fun to an unappreciative audience?" Whoa... what kind of attitude is that? Each class should have the same amount of enthusiasm, regardless of the interest-level of my students. Or at least, that's what my teacher-training is saying. In reality, I'm fighting with myself on what exactly to do to get the students interested in learning English, especially something as boring as infinitives.

I'm not out for universal popularity. Dumbledore himself never had a day pass when he didn't receive an owl from someone else telling him how to run his school. *sigh* Here I go to work, scrambling for a better attitude.

3-Day Weekend in Tokyo

There was no school on Monday due to Japan's National Holiday, 'Respect for the Aged' so I decided to spend my 3-day weekend in Tokyo. 5 years ago, I had my first trip to Japan for a 6 week summer homestay experience in Meguro-Ward, Tokyo. I stayed with a family of 5, the Sasahiras. Since then, I have kept in touch with them and my Okaasan has even visited me in Searcy after freshmen year in college. The timing of this holiday was great because there was the last of the summer festivals very near the Sasahiras' home and the oldest daughter was having a BBQ on Monday. Needless to say, the vacation was refreshing and a great, fun time!



This is Ms. Yamada. During my summer homestay, she was the supervisor of all homestay students in the area. She came to visit for a little while.




This is my wonderful Okaasan, Mrs. Sasahira. I call her Okaasan because that is the Japanese name for "mother". Already, she has taken such good care of me! And she keeps FEEDING me too! More details to come.




Wednesday was my birthday, so Okaasan bought me a yukata and obi! Here I am in my yukata, the summer version of a kimono. The obi is the blue (and silver... it's reversible) sash that is tied into a bow in the back. Also, this is the end of the summer festival season so many stores are having sales of yukata merchandise so we got mine for really cheap! :D Yay! The festival was on Saturday night and most people attend wearing the traditional yukata and so I fit right in!
5 years is a long time to be away from a second family. In the meantime, I seem to have "inherited" a niece, Yurie. Okaasan "adopted" a family that is friends with her oldest daughter, Kanako. Yurie is their oldest child. They are expecting a baby boy on Friday to be named Akio. The mom, Marjorie, is Brazilian, and the father is Japanese (can't remember his name, sorry!)




AND, I have a new brother-in-law, George. He is an American in the Navy and is married to Kanako, my older host-sister. At the end of September, they will move to his new station in Hawaii!!!!!!!!! Here he is dressed in the traditional hakama, the men's version of a yukata. The patterns on the yukata and the colors usually infer the age of the wearer. Yurie has many vibrant colors on a brighter background while mine is a black background but with bright colors of blue, lime, and soft purples. As the person gets older, the yukata colors become more subtle and subdued. Trust me, it was SO HARD to find a yukata that was small enough for me yet sophisticated enough to look fit for a 23 year old. ACK! I'm 23!!! So since the yukatas were on sale, Okaasan bought me an adult size yukata and hemmed it with her sewing machine. Amazing.




And finally, the actual festival! There are SO MANY games stands and food stands and SO MANY PEOPLE!!! This game is to use a fragile paper wand to scoop plastic toys into a bowl. The more toys that get in the bowl determine the awesome-ness of prizes you can earn.




No, the aren't snakes... stop freaking out... they are only eels. In this game, the kids fish for the eels with fishing lines that are very fragile. So you have to be sneaky and can't jerk the fishing line or it will break. If you catch one, you get to eat it for dinner the next day. P.S.~ I LOVE EEL (called unagi) over a huge bed of rice with a sweet soy sauce on top and seasoning. MMMmmmm!




It seems that all the games have fragile wands or strings. This game is no exception only the point is to catch a lot of goldfish. No matter how many (or no-many) goldfish you catch, you get to take home two!




My host-sister, Kanako, and George gave it a try. Kanako was VERY GOOD and Yurie and I watched on.




One example of the many things we ate. It was a simple mixture of sugar, syrup, and baking soda. When the pans were set aside, they puffed up! And the taste was light and fluffy and slightly crispy.




By the way, the festival actually lasts TWO days! The next afternoon, we went back to watch many neighborhoods bring their smaller versions of the main shrine. I am standing in front of one to be carried by children.




Just as I said! And of course, parents and grandparents coach and help them.




But these are the actual sized ones that are carried by MANY adults.




At the shrine, a person will toss a coin into the box, clap twice and then bow or pray for a blessing.




And then when the mini-shrine copy arrives, they hoist it all around the front of the shrine before taking it UP STAIRS to be blessed by the priest.




Um... then there were 3 mini-shrines and we all had to get out of the way while they danced. It's worth watching.... so here's a video!!!

I didn't get many pictures of the BBQ so I am waiting for Kanako to send me some. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Me! and other news.

Dear all my faithful readers,

It has been a pleasant, if not slightly lonely, birthday. I have deeply appreciated all the emails and Facebook wallposts that you have all sent me. It's my first birthday away from home and the second birthday without my family so it's all a bit unreal that I turned 23 today without a chocolate chip poundcake and candles. Heh Heh.

For my birthday gift to myself, I am spending a 3-day weekend in Tokyo visiting my host family, the Sasahiras, in Meguro. Monday is a National Holiday--Respect for the Aged Day--so there will not be any school. I plan to leave Friday directly after school and take the train to Meguro. I should arrive around 8:30pm. It's good timing for a vacation because this weekend, there is the last of the summer festivals in the Sasahiras' neighborhood on Saturday and the oldest daughter, Kanako, is having a BBQ on Sunday. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them when I get back.

The September sumo tournament also begins on Sunday amist scandel. One Russian sumo wrestler was caught with the possession of marijuana and was quickly fired and is likely to be deported. Two other Russian wrestlers tested positive for marijuana, although, of course, they have denied it and the test was done again by a different agency with the same result: positive. They also have been fired, but none of the wrestlers have yet been deported because they must stand trial before the sumo committee to see if the incidents are related.
AND, the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association just stepped down today... or last night... very recently.

AND AND, the Prime Minister of Japan, Fukuda, resigned last week after a year in office. The government here is very similar to that of Great Britain. There is an emporer, but it's mostly for show, he doesn't have any "real" power. And then there's the Prime Minister who presides over the Diet which is seperated into two houses which are currently at odds and which is the proposed reason for Fukuda's resignation. I'm not sure of all the details, but I've taken up reading the newspaper (in English) and thus I feel a little more like an adult when I thumb through the national news pages.
SO! Japan will soon have an election for a new prime minister, with currently 5 preliminary candidates, aiming for the tenuous job. Since the reign of popular, former Prime Minister Koizumi, Japan has seen 2 or 3 prime ministers come and go. Yikes.

It's an interesting time to be in Japan.

2nd Building, 4th Floor, 2nd room on the Left

I just thought to make a note here....

From the bottom of the stairs of the 2nd building, it takes me 97 steps to get to the top. This does not include the steps it takes me from the English Prep Room to the stairs, from the top of the stairs to the actual classroom, or from the teachers' workroom which is in the 1st building to the bottom of the stairs.

I hike those stairs 3x a day round-trip minimum.

I hope to lose some weight!