Kamakura Adventure Pt. 4 - Sunday, Nov. 2

So at the first of this month, I went to Kamakura to visit my Aunt Keiko and family and at the end of this month, I am finally completing the posts. Ha ha ha!! I'll try to keep the commentaries short but still have lots of pictures.


A small shrine on the way to Kamakura Station.



Me in front of the Daibutsu a.k.a. The Great Buddha of Kamakura.



The Great Buddha statue used to be inside a building. However, a huge tsunami came a long long time ago in a galaxy... oh wait... anyway, it came and washed away the building, but the Great Buddha remained. Dun dun dunnnnnn.



There are so many customs in Japan, religious and traditional. Here, the man is being "cleansed" by the smoke of the incense. Ironic... smoke is cleansing...



Another custom: toss a coin into the slotted box, clap twice, pray, when you finish the prayer you put your hands down, and bow a little towards the "altar".



Outside the Great Buddha Park, everyone was walking around with these HUGE rice crackers and seaweed. So of course, for the novelty of eating such a snack, I bought one and ate it ALL. Seriously, the osembe was as big as my face!



Early Sunday evening or late afternoon, Hiro and I took a walk around to see the burial site of Crown Prince....... somebody. Japan has many "eras". Right now, we are in the "era" of Heisei. Previous to this was Showa and before that was Meiji and before that, I do not know. But WAY back when, there was the Kamakura Period and that was when this Crown Price was buried. But to see the burial site, we had to hike a ways. See pictures below.


It seems that other families can be buried here too other than just the royal family.



If you thought my apartment stairs were bad (see "Apartment" post in August), these stairs were probably worse. They were terribly uneven, slick with moss, and slippery with humidity. They were the first "Stairs that will kill you".



And we were rewarded with our efforts with a view of Kamakura. You should probably click on the picture to see a larger image.



Coming home, Aunt Keiko really "wow-ed" me with a dinner of yakiniku (grilled meat) and veggies. I've slept since my visit at the first of the month, but I remember being in awe of how many packets of meat she kept pulling from the fridge. Meat, particular beef, is EXPENSIVE in Japan so she really gave me a treat of beef and pork yakiniku. Twas so good.



Thank you Aunt Keiko, Uncle Nobi, and Hiro for having me early in November. It was a great trip and I can't wait to visit again! Maybe I will see you next in Malaysia!

Amazing Week!

...and it's not even over yet!!! XD

Monday -- Shizuoka Tokubetsu Shien Gakkou (Shizuoka School for the Disabled)
Once a month, I visit the Shizuoka School of the Disabled and help out their English classes. I LOVE going because the students are SO EXCITED to see me and every lesson consists of songs, dance, and of course, English. What is even better is that all -I said ALL- my students want to volunteer in class! How refreshing is that?!

Tuesday -- The Day from *insert expletive*
To my surprise (and ridiculous delight), the Day from #$%&! was really a day from close to heaven. My morning seniors diligently worked on their tour guide poster project and my sophomores (often the little demons of my teaching career), were almost angelically good as they designed their show-and-tell posters and wrote out their dialogue. It was a moment where I am sure my jaw hit the floor after class.

Wednesday -- Fun Sophomores, Cooking, and English Conversation Lesson.
So that you do not get the wrong impression, not ALL my sophomores are the minions of the devil. In fact, my Wednesday sophomore class is probably the rowdiest, but they work hard in class so I do not mind nearly so much now boisterous they can be sometimes. Because they are a little higher level that my Tuesday sophomores, I had them do a speech as well as a poster. I heard and advised speeches in the empty room next door while the JTE helped students with their poster designs and grammar stuff in my classroom. Only 2 groups of the 20 were not prepared to rehearse and there were some AMAZING speeches. I think I teared up after class with pride.
On Wednesdays after school and club activities, the music teacher, Kiyomi Fujiwara, comes to my place for supper and an English Conversation lesson. In turn, she assists me in my Japanese and trades recipes. A cooking lesson for me is planned in the near future. Kiyomi can already speak English well enough that I can understand, but since she vacations often in the States, she has asked me to help her conversation skills. So I made spaghetti with meat sauce, buttered bread, and salad. She stayed for 2 hours and it was a great time! If there is anyone that I would consider a "friend" at work, she is certainly at the top of the nominees.

Today, Thursday, -- Sophomore Field Trip
Normally, I have 3 classes on Thursdays. 2 of the 3 are sophomore classes back-to-back but all sophomores are gone today on a field trip to a local kindergarten. I think they are helping out with their Sports Day Festival. Since all sophomores are gone, the school is a lot quieter, the teachers are relaxed since fewer classes are meeting, and the weather outside is GOR-GE-OUS!
An hour ago, Kiyomi invited me to the main office for early tea time and to talk with the office ladies. I see the office ladies everyday, but since they are not in the teachers' room, I do not often get to speak with them unless I get a fax or it's "Pay the Rent" Day. And they are HILARIOUS! We had hot milk tea and sweets for about 20 minutes and at the end, my sides and cheeks hurt from laughing and we had set up a dinner outing for next Tuesday.

Tomorrow is pay day (hallejuah) and because of this amazing week, I am going to splurge on myself for once on Saturday at Pion, a 100 yen shop, and maybe a few rounds of tokens at the arcade in JUSCO. Sunday, I am going to a violin concert in the city with some of my students. Monday is a national holiday so I will be spending it with Kiyomi. We will drive to another prefecture for a huge early-Christmas sale. Then Tuesday I have the dinner outing with the office ladies.

Term is almost over! I cannot believe it!!!

Just Average

From a GPA that would rival Hermione Granger, it has come a bit of a shock to me that I am doing so poorly on my Japanese Language Course provided by CLAIR (another acronym for yet another JET organization).

And then I realized, I am not doing that "poorly".

I should be a little more realistic. Everyone struggles with language learning so to be making no mistakes would actually be the EXTREME exception and not the norm. Plus, I got arrogant and bit off more than I can chew by choosing the Intermediate Course instead of the Beginner Course. And by the way, CLAIR doesn't allow you to change courses.

I have 6 monthly tests over the course of the year and I must earn a grade of 70% or higher on all of them to receive of Certificate of Completion. I can ask for teacher's help, but I feel a bit guilty doing so because they are so busy. I want to be honest about my level of Japanese comprehension on the tests, but I do not want all this time and energy go to waste by failing them (less than 70%).

So this part is more of an encouragement note from my November 15, 2008, 10:40pm self to the other self in the future, whenever it is that I should read this post again.
1) I am good at reading comprehension.
2) Japanese grammar is the least of my worries. People will understand me even if I can't remember which particle to use or if I moderately botch a verb conjugation.
3) Practice makes perfect. I will understand these concepts better if I can manipulate a situation where I am forced to use the new things I am learning.
4) Ask for help. There is no shame in getting assistance or further explanation.
5) I need to learn to accept that in this area, I will be just average. 70% or above is what the goal should be and I should be satisfied with myself for at least trying to learn something new. Frustrating myself to make a 90% or an "A" is not going to make this process enjoyable. I am going to have to bury my past "Hermione Granger" accolades and focus on the now.

Kamakura Adventure Pt. 3 (Saturday Evening, Nov. 1)

After lunch, Hiro, Sonja, and I went around Akihabara, the electronic center of Tokyo. One of my "missions" of the weekend was to get a denshijisho: an electronic dictionary. There were stores in Shimizu with them, but none came with English directions! So surely, I would find a model I liked with minimal English directions in TOKYO, right? And I DID! Pictures are still to come.


In the evening, Hiro took Sonja and me to a Meiji Shrine that was to be lit up for a festival. Before the main entrance were a BAJILLION lanterns with the names of sponsering companies of the festival. Here Hiro and I are in front of the many many lanterns that couldn't all fit into the picture!



Japan has two main religions: Buddhism and Shintoism. Since this is a SHRINE, it is associated with Shintoism. If it were a TEMPLE, it would be associated with Buddhism. I only know a few facts of either religion so please do not ask me for intense details!
Here is the main entrance to the shrine.



This is the entrance to the main courtyard area.



The place was PACKED with people!!! There was to be entertainment on the stage at 6:30, but we had dinner reservations at 7pm so we couldn't stay to watch.




We were able to see a little bit of entertainment at the lantern area. Different groups participated in the dancing and this group had castanet dealies.

So dinner was probably at the most stunning place EVER. After visiting the shrine and the festival, we hopped on the train again to Ebisu. Out of the station, we took about 6 moving sidewalks across on walkway to Yebisu Garden Place.
How to describe it? Imagine Branson Landing Outlet Mall in Missouri or Easton Mall in Ohio but already decorated with Christmas lights on NOVEMBER 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?! Yeah, that's what I said when I saw them.

So we walked a ways enjoying the lights, and then there was a HUGE building on the right, we went inside and stepped inside the elevator. But the elevator only had three buttons: 1st floor, 38th floor, and 39th floor. Seriously?! This is wild! And I suddenly felt under-dressed in my green khakis, t-shirt, and blue hoodie. Stepping out on the 38th floor looked like a grand hotel lobby... but unlike any hotel lobby I had ever seen. Every door off the carpeted hall led to a restaurant!!! And what spectacular views of Tokyo by night!!!

So Hiro treated Sonja and me to shabu-shabu. In the table is a hot plate. On the hot plate is a huge pot of water with kobu (a form of seaweed). Then green veggies are added into the broth followed by thinly sliced meat, usually pork. "Shabu-shabu" is the onomonapeia for the squishing sound made in the water when the pork is swashed in.

And for those of you who have eaten out with me, you know that despite my little size, I can eat A LOT. And of course, this was no exception. We had a curious appetizer of rare meat, salad with egg/cheese dresing, cucumber salad, two servings of green veggies, and 5 racks of pork. Oh, and I had plum wine!! It was delicious. Of course, I chose to have it diluted in soda water since I really didn't know what alcohol would do to me yet, but I managed fine without getting red in the cheeks or whoozy in the head. I felt so... "grown-up". Tee hee!
Here Hiro is serving out the meat. Sorry for the blurry picture.

This picture cannot capture the amazing taste of pork and veggies in sauce. When will Japan make scratch-n-sniff digital photos? I dunno. But this was heaven after weeks of sushi and salmon at my apartment in Shimizu.

Afterwards, Hiro joked "So when we get back to Kamakura, we'll go have some ramen." Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I was surprised I managed to waddle back to the station.
And one last video... if you listen closely at the very end, you can hear Hiro saying "Jill! Stop eating!"
Thank you for such a great day, Hiromasa!!!!

Kamakura Adventure Pt. 2 (Saturday Afternoon, Nov. 1)

So the first full day of my Kamakura Adventure was spent with my cousin, Hiromasa. On my father's side, I have 16 blood-related 1st cousins. On my mom's side, I have 2 cousins. I see my dad's side fairly regularly since we live in the central nexus of the family but I rarely see the Japanese side of my family. So this job has made a GREAT opportunity to spend time with them.

So Hiromasa works as an accountant in London, but he got transferred for awhile to the Japanese branch of the company (please correct me if I'm wrong, Hiro, who is probably reading this) for awhile. And the company set him up with a great apartment in Tokyo. His rent is more than my monthly salary!!! Of course, Hiro says this has more to do with the apartment being in Tokyo, but after I got to look (enviously) around his place, I think it kinda makes sense.


This is Hiro's living area. Notice the A/C above the windows. It's a bit empty because he's going back to England at the end of the month and has been packing up. Oh, and he also has an A/C unit in both his bedrooms too. That's THREE A/C units in all...talk about luxury...



His bedroom has nice inset ceilings.



And because Japan is the land of electronic amusement, I had to take a photo of the toilet controls. BWA HA HA HA! On the very top, there are two buttons: small flush and big flush. Then the buttons from left to right (stop, light mist, mist, bide, and something I can't read). Oh, and did I mention that the seat is heated?



For those of you who know my family, we tend to adopt people. Sonja McNeir has been a lifelong friend because both our mothers are Japanese women married to American men and we live only 30 minutes apart back in the States. Regularly (about twice a month), our mothers would meet up with other Japanese women in the area since we were little so we saw each other often. Then Sonja came to the JET Programme. I really have her to thank for encouraging me to apply and look where I am now! Since she has been here 2 years, my mom shared all her contacts with Sonja, including my aunt, uncle, and cousins. So Sonja came with me on this Kamakura Adventure and her presence made the trip all the more enjoyable! Here we are at the lunch at a really good (yet very impersonal) ramen shop.



Never give your camera to a guy-cousin. He will always catch you at the most unflattering moments. ;) Here I am upholding a Japanese custom of slurping my ramen noodles. It's polite to slurp the noodles because it is a compliment to the chef that I am thoroughly enjoying the meal.


Not all restaurants are this impersonal where I do not even see the server and have "Jeopardy boards' separating me from my company. I'll mark it under "quaint Japanese situations".

It's the Little Things...

...like ordering pizza.

I do not know why, but I was feeling a mixture of extreme laziness, slight feverishness, and overall gloom coming home from work today. Today was an okay day at school, nothing sparkling or glittering with accomplishments unless you count survival.

But weeks ago, I got an ad in my letterbox about a "Chicago Style" pizza place that delivered! And what was more, it came with a coupon! I had stuck it on my mini-fridge via magnet for safe-keeping, and got inspired/brave enough/desperate enough, to use my minimal Japanese to try to order pizza.

I explained to the man that I was a foreigner but I understood some Japanese. He was so nice and patient as I gave my cell number, my address, and tried to describe the kind of pizza I wanted. When we finally understood each other and got the order through, I thanked him thoroughly and realized I was bowing while on the phone!! HA HA HA!!

So I got a small "pepperoni" pizza with pari-pari crust (thin crust) and it came in about 15 minutes VERY hot via a moped with a thermal box on the backseat.


Please excuse the frumpiness. The pizza was SO GOOD though!!!!! I am tempted to do it all over again tomorrow, BUT, I have chicken marinading in fridge so I better cook it for supper.

Kamakura Adventure Pt. 1

So I got back from visiting my Aunt Keiko and her family in Kamakura about 6 hours ago, but I returned to a cluttered apartment and am 2 days behind on my Japanese studies. So I promise to post amazing pictures of the best 3-day vacation (so far) once things slow down (when will that be?)