Meegan's week-long birthday extravaganza . . .

I'm not going to lie - it was kind of difficult to be away from all of you on my birthday, but thanks to some very kind, loving and generous people, I haven't had any time to feel sorry for myself that I wasn't celebrating with you.

Tuesday, my actual birthday, I woke up and opened presents from my mom and David - I'm quite proud of myself, as the parcel arrived weeks ago and I actually waited until my birthday to open them. Among other things, I finally got to open the ring from my mom, which I've been dying to wear. (because it looks like an engagement ring I've actually been able to fend off unwanted attention from . . . ahem . . . amorous young Japanese men!) And thanks to David and my dad I'll get to do some shopping some time soon - not sure what I want yet, but knowing me it'll probably end up being clothes (like, duh!). When I was leaving work on Tuesday evening the other staff and teachers asked me if I was forgetting anything; when I said no they handed me a piece of birthday cake! Then later on I met Ali for dinner at Cafe Absinthe (highlighted in a previous blog - check link to see a write-up if you want); we had a great meal and a few glasses of wine, and she gave me a gorgeous necklace. The owner of the restaurant is a foreigner and knows Ali quite well as she goes there all the time, so he gave me a piece of birthday cake on-the-house! Then, when I got home at midnight, the lights were off in the apartment; when I went into the living room my room mates started singing "Happy Birthday" and there was a cake with lit candles on the table. So I then had my 3rd piece of birthday cake - so much for the health kick I've been on for the past month (which has included NO junk food - only fruit, vegetables, salad, fish, tuna, chicken, yoghurt, and granola)! Everyone was so sweet to help in contributing to my day. I felt really special and really loved; it was wonderful.

Then, yesterday, I was really busy too. My AAM came for my AT interview, so I obviously spent the day quite nervous. The feedback about my lesson was kind of crap, but I'm not putting much stock in it; not only because I know I'm a good teacher who is constantly getting compliments from students, but because I taught the lesson exactly the way my trainer taught me to. My AAM is a really nice guy, just really strict, and usually gives everyone negative feedback, so I refuse to worry. Anyway, he had nothing but positive things to say about why I was chosen to be an AT, so that made me feel good. He also told me that Michael, the old AAM, had been impressed with me from my first week with the company, so that made me feel REALLY good.

Yesterday evening, I met Yumi and Natsue for dinner and they took me to a totally poshe, trendy and famous restaurant in downtown Osaka. I was shocked that they picked such a nice place, but they said they wanted it to be special for me. The meal was O.K.; we had chanko nabe, which was full of lots of gross stuff that I didn't care for. As side dishes they ordered sashimi, fried tofu, and (thank God or I would have starved) chicken wings. I didn't really eat much; only a tiny bowl of the chanko and two chicken wings. The bill for the three of us came to $200 (told you it was a fancy restaurant) and the girls refused to let me pitch in. Then they gave me gifts on top of everything; Yumi gave me nail polish from Anna Sui (here they don't buy nail polish at the drug store, they go to designer stores - Anna Sui is a famous and very expensive designer - man), and Natsue gave me a snow globe, in the middle of which is a place for pictures. She had her polaroid camera there and had the waiter take some pictures of the three of us, and afterwards we put the pictures in the snow globe - what a keepsake!

And then today, the festivities continued. I went out with other Japanese friends, from the old branch. I met them at the school as they were just getting off work, and they presented me with a giant boquet of beautiful flowers. We went bowling and had a riot! I actually got 4 strikes and 2 spares - a definite first for me! I chalk it up to birthday luck. After bowling the girls brought out a cake and gave me a GORGEOUS Japanese fan; I will definitely use it as the heat is really unbearable here right now.

What a spoiled rotten girl I am. I noticed that my energy level has sky-rocketed since I started getting my B12 shots, and I'm going out about 3 or 4 times a week now. And when I look at all the people who care about me here and wanted me to feel special it makes me feel really good. I have an amazing support network on both sides of the planet, and at this moment I feel so blessed that I could weep. More than anything, this week has proven to me that I really have built a quality life here for myself, and even though it's hard to be away from you, I'm really happy that I've done all of this for myself. I don't know yet how I'm going to leave all these wonderful people behind though; it was hard enough letting our exchange students go after just a month. Anyway, I don't have to think about that for some time yet, so I'll pretend it never has to happen.

Tomorrow, which should have been my day off, I'm going into work for 4 periods to do the first 1/2 of Kid's Training - woo hoo! I'm so excited and I've wanted to teach kids since I got here, so I'm not even upset about having to work. (I have to go in for 4 periods on Thursday next week - also my day off - but I'll get Saturday off, so it all balances). Tomorrow evening I'm meeting Yumi and Natsue for dinner again; Yumi's sister is down from Nagoya and she really wants us to meet. And Sunday I'm hanging out with Ali because she's off to backpack in Thailand and Korea with some girlfriends of hers from Canada; I won't see her until August! Fortunately I now have tons of other friends, but I'll still miss her.

That's all from my end. This was a long one as I had so much to tell you about. I'm plumped with cake and feeling absolutely exhausted! More later!
  ¶ 6/25/2004 12:27:00 AM

  So much to say, so little time . . .

First of all, the house finally sold which means my boy will be on his way here soon! WOO HOO!

I have had the busiest weekend; I don't know if I feel like I actually had one.

Yesterday my room mates and I went to the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka to see a bunraku puppet show. The puppets are REALLY beautiful and complex; apparently it takes 15 years of training to properly manipulate all the moving parts. As fascinating as it was, Eloisa and I both fell asleep periodically, which was fine: most of the Japanese people fell asleep atleast once as well! I'd been told it's great at first and then gets really boring - it's true! But it was definitely worth seeing; one of the reasons I came was to see some traditional Japanese culture and you don't get alot of that in Osaka unless you go looking for it.

After the theater the three of us went out for lunch to a Mexican restaurant in Shinsaibashi. The meal was great, but the best part was when the girls surprised me and handed me a bunch of birthday presents. As they both have late shifts on my birthday they wanted to be able to celebrate with me. Isn't that sweet? I was sooo surprised and so touched.

After lunch Elo took me to an English doctor so that I could get my monthly B12 shot, but ~WOMP WOMP~ it was closed. I did manage to get it done today, however, which was a huge relief. I had no idea if I'd run into all sorts of problems and am very happy that I didn't. Although, it took the doctor and nurses 15 minutes of planning to figure out what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. I have no idea if they actually gave me the right dose or not, but judging by how much my arm hurts they actually managed to get it into the muscle.

Today I also: sent dad's birthday parcel, got my train passes, window shopped, took lots of pictures of downtown Osaka, grocery shopped, AND took the train to Takatsuki (1 hr. and 10 mins. from my apartment & 2 stops past my new branch) to check out the apartment of the people I'll be house-sitting for the first 2 weeks of July. I've been on my feet all day and am truly exhausted. But it's a satisfying exhaustion!

The week is going to be a busy one; I have to get all the feedback/paperwork done for the obs. I did on Wednesday, AND my boss-boss (the HEAD head honcho) will be coming to observe me and have my AT interview on Wednesday (I'm just a tad nervous!). Plus I have tons of plans for my birthday; Sunday I'm going out with a bunch of people from my old branch, Tuesday Ali and I are having dinner, Wednesday I'm having dinner with Japanese friends, and Thursday I'm going out with some other Japanese friends to do karaoke again. Whew - it's gonna be busy! But fun - it may be a little easier to be away from home on my birthday.

Some bad news: Raphaele is going back to France at the end of July. She wants to be back in time for the fall semester at Uni. and just decided to go back. We're really going to miss her and I don't want her to go! ~sniff sniff~ That's the nature of this company; you'd think I'd get used to it, but it never gets any easier.

That's all for now.  ¶ 6/18/2004 10:01:00 PM

  I am never drinking again . . .

Last night I went to a karaoke bar with a bunch of Japanese friends and some Nova instructors. I had an amazing time! The one we went to was all-you-can-drink, so they just kept bringing trays of drinks all night - of course you're parched from all the singing, so you don't pay attention to how much you're drinking. Karaoke is very different here; you get a private room with your group rather than singing in front of a whole bar full of people like at home. Worth doing though, and definitely more fun than at home cause here no one cares; most people sound like crap and couldn't care less, so there's no pressure. After karaoke a bunch of us went to another bar and had a few drinks until deciding it was REALLY time to get home . . . er, stumble home. I caught a cab home at (I think it was) 2:30 and got up at noon today to Typhoon Conson, which is bringing heavy wind and rain to Osaka right now. Kind of spooky!  ¶ 6/11/2004 10:23:00 PM

  Waterfall . . .

Some interesting events have taken place in our humble Japanese abode; this is going to be a long one so bare with me.
Last week we arrived to a huge puddle of water in the foyer; the water, believe it or not, had come from the light fixture above. Eloisa said this had happened a year ago, so she wasn't surprised. She went up to talk to the people above us who said they'd emptied a fish tank outside and wouldn't do it again.
Last night we came home to the same situation; water everywhere that had come from the light fixture. We cleaned it up and again Eloisa headed upstairs to talk to the people above us, only this time they wouldn't answer the door! Later on, at about 11:30, we heard water POURING down from the ceiling and rushed around to put out buckets and towels. The entire foyer, all the walls, the fixtures and walls in the bathroom, and all the walls in the hallway, were leaking water. Frantically we tried to get in touch with Nova, but there was no one available to answer the phones after hours. We went around to ask some neighbours who they thought we should call, but no one would open their doors for the foreigners; not even the superintendant of the building. Finally Eloisa called the fire department because we didn't know what else to do; they gave her the phone number of the water company. When she called the water company they said they wouldn't come unless we were able to hand them 200,000 yen cash at the door (this is about $2500), but anyway it didn't matter because they would also only come if the manager/super of the building was the one that called (of course, we couldn't get in touch with the super, so this didn't help.)
FINALLY Elo got through to the super on his phone and he told her we'd have to deal with it ourselves until 10 this morning, and when she argued with him and demanded that something be done, he hung up on her! So meanwhile the buckets are filling up and we're running around emptying them, water is leaking out of the seams of the wallpaper EVERYWHERE in that section of the house, and the whole situation is feeling a little out of control; especially because we noticed that water was directly flowing over the fuse box, not to mention directly out of a light socket to which power had not been shut off. The three of us trooped down to the super's apartment and banged on the door for 10 minutes before he finally came to the door and agreed to call someone; but he didn't call a professional. All he did was call the upstairs people to see if they were running water; it turns out they had run a bath. They came downstairs to (get this) smell the water, to see if it was theirs, then left without saying a word to us. Finally at 2:30 in the morning the water stopped running. Raph had to get up for work today at 8 and we were all really tired and stressed, but we couldn't get to sleep so we all stayed up talking until 3:30.
Finally this morning someone came; we were so relieved. Until, that is, we found out it was a 90 year old man who (A) could barely make it up the step ladder to check the light fixture and (B) had been sent because they believe it's a (get this) problem with the lighting. Water pouring everywhere for 3 hours and they think it's a problem with the light. After a 10 minute investigation of god knows what they determined that it's probably not a problem with the light. Then half an hour later some plumbers (if they may be honoured with that title) came and spoke with Elo and the super; because there was no water running everywhere at the time they've decided everything is fine. In fact they don't even believe us that it was coming out of the walls, let alone pouring so quickly out of the light fixture. They said it's fine, investigated the apartment upstairs, and determined that there's no problem.
I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH BACKWARD THINKING AND I'M SO PISSED OFF I CAN BARELY SEE STRAIGHT.
Of course, the four hours of sleep we got aren't helping matters much.
Today at 6:30 when Raph gets off work, the three of us are going to go to the Nova Accomodations Office to discuss what we think is a very serious problem. None of us is comfortable living here now; not only because they won't actually fix the problem and don't believe there's a problem, but because we are really worried that the floor is going to cave in on us. For that much water to be pouring out everywhere, and because this also happened a year ago, I can only imagine the kind of rotting that is going on above our heads. We've been smelling a rotten smell for a few months now and finally know what it is. We just want out. So we're going to ask to be moved; hopefully they'll find me a single apartment closer to my new branch then all my problems will be solved. But none of us is thrilled at the prospect of picking up and potentially having to move in the next few days. I just won't stay in such a dangerous situation, especially in fear every day that (A) this water situation is going to happen again and (B) that one day the people upstairs are going to land in our living room.
Phew. Felt good to get that off my chest. I can't believe how stupid and blind these people are being. A fine example of how their tunnel vision works here. Grrr...  ¶ 6/10/2004 11:43:00 AM

  Sometimes all it takes is a little perspective . . .

It never fails; Jesse is constantly teaching me and helping me change my attitude about things. Case in point: yesterday before work I called him all bummed out because, as you know, I'm feeling a little homesick for my regular branch and not yet settled at the new one. I also said something about how I had to go to Kyoto for training and how I wasn't looking forward to that either. Well, Jess called me on it and said something like "do you even realize what you just said?" "You get to go to Kyoto for training. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" And he's right. Whatever happens, however sad I get about things, for better or worse I'm in Japan right now. JAPAN! With a great promotion I should be greatful for. I should be greatful about all of it, not already taking it for granted after only nine months. Sometimes it is all about perspective, and I'm greatful he gave me some.  ¶ 6/03/2004 01:38:00 PM

  Adaptation . . .

Well today was certainly interesting; I can't say I enjoyed the 2 hours of commuting I did! The new branch is really small and really . . . in a word, boring. There were 6 teachers and 3 Japanese staff there today; my other branch has 50 teachers and 25 Japanese staff. This is going to take a lot of getting used to!
The other AT there was really friendly and really helpful; most of the teachers were really friendly (they know I'll kick some major butt if they're not - HA HA!), apart from 2 whom I was warned about previously. Everything is sooo different; everything is organized differently, the atmosphere is different, I don't really like it. I know it's only my first day but I am feeling really homesick for all my friends. Also, I became really good friends with the Japanese staff at my other branch and the ones at this branch are a little icy. Who knows. I'm sure I'll adjust eventually and I'm trying to be positive; all change requires adaptation, right? In my life I've often chosen what's most comfortable and familiar and that's one of the things I came here to change. But changing isn't easy and right now I'm kinda miserable about all this. The best choices are always the hardest ones to make . . .  ¶ 6/02/2004 12:32:00 AM

  She tears up, but just a little bit . . .

I feel like things are never going to wind down! Here it's like once the momentum starts it never stops.
The other night Ali and I went out for dinner with my Japanese friends and they SHOWERED me with gifts to congratulate me for being promoted. They had their first Mexican food AND (you won't believe this) their first margueritas. After a few of those Ali and I taught them some choice English expressions and, needless to say, laughed hysterically to hear them say them. (We did have to remind them a few times that they weren't necessarily APPROPRIATE expressions, as there were lots of foreigners in the restaurant who could hear them).
Last night I went to a staff party and drank waaayyy too much (sensing a pattern?!) and stayed out waaayyy too late. When I say I drank too much, I mean it. Not a typical Meegan overdoes it night (3 drinks) but much worse. In fact, when we left the first place to go to the second place, I lost everyone somehow and (this is the God's honest truth) called Jesse at 2 in the morning to ask him where I was. Like he could tell me from the other side of the world, but it seemed logical at the time!
Needless to say, I wasn't too excited about going to work today; not only because I felt like crap but because it was my last day at my home branch. My day was incredibly busy and I got to do my first OBS/Feedback (observe a lesson, then give the teacher feedback). The guy ended up behaving like a jackass (a pattern apparently, hence the extra OBS session), which ended up creating miles of paperwork for me and endless meetings with the powers that be. The really cool thing about today though was that during an AT gathering our AAM came in to discuss some things and he asked me to recommend some teachers for the next round of CAT training. It felt soooo cool to be included; not a big deal kind of meeting, but I kept thinking "any minute now he'll ask me to step outside for a minute while they discuss whatever it is they have to discuss." But that didn't happen because this time I was supposed to be there! Woo hoo!
Anyway, after a long and emotional day, one of the Japanese staff members started to cry, gave me a big hug, told me she loves me, and told me to stop by any time to visit. Naturally, I lost it. After holding it in all day that finally did it! Now I'm off into the world with new wings, leaving behind my comfy-cozy zone and heading off into the wild blue yonder. In all seriousness, this is the school I've been at since I got here so of course I'm sad and apprehensive about leaving. But I know great things are in store for me and I know change promotes growth - it's one of the reasons I came to Japan in the first place.
That's it for now!! As it's been such a long day, I'm off to bed now. TTYL!!  ¶ 6/01/2004 12:07:00 AM