Japan_Bound
Friday, October 29, 2004
The Land of Natural Disasters . . .
I'm sure most of you have seen news reports about all the stuff going down here; it's been an interesting week and a half, that's for sure, but we're totally fine. Last Wednesday we had a HUGE typhoon which did the most damage in Kyoto, so we had a lot of worried phone calls from home. Actually our area didn't sustain any damage; the only bad thing that happened that night is that Jesse's bike was stolen right outside our front door. He now has a new bike and will be punished within an inch of his life if he ever forgets the key in the lock again!
Also, in the past few days, Niigata has suffered a chain of earthquakes, causing more worried phone calls from home. Not to worry; Niigata is nowhere near us and we didn't feel a thing. We have had several small earthquakes but nothing to worry about. I really feel sorry for the people of Niigata; it's a mostly rural area with the majority of its residents being retirees and seniors. Niigata is also expecting the "Big One" soon, prompting everyone to think this recent cluster of earthquakes is forecasting something bigger and much worse. Rest assured, we'll be quick to keep you informed of any and all events; hell, last month when we had the HUGE earthquake here I was on the phone with my mom, so she got instant access to the goings-on!
Apart from all that excitement, there's nothing really new to report. On Sunday Jesse and I went to Kitayama to see the Hallowe'en light-up festival with Natsue and Yumi; the streets were lined with jack-o-lanterns that people had carved and displayed all over the city. We've seen a bunch of movies in the theater recently, the best one being "I Robot" which I really liked. No luck for Jess in the job-hunting department; all the jobs he's found require atleast a bachelor's degree so his search continues. My job is insanely busy and my boss has decided not to send another trainer to my school because he's happy with my efforts; ofcourse I'm thrilled that he's happy, but I'm so swamped-at least the days pass by quickly. We don't have any Hallowe'en plans yet and Jess has been searching everywhere for pumpkins to carve (he's a Hallowe'en freak, in case you didn't know). Can't help remembering 2 Hallowe'ens ago at the house when Jesse and Sean were making mini-bombs with the fireworks and exploding pumpkins all over our street (the neighbors were thrilled, I'm sure). I don't think shenanigans like that occur here. Finally, I have a new phone and have emailed my new phone # and address to everyone; better mail me so I feel loved!! ;)
Nothing else to report, so will post again when we have news! Take care!
I'm sure most of you have seen news reports about all the stuff going down here; it's been an interesting week and a half, that's for sure, but we're totally fine. Last Wednesday we had a HUGE typhoon which did the most damage in Kyoto, so we had a lot of worried phone calls from home. Actually our area didn't sustain any damage; the only bad thing that happened that night is that Jesse's bike was stolen right outside our front door. He now has a new bike and will be punished within an inch of his life if he ever forgets the key in the lock again!
Also, in the past few days, Niigata has suffered a chain of earthquakes, causing more worried phone calls from home. Not to worry; Niigata is nowhere near us and we didn't feel a thing. We have had several small earthquakes but nothing to worry about. I really feel sorry for the people of Niigata; it's a mostly rural area with the majority of its residents being retirees and seniors. Niigata is also expecting the "Big One" soon, prompting everyone to think this recent cluster of earthquakes is forecasting something bigger and much worse. Rest assured, we'll be quick to keep you informed of any and all events; hell, last month when we had the HUGE earthquake here I was on the phone with my mom, so she got instant access to the goings-on!
Apart from all that excitement, there's nothing really new to report. On Sunday Jesse and I went to Kitayama to see the Hallowe'en light-up festival with Natsue and Yumi; the streets were lined with jack-o-lanterns that people had carved and displayed all over the city. We've seen a bunch of movies in the theater recently, the best one being "I Robot" which I really liked. No luck for Jess in the job-hunting department; all the jobs he's found require atleast a bachelor's degree so his search continues. My job is insanely busy and my boss has decided not to send another trainer to my school because he's happy with my efforts; ofcourse I'm thrilled that he's happy, but I'm so swamped-at least the days pass by quickly. We don't have any Hallowe'en plans yet and Jess has been searching everywhere for pumpkins to carve (he's a Hallowe'en freak, in case you didn't know). Can't help remembering 2 Hallowe'ens ago at the house when Jesse and Sean were making mini-bombs with the fireworks and exploding pumpkins all over our street (the neighbors were thrilled, I'm sure). I don't think shenanigans like that occur here. Finally, I have a new phone and have emailed my new phone # and address to everyone; better mail me so I feel loved!! ;)
Nothing else to report, so will post again when we have news! Take care!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Job Hunting . . .
Not for me, for Jess! Now that we have the internet it'll be alot easier for Jess to job hunt. I'm off for three 1/2 days right now - thank God - so I'm going to help him with his resume and stuff. I don't think we're going to do anything too exciting over the next few days as I am pretty exhausted from having worked three weeks straight with no day off. Of course there's the usual stuff, like laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, . . . blah blah blah. That may or may not get done, but if you're reading this mom, the house is spotless so don't worry ;) !!
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and, as I requested same time last year, ate some extra turkey and pie just for us. Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of heating up a frozen packet of fried rice; well excuse me, I've been working like a fiend with no respite!
Recently we went out with a bunch of my work friends to a yakiniku restaurant - a cool place where you load up plates with meat, veggies etc. and then cook the actual food on gas grills at your own table! It was all you can eat, so needless to say we ate A LOT of beef - it was absolutely delicious but the next day I felt soooo gross that all I ate was some ice cream. It'll be a while before I can even think about eating meat again. Check out this fun yakiniku game; albinoblacksheep.com also has lots of funny stuff all about Japan.
Jesse's just ventured into Kyoto city to change some of his traveller's cheques and I'm about to sort through all my clothes - time to put the summer stuff away and pull the winter stuff out as it's getting pretty cool now. Finally, a respite from that insane heat/humidity. Outside our house and all around our neighborhood it smells very strongly of some sweet fruit; we can't figure out where the smell is coming from but it smells good. Maybe there's an illegal distillery in someone's garage? Will let you know if we find out. Take care and TTYL!
Not for me, for Jess! Now that we have the internet it'll be alot easier for Jess to job hunt. I'm off for three 1/2 days right now - thank God - so I'm going to help him with his resume and stuff. I don't think we're going to do anything too exciting over the next few days as I am pretty exhausted from having worked three weeks straight with no day off. Of course there's the usual stuff, like laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, . . . blah blah blah. That may or may not get done, but if you're reading this mom, the house is spotless so don't worry ;) !!
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and, as I requested same time last year, ate some extra turkey and pie just for us. Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of heating up a frozen packet of fried rice; well excuse me, I've been working like a fiend with no respite!
Recently we went out with a bunch of my work friends to a yakiniku restaurant - a cool place where you load up plates with meat, veggies etc. and then cook the actual food on gas grills at your own table! It was all you can eat, so needless to say we ate A LOT of beef - it was absolutely delicious but the next day I felt soooo gross that all I ate was some ice cream. It'll be a while before I can even think about eating meat again. Check out this fun yakiniku game; albinoblacksheep.com also has lots of funny stuff all about Japan.
Jesse's just ventured into Kyoto city to change some of his traveller's cheques and I'm about to sort through all my clothes - time to put the summer stuff away and pull the winter stuff out as it's getting pretty cool now. Finally, a respite from that insane heat/humidity. Outside our house and all around our neighborhood it smells very strongly of some sweet fruit; we can't figure out where the smell is coming from but it smells good. Maybe there's an illegal distillery in someone's garage? Will let you know if we find out. Take care and TTYL!
Friday, October 08, 2004
I'm ba-aaack!!!...
I'm sure you've missed my frequent updates, and I've missed having an internet connection with which to update all my fans. I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath to hear all about Jesse's arrival and how he's been doing; in short he's been having a great time (I'm speaking for him here - perhaps he hates it and is afraid to tell me HA HA). Misses the band obviously, but has already made a bunch of memories that will have us laughing well into old age. As we've done ALOT in the past month this update will be in note form; enjoy! And remember that highlighted words (in blue or purple??) are links you can click on for more information.
* Jesse's arrival on September 9th was undoubtedly one of the most exciting days of my life; obviously. My friends all recommended a certain train for getting to Kansai airport from Kyoto station, so I took their advice - and ended up spending about 60 bucks GRRR. So although it was a direct route and the most convenient, I knew we weren't going to spend another $120 just to get home. After greeting Jess at the gate (and not being able to give him as big a hug as I wanted due to his having decided before he left to get his nipples pierced), we took the OCAT bus to Namba, the Midosuji subway to Umeda (where I made him wait so I could buy a DVD player that plays burned movies), and the JR Kyoto train to our home station. As I had ridden my bike to the station I put Jesse in a cab with his luggage, gave the cabbie our address, and rode home to meet Jess at the house. This was his first experience dealing with the language barrier, as the cabbie couldn't find the house and Jesse couldn't help because he (a) can't speak Japanese or understand it and (b) had never been to the house and didn't know how to get there. Eventually he made it, took what he says was the best and most needed shower of his life, nose dived into his futon, and slept for about 20 hours. He spent the next few days relaxing and recovering from his jet lag, exploring our neighbourhood, and learning a few Japanese expressions (the most useful, obviously - beeru and arigato (thankyou)). The rest has been a whirlwind of the following:
*we had dinner in Osaka at my favourite Thai restaurant with my best Japanese girlfriends, Natsue and Yumi. Afterwards they took us to the top of the Umeda Sky Building which has an amazing 360* view of the entire city of Osaka - a must-see for any visitor to the city. Really, it was the most breathtaking view I've ever seen.
*we've done a lot of bike-riding around our neighbourhood; Jess often accompanies me to the train station before work, and anywhere we go around here we go on bike. I love it; I hadn't ridden a bike since I was 13 and actually look for excuses to go out for bike rides now. We often get caught in torrential downpours and we've gotten lost a few times, but it's really fun.
*we went to a huge party in Shinsaibashi for Doug's birthday; a friend of mine from my first Nova branch (Umeda Honko). There Jess met and immediately hit it off with an Australian guy with whom he has plans to check out some Australian football some time.
*we've checked out a bunch of temples so far, Kiyomizu being the most notable because it's perched overlooking a cliff and where the entire mountainside is covered with 1000's of gravestones as far as the eye can see in every direction. This wasn't Jesse's favourite though because it was packed with tourists and a little crowded. The highlight of that trip for me was happening upon a group of Geisha AND men dressed as Geisha, some of whom posed with me for a picture right before a HUGE thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere (it was a perfect day for me!). That day we also checked out a bunch of highschool brass bands performing at JR Kyoto station (a breathtaking architectual wonder). The week before I took Jess to Gion in Kyoto where I also got some amazing shots of the geisha walking around; I have a thing for geisha and can't get enough! Poor guy had to walk up and down the street with me for an hour and a half waiting for them to start heading for the teahouses where they work.
*every day I had been parking my bike outside our local pachinko parlour right outside our station. And every day I found notices on my bike; I thought these were ads for the bike parkade next door hoping I'd park there and give them my money. As it turns out, the notices were warnings from the local police that I was about to have my bike impounded if I didn't stop parking there (along with about 100 of the locals!). Anyway, the worst happened - I got off the train one night to discover that my bike was gone. It would have cost about $200 just to take a cab to the place where it had been impounded, so Jess, being the generous soul that he is, took me out and bought me a brand new bike that same night. And, needless to say, I have learned my lesson and now pay the 150 yen/day to park my bike in the parkade.
*last week while I was out grocery shopping the neighbours invited Jesse out for some drinks. They had about as much English as he has Japanese, but he ended up having an amazing time with them, meeting their friends, being taken to hidden little bars down back-alleys, and eventually they all ended up at a karaoke bar where - you won't believe this Barb - Jesse ended up singing karaoke all night.
*last Saturday we went to a work party in Takatsuki (two stops from my work; where I house sat in the summer) where I proceeded to drink WAAAAYYY too much. This was followed by a trip to the karaoke bar with a group of about 40 people, where we proceeded to drink even more and sang our faces off until I informed Jess that it was time to go NOW. Fortunately we just made the last train home where I proceeded to spend the next hour puking. Jesse held my hair, the sweet lad. The next day I wanted to kill myself, rather than go to work, but obviously I survived to tell about it (it was a close call).
*we've done alot of random stuff, like train it into Osaka to have dinner a few times and check out Virgin Records for English CD's, and I feel like we're dating again (or, rather for the first time because we never really dated perse) - it's been really wonderful having my boy here. I never have to come home to an empty house, I have someone to hold my hair while I puke, there are random socks and boxers scattered all over the place so I now have stuff to bitch about again ;); in general I just kind-a like having him around and my experience here has taken on a whole new life of its own.
*work has been CRAZY busy. When I say crazy I mean insanely, outrageously, extremely, I want to rip-out-my-hair-and-scream-for-my-momma CRAZY. Nova has just entirely changed its text books and lesson format which means I have had HEAPS of paperwork, training, organizing, book-keeping etc. etc. etc. to do. On the bright side, I'm always so busy that the days are flying by really quickly. And I feel really rewarded by the fact that I'm taking care of all these major changes by myself and doing not too bad a job of it, if I do say so! My boss called the other day before he left on vacation to tell me I'm doing a fantastic job and they really appreciate all my efforts to blah blah blah . . . I'll stop bragging now but you get the picture. Also, he was thinking of sending another AT or Trainer to my branch so I don't have to do everything alone, but he's decided not to because he's happy with my performance thus far. Yeah baby; I was meant for this! However, I am still giving some thought to trying a job at a highschool starting in January; I think it would be a good experience to try something new for starters, and to have a chance to be the kind of teacher who has to plan a curriculum and mark tests and stuff.
Phew...that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll think of a million other things to tell you once I sign off but I'm pooped and should head off to bed. Take care and I'll be back soon! Jesse says hi everyone! :)
I'm sure you've missed my frequent updates, and I've missed having an internet connection with which to update all my fans. I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath to hear all about Jesse's arrival and how he's been doing; in short he's been having a great time (I'm speaking for him here - perhaps he hates it and is afraid to tell me HA HA). Misses the band obviously, but has already made a bunch of memories that will have us laughing well into old age. As we've done ALOT in the past month this update will be in note form; enjoy! And remember that highlighted words (in blue or purple??) are links you can click on for more information.
* Jesse's arrival on September 9th was undoubtedly one of the most exciting days of my life; obviously. My friends all recommended a certain train for getting to Kansai airport from Kyoto station, so I took their advice - and ended up spending about 60 bucks GRRR. So although it was a direct route and the most convenient, I knew we weren't going to spend another $120 just to get home. After greeting Jess at the gate (and not being able to give him as big a hug as I wanted due to his having decided before he left to get his nipples pierced), we took the OCAT bus to Namba, the Midosuji subway to Umeda (where I made him wait so I could buy a DVD player that plays burned movies), and the JR Kyoto train to our home station. As I had ridden my bike to the station I put Jesse in a cab with his luggage, gave the cabbie our address, and rode home to meet Jess at the house. This was his first experience dealing with the language barrier, as the cabbie couldn't find the house and Jesse couldn't help because he (a) can't speak Japanese or understand it and (b) had never been to the house and didn't know how to get there. Eventually he made it, took what he says was the best and most needed shower of his life, nose dived into his futon, and slept for about 20 hours. He spent the next few days relaxing and recovering from his jet lag, exploring our neighbourhood, and learning a few Japanese expressions (the most useful, obviously - beeru and arigato (thankyou)). The rest has been a whirlwind of the following:
*we had dinner in Osaka at my favourite Thai restaurant with my best Japanese girlfriends, Natsue and Yumi. Afterwards they took us to the top of the Umeda Sky Building which has an amazing 360* view of the entire city of Osaka - a must-see for any visitor to the city. Really, it was the most breathtaking view I've ever seen.
*we've done a lot of bike-riding around our neighbourhood; Jess often accompanies me to the train station before work, and anywhere we go around here we go on bike. I love it; I hadn't ridden a bike since I was 13 and actually look for excuses to go out for bike rides now. We often get caught in torrential downpours and we've gotten lost a few times, but it's really fun.
*we went to a huge party in Shinsaibashi for Doug's birthday; a friend of mine from my first Nova branch (Umeda Honko). There Jess met and immediately hit it off with an Australian guy with whom he has plans to check out some Australian football some time.
*we've checked out a bunch of temples so far, Kiyomizu being the most notable because it's perched overlooking a cliff and where the entire mountainside is covered with 1000's of gravestones as far as the eye can see in every direction. This wasn't Jesse's favourite though because it was packed with tourists and a little crowded. The highlight of that trip for me was happening upon a group of Geisha AND men dressed as Geisha, some of whom posed with me for a picture right before a HUGE thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere (it was a perfect day for me!). That day we also checked out a bunch of highschool brass bands performing at JR Kyoto station (a breathtaking architectual wonder). The week before I took Jess to Gion in Kyoto where I also got some amazing shots of the geisha walking around; I have a thing for geisha and can't get enough! Poor guy had to walk up and down the street with me for an hour and a half waiting for them to start heading for the teahouses where they work.
*every day I had been parking my bike outside our local pachinko parlour right outside our station. And every day I found notices on my bike; I thought these were ads for the bike parkade next door hoping I'd park there and give them my money. As it turns out, the notices were warnings from the local police that I was about to have my bike impounded if I didn't stop parking there (along with about 100 of the locals!). Anyway, the worst happened - I got off the train one night to discover that my bike was gone. It would have cost about $200 just to take a cab to the place where it had been impounded, so Jess, being the generous soul that he is, took me out and bought me a brand new bike that same night. And, needless to say, I have learned my lesson and now pay the 150 yen/day to park my bike in the parkade.
*last week while I was out grocery shopping the neighbours invited Jesse out for some drinks. They had about as much English as he has Japanese, but he ended up having an amazing time with them, meeting their friends, being taken to hidden little bars down back-alleys, and eventually they all ended up at a karaoke bar where - you won't believe this Barb - Jesse ended up singing karaoke all night.
*last Saturday we went to a work party in Takatsuki (two stops from my work; where I house sat in the summer) where I proceeded to drink WAAAAYYY too much. This was followed by a trip to the karaoke bar with a group of about 40 people, where we proceeded to drink even more and sang our faces off until I informed Jess that it was time to go NOW. Fortunately we just made the last train home where I proceeded to spend the next hour puking. Jesse held my hair, the sweet lad. The next day I wanted to kill myself, rather than go to work, but obviously I survived to tell about it (it was a close call).
*we've done alot of random stuff, like train it into Osaka to have dinner a few times and check out Virgin Records for English CD's, and I feel like we're dating again (or, rather for the first time because we never really dated perse) - it's been really wonderful having my boy here. I never have to come home to an empty house, I have someone to hold my hair while I puke, there are random socks and boxers scattered all over the place so I now have stuff to bitch about again ;); in general I just kind-a like having him around and my experience here has taken on a whole new life of its own.
*work has been CRAZY busy. When I say crazy I mean insanely, outrageously, extremely, I want to rip-out-my-hair-and-scream-for-my-momma CRAZY. Nova has just entirely changed its text books and lesson format which means I have had HEAPS of paperwork, training, organizing, book-keeping etc. etc. etc. to do. On the bright side, I'm always so busy that the days are flying by really quickly. And I feel really rewarded by the fact that I'm taking care of all these major changes by myself and doing not too bad a job of it, if I do say so! My boss called the other day before he left on vacation to tell me I'm doing a fantastic job and they really appreciate all my efforts to blah blah blah . . . I'll stop bragging now but you get the picture. Also, he was thinking of sending another AT or Trainer to my branch so I don't have to do everything alone, but he's decided not to because he's happy with my performance thus far. Yeah baby; I was meant for this! However, I am still giving some thought to trying a job at a highschool starting in January; I think it would be a good experience to try something new for starters, and to have a chance to be the kind of teacher who has to plan a curriculum and mark tests and stuff.
Phew...that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll think of a million other things to tell you once I sign off but I'm pooped and should head off to bed. Take care and I'll be back soon! Jesse says hi everyone! :)
