hot-n-fun

Yesterday, I went to the fire station to "teach" English for 50 minutes. HA! It was the sh-t. I not only sighted some eyecandy but got to go up the ladder thing, I think 30m high? I went up the ladder thing with Kei-san and she was freaking out but taking pictures! ha ha, I just waved and said hi to the city... and to the firemen who were taking pictures for us.

I also ate lunch with the firemen who served loco moco! I admit, I liked the food even though loco moco isn't my cup tea. I'm going again today... this time with Jacky! cheeepono~

Should be double the fun.

Funnnnnn.

Real Stuff

Paid my bills today (gas, electricity, water). That's right. I'm paying bills! It was unbelievably easy. Just take the stuff you get in the mail and pay at the bank. Also took some money out of the ATM that had no English option. I didn't even use the dictionary on my phone! It was either intuition or I recognized some Kanji. I'd like to believe the latter.

Cooking for breakfast is getting better. Today I had some rice, eggs, miso soup, and some side dishes. I also cooked dinner. I think I can do this . . For tomorrow's breakfast, I'll have some toast with eggs, and cereal & soy milk. Bought multivitamins today too. Wish I can read the Japanese instructions on how many to take a day.

I need to exercise more. Maybe go out for a bike ride around the neighborhood. Might do that tomorrow. I also need to figure out how to study Japanese. Obviously I'll get some listening down at work, kanji from the genki book etc etc. but which one should I put more emphasis on?

Probably speaking, vocab & grammar but I need a solid studying pattern or structure so I can actually concentrate and put some real effort in it. At the moment I'm just fiddling with my genki book, looking up some kanji here and there, but that's not enough . . for my taste. It's all good though. I'll sort everything out, eventually.

Homie

Time to update. A lot has happened since the last post. It's weird to reread your old posts and try to recollect what happened after your most recent post. To sum it all up, all's been good. Saw Aoshima beach, shrine, & the bridge... there were lots of dragonflies, and imported sand. Rode the train for the first time to get there & saw the country side on the way. Jacky cooked that night. And then I cooked on Sunday night. That was my Sat & Sun...

On Friday though, it was much more exciting. I visited one of my schools and met up with one of the English teachers who invited me to her family dinner party! She picked me up from my apt and we drove to her place to park the car. I met her family, and then we walked like less than a block to go to her sister's place　where I met her 2 sisters and their husbands, and children. I also met the grandparents! Food was so good. There was sushi, radish salad (I think I'm gonna make this in the future), special fried chicken (grandma had her secret recipe; I think it was something like miso), homemade okonomiyage!!, anddd BULGOGI. Ha ha, that's right. One of the sisters made Bulgogi for me! She learned it from her Korean friend in Canada. There were lettuce grown by the grandparents to top it all off. Man... these people were awesome.

And it gets better. After the food & drinks (ya, drinks..Had some beer & wine), I played with the kids. Their English was good because they could understand what I was saying most of the time! Of course, I spoke extra clearly and loudly, but man... I was impressed. I was even able to teach them how to play rich man poor man. I also learned a number of Japanese card games. It was so much fun. Just like that, 3 hrs passed　and it was time for me to go and the kids wanted to take pictures with me so I posed with a peace sign like a real Asian ha ha. And then............ this is the best part: grandma gave me a hug and presents- green peppers from her farm, and cute Japanese bookmarks.
Thanks grandma! I'll cook something good with those. (;

So much more to this, but I can't put them into words here. Where's the Pensieve?


Time seem to go faster as I get older. The other day, I was thinking about what I did in HS, and even in college (I was looking through polaroid pics as I was putting them up in the living room). It's all a blur. Did I actually go through HS and graduate from college? And now I'm in Japan... What if in a couple of years back in the states, I get the same feeling? That'd make me sigh and feel super nostalgic. Ew. I need to stop zoning out and refocus. Cool.

More Officeitis?

I had really good Indian food for lunch today. Kristen senpai was nice enough to accompany us to the restaurantwhich was down the street from the center. Then we went to the convenience store to pick up some green tea. Eatingout is super convenient and good but can be expensive... I need to start learning how to pack my own lunch. Ugh.

After lunch, senpai gave us a comprehensive tour and even demonstrated her self-introduction lesson. Today was a reallyproductive day! I'm saying that as I type this entry out during the office hour. That's a bit of officeitis for you. Approximately an hour left to go. Can't wait til school starts.

New ALTs arrived today. Jaclyn and I agreed that our office is full of beach people: Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, California, & Miami. We are diverse! Cool. I might finally learn how to surf... in Miyazaki.

"Peto"

Goodbye Peto. I hardly knew you...

Posting a quick update to commemorate (?) Peto's passing. Peto was one of the fish I got from the summer festival that was dead when I came back from work. Poor Pura was struggling next to Peto. I may sound super calm right now because many hours have passed since but when I first found the fish dead, I literally freaked out. The first thing that came to my mind was how I would have to remove the dead fish and flush it down the toilet and make sure the live one doesn't get out. Dear God. Also just thinking about having to touch anything dead and slimy makes me cringe...

Of course I couldn't do it so I called Jaclyn and she came over to help me. Thank you!!! In the future though (perhaps when Pura has to go), I'm gonna have to do it myself. Oh Pura, please be healthy!

Oh, also had a fantastic dinner. Jaclyn cooked Gnocchi which was really good!

Haven't updated in awhile . . and a lot has happened since I left Tokyo and got to Miyazaki. I signed up for the foreigner registration, bank account, and a cellphone plan (got an iphone!). Thanks to the ALT senpai, William (PhD ha ha) and Kieran! You guys are great! I also shopped for my apartment at the mall. Got some pretty sheets, pillows, and a rice cooker (don't know how to use it though) etc etc . . The mall has everything I need including a store that sells foreign food . . sweet.

Today was the summer festival at Tachibana dori (actually it was this past weekend; I started writing this entry a few days ago). I went over to the office with Jaclyn to meet up with the office people who prepared yukata for us! I can't put into words how hospitable these people at the office are! For instance, Tako-san had already set up my electricity bill stuff before I even asked her for help with the paperwork that my predecessor left behind. Kei-san made our business cards when we had just arrived! . . These people are really really nice. Anyway, we changed into yukata and joined the parade that went on at the Tachibana street. It was great. Although it was a bit humid and hot, we managed to "dance" by watching other people. By dancing, it was just waving your arms and taking a few steps... sort of like the thriller dance, but not really. I wish I can thoroughly explain how the whole thing (the matsuri) went down. Basically, public servants and business people (including the Miyazaki City bank wokers!) dressed up in nice traditional clothes or costumes parading through the biggest street in the prefecture... while people watched them and ate street food.

After the parade and the dancing, we went to a izakaya for a office party. I had some sweet potato wine or shochu. Who knew that shochu can be made from sweet potato! I mostly enjoyed asahi beer. After the izakaya, we walked through the matsuri (just when they were wrapping up) and stopped at the fish game tent thing where I caught two goldfish! They are still at my apartment,　alive and well.

Today, I signed up for the internet...which will be installed on the 21st. Geeeez. Wish I can get it sooner but oh wells. You have to wait a long time for a lot of the things in Japan (for instance, cellphones and bank accounts). I have 2 more hours at the office. Got a number of things I want to accomplish after work like learning how to use the washing machine and the rice cooker that I bought a few days ago. I wish I had a Japanese friend who could help me figure those things out... time to go knock on my neighbors’ doors and make some friends! Tomodachi?