Shimane Art Show!

Ah, even though it’s about my bedtime to get ready for another week of school (almost graduation!), I just want to write a quick blog about the “Through Foreign Eyes” art show that went down this weekend in “the Big Pine” (aka Matsue). First things first, let’s show some pics:

My piece! "I Say 'Hello'"

I decided to showcase some hand-drawn art for the exhibit instead of photography, and I was pretty nervous about it. Like, incredibly, ultra, superduper nervous. I’ve only been in three art classes my entire life, in 1st grade, 7th grade, and my last quarter at OSU, and although I like to sketch and doodle a bunch, I’ve never showcased a piece before. And I also decided to try it in a style I’ve never really done before AND with color, which I have close to zero experience in. YEAH. I sure do make things easy for myself. But I had already committed to the idea, bought a canvas and markers, and was going to just barrel right on through it. The process was long and tedious (every single color and marker line is a “hello,” just an fyi) and I definitely got frustrated at many points because it didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted. But in the end, I was content with it. If I hadn’t procrastinated and had time, I would’ve done another piece with just the word goodbye, buuuuut whatcanyado.

So leading up to the show, I was increasingly anxious. I was worried it wouldn’t be as good as other peoples’ in the show. Visitors would ignore it. I’ve done better drawings in the past. I should’nt’ve have done a face portrait, but something else instead. This was the wrong time to try a new style if I was worrying about it as much as I was. Yes, I was a ball of fun. It was great to help set-up the show on Friday night and hang out with other people as we put up everything, because my piece was finally up on a wall and at that point, there was really nothing left for me to do. The location was awesome because the art gallery was in an old bank, and our show was in a bank vault with the big thick doors and everything! Even that came with a little surprise, as I noticed the vault doors were made in Hamilton, Ohio, maybe 10-15 minutes from my house!

Seriously, what from Hamilton would ever make it actually OUTSIDE of Hamilton?

I was scheduled to be at the show on Sunday morning, so Saturday was spent skyping, shopping, and cleaning. On a random side note, I bought my first manga in Japanese that I will attempt to read! It’s gonna be a bitch, but I need some more practice other than repetitive kanji writing at my desk.

So Sunday rolled around and it was showtime (at least, for me to see). There was no crazy rush of people, which I expected, but we maybe had 40-50 people in the few hours I volunteered. Some people just breezed through most of the exhibit, but most people carefully paused at each person’s submission. In the first hour, one group of 4 girls came in and did the typical Japanese, “Heeee?! Sugoi!” (Whaaat? Wow!) when they looked closely at my work and I felt relief. I know art can be something for the artist to treasure and “screw anyone who doesn’t appreciate it” mentality at times, but for me, that was such a great moment to see people’s reactions and have them enjoy this thing that I created on my own. But my absolute favorite moment was when a mother and her little daughter came in. The little girl was being held up riiiiiight next to the piece and just wanted to see EVERY different part of it, from the eyes, hair, lips, and nose, and reached out to touch it. That made me feel on top of the world. Even though I could criticize myself all day and night and wish I had done it better or even completely re-do it if I had time, for this little girl, it made her so excited that I couldn’t ask for anything better.

So… yeah. As for the final fate of the piece, I’m going to hang it up in my English room at school and see if it gets another reaction there. Maybe. Then probably burn it. <_< The happy feelings only last so long.

Tricia Goes to a Salon (Or: How Japanese people are obsessed with my hair)

Okay! I’m back in business! I didn’t really feel like writing a blog last weekend, although it was a ton of fun (went to Hiroshima, met up with a couple of friends from Shiga-ken, and snowboarded!) because it was basically going to be a post about “HEEEEY MY FRIENDS AND I ARE LIKE, SO COOL AND WE HAD LIKE, SO MUCH FUN”….Meh, wasn’t in the mood for it. Though it was still awesome. And my friends and I are so cool. And we had so much fun.

BUT ANYWAY.

This weekend was the Naked Man Festival in Okayama, which I originally signed up for (uh, as a spectator, not a participant) but after looking at my pretty packed schedule in March, I decided this weekend will be using for relaxing and (maybe) art-ing. So that left me plenty of time to go and get a perm, of course!

I’ve decided to grow out my hair a little bit while here in Japan because it’s always been relatively short. But my hair is so straight and fine that it gets boring. Really fast. But I saw/heard about digital perms that are pretty common here in Japan and also Korea. It basically gives that curling-iron look and is made for hair like mine (and uh, Asians). And since I got paid on Friday (yeeeeah rock on, salary living), I headed over to Ange Salon. Now, first, let me explain that it appears that Japanese women are more obsessed with hair/hair salons than a sorority girl and happy hour margaritas. Salons are everywhere it seems like. They also look like cafes weirdly enough. But whatever. Point is, there are about 3 hair places per block in Matsue alone, so I ended up picking the one next to the kendo store I’ve stopped at a couple of times. Also, it’s an “organic” salon. Not sure what that really means, but it looked cute and professional.

So first, I filled out a little form with my name, address, how I found them, hobbies, blood type, medical history, whether I preferred chocolate or vanilla….nah, just kidding about the last three, but I felt like I was applying and submitting my resume for my perm. Then my stylist Shun took me a consultation room and asked me what I wanted and showed me some pictures, etc. etc. Then started to play with my hair, lifting sections up, and telling me how pretty my hair was. I thought it was sweet, so I thanked him, and then he left. And then the other guy working came in and starting playing with my hair. …then the last girl working ALSO decided to give it a whirl at my hair. Seriously, it was a little strange. They REALLY liked my hair.

I was then ushered to the shampooing room, complete with really big, soft, leather reclining chairs. Needless to say, I enjoyed the chair. While Shun was washing my hair, he put a little towel over my face, maybe to avoid the awkward eye contact while he’s working, who knows. I also got a scalp massage thrown in, so I’m not complaining about a towel. Hell, he could’ve put a piece of ham on my face, I would’ve been fine with it if he massaged my head. The whole time, I was thinking, “Oh god, don’t make one of those happy moans because it feels so good, don’t be known as ‘that creepy foreigner,’ muststayquiet.” Who knew I was also paying for a test of my self-control? O_o

After that, I was herded into my salon chair, given a trim, and then proceeded to have a slew of various oils and gels applied to my hair. One of the gels smelled like kitty litter. Kiiiiinda wish I was kidding. But it was like a 3-way buddy system approach on behalf of the staff. Shun started with some oil, then Other Guy came in with some other stuff, then Other Girl was there in the wings with the kitty litter gel. As far as I could tell, other two customers weren’t receiving the Tag Team Special, so once again….is it just because of my gaijin hair? No idea. Then back to the washing room (woo hoo!) and then it was time for the curlers and The Halo. I’ve dubbed it the Halo because the perm machine looked like this:

Yeah, the super cool caption is definitely not mine. Ignore that.

And the curlers were connected with black cords. Felt like Medusa a little. So I hung out there for a while, reading my kindle and drinking organic black tea (which, despite my italics usage, was incredibly delicious) and a little cake. I made some small talk with Shun, with the typical battery of questions: Where I’m from, how long have I been here, how long do I plan to stay, what I do…I got these answers down in Japanese like a boss. Then it was time for washing, round three and a shoulder massage (seriously, by this point, the test for self-control was just turning into bloody marathon) and then blow-dry and TA DA!

It was a little more expensive than I expected (then again, never done a perm before)…about $130. But I definitely enjoyed my time there and can get used to going periodically. I’ll be spoiled by the time I return home.

Okay, it’s time to peace out (get it? I did a peace sign in my photo? hahahahahaikillmyself). But until next time!

Tricia

Soba-makin’ and Skyline-servin’

Well, I figured it’s been a while since I posted and whatnot…although, life hasn’t been too exciting recently! It was blissfully warmer and sunnier for a solid 4 days which felt nice, but now it’s back to the single digits (in Celsius, of course) and cloudy. D: Needless to say, winter is driving me nuts and I’m ready for spring!

But I’ve found a couple of ways to stay sane…mostly the pool and kendo. Plus Modern Family. And my Kindle (p.s if you have good reading recommendations, I’m sooo open to those right now…my last three book choices have been duds. But at least Sherlock Holmes is saving the day at the moment.) But this past Sunday was fun-filled and full of food (try saying that 5 times fast)!

I met up with Tash from Unnan and Jesus from Izumo at SATY (it’s a mall), which I think had every single person in Shimane shopping at the same time, as it was impossible to park. We met with a woman who kept thinking my name was Taisha, which I guess is a combination of Tash and Tricia. She then led our little car caravan to Tamatsukuri, where we went to a little community center to learn to make soba noodles. Granted, we were over an hour late by this point, but we were greeted with hearty applause so I guess we weren’t that much of an inconvenience. We started off eating the soba that had already just been made, and then it was time to get to work.

First, the dough was made with buckwheat flour and egg and smooshed together in a big stone bowl. Then we had to roll out the dough thin and even:

Roll it out

Seriously, with a rolling pin that big, you know they mean business. Then the dough was folded a few times and it was time to cut!

choppity, chop chop, choppity chop chop, look at huge blade o' death go....

Chopping was a lot harder than it looked…you had to cut and push the blade forward at the same time, then lean the knife to the left a little so the just-cut noodle is completely separated from the dough block and repeat over…and over…and over again. But hey, I still enjoyed it. After that, the noodles are put in boiling water to cook while stirring it with 3-foot long chopsticks (awwwyeah I need some of those). Some of the older men there were trying to tell me about the main chef working, but kept saying “pika pika” over and over again and laughing. I still have no idea what that means besides the sounds Pikachu makes. Bu soon we got to enjoy our food!

It's okay....be jealous

We got to take some home as leftovers as well. I didn’t eat much of mine while we were there because I had to leave soon for Fukumoto-san’s. As repayment for all of the above-and-beyond things I’ve made him help me with (you know, housing me for a couple of days due to snow and my stupidity, scheduling a tow truck to get my car out of the snow, things like that…and that’s only been in the past month), I’ve made him and Noriko-san dinner every other week. Last time was a pasta casserole, and this week was…drumroll…SKYLINE CHILI. After my mother so generously sent a care package with a can of chili and some seasoning packets of the stuff, I decided to undertake my internationalization role by serving it to Fukumoto and Noriko. For those unaware of the glory of Skyline, it’s a Cincinnati dish that consists of spaghetti, chili, and cheddar cheese in an orgy of flavor.

Bow down before your rightful master.

I think the most amusing part was seeing them try to cut the spaghetti and eat it without dropping it (you don’t twirl it, that’s just messed up). It makes up for all those times I was asked if I could use chopsticks. But they did enjoy my dinner and there weren’t any leftovers!

Of course, being a ninja, Fukumoto leaves no evidence of food behind.

Thus ending my eventful Sunday. This weekend is a 3 day weekend (for Foundation Day, of course), starting on Friday…which is a bit weird. I’m so used to Monday holidays. Anyway, Erin and I are heading down to Hiroshima and meeting my friend Chris from Shiga and his girlfriend CJ, followed by snowboarding at Mizuho, part deux! Hopefully I can cut down on the falling by a good half. Also, I’ll be starting my art piece for the upcoming March gallery of ALT/anyotherforeigner art….or at least, I really should. x.x There’s a significant lack of Michael’s/Dick Blick in Japan, sadly enough. But I’m also really excited, as this will be my first showcased piece since that 1st grade art class where I painted a stuffed fox…

Uh. Anyway.

Until next time!

Winter Olympics 2014 or Bust

Hisashiburi! It’s been a little while since I’ve posted, because….well, I’m lazy. And it’s cold. And dark. And I can’t do much else besides listen to my Hawthorne Heights CD on repeat and post on my forums that no one, like, really gets me, you know?

Naaaah I’m just kidding. I’m enjoying the luxury of my kotatsu, drinking coffee, and listening to the Inception soundtrack. It makes blogging EPIC.

Life is gradually getting busier for me, though I’m still up in the air if it’s a good or bad thing. Good that I’m out of my apartment (saves on the utilities), but damn, I’m tired. My schedule moved around a little bit, so now I have Japanese lessons on Monday, English conversation group at Mitsubishi on Wednesday, and now kendo on Thursdays! Yay! I’m excited to get back into kendo again, though it’s going to take a while for my body to be just as excited. Also, turns out that whole “Central heating? What’s that?” mentality that Japan has extends…pretty much everywhere. The gym where I practice now is not heated. At all. I could see my breath the whole time and as with all martial arts, heeeeey you’re on your bare feet the entire time. I couldn’t feel mine at all, so that made playing that much more of an adventure! Plus, my New Year’s resolution is to swim twice a week, so cheers for exercise-induced endorphin kicks!

Last weekend I went down to Hamada for an English camp, which was a ton of fun. It’s very different from being at school simply because almost all of the students there WANT to learn English. They’re willing to participate and try and plus, playing games for a few hours is exciting! Unfortunately, my team got last place, but I was genki enough to make sure they weren’t too down on themselves. Plus, we didn’t high-five. We did fist bumps with explosions. Awwwwwyeah.

At school this week, I’ve decided to partake on a new project! I’m starting a music collection in the library for students to borrow burned CDs of different genres of English music (mostly from my favorites, but I try to include pop, rock, hip-hop and country) so they can put it on their iPod or Walkman or whatever. There are English songs playing at the mall or on the radio, but I figured if I’m sort of endorsing it as “cool” and whatnot (I’m totally cool, stfu), they’ll be more interested. Plus, I’m making booklet inserts for the CD cases with lyrics so they can read along and see if they can listen for words that they’ve learned. Well, anyway, that’s the GOAL. I hope it works out as well as I’m thinking.

At eikaiwa on Wednesday, one of the guys LOVES the show 24, so he brought in a disc from the last season and we watched part of an episode. The point was to learn phrases and colloquialisms. So whenever I heard an idiom or whatever, I would point it out and explain it or they would just ask questions. Sometimes though, they just didn’t quite absorb what I was actually saying. For instance, in one scene, the mob boss dude (I haven’t really watched 24, so this is all new to me) is talking with the villain and says, “I’ll help you pass the time,” then brings in some hookers for the guy to choose from. So I was like, “Okay, so ‘pass the time’ is something we say occasionally. You can say, ‘How do you pass the time?’ or ‘Not doing much, just passing the time’.” But then they went, “So, you say ‘I’ll help you pass the time’ to someone?” Me: “No, no, you can say ‘How do you pass the time.’” “How come we can’t say ‘I’ll help you pass the time’?” “…Well, uhhh….you CAN, it’s just sometimes changed to mean something sexual….” “…..” “Okay, moving on.”

This weekend was an absolute blast though, I went down to Mizuho Highlands with other ALTs for a skiing trip to try my hand at snowboarding for the first time. It was SO much fun. I loved it. I fell down quite a lot, but I think I picked it up fairly quickly regardless.

Plus, I totally rocked out my yellow ski pants.

I went on six runs down the mountain, so by the sixth time, I was able to regain control my board if I started to lose it a little, although braking is…well, something to still be practiced on. At one point, I was going down and passed a spot that I recognized falling down the last time, and saw a little thing of Burt’s Bees chapstick in the snow. I thought to myself, “Aww, cool! Burt’s Bees! Good to see that in Japan!” Then realized, “Wait a second, I had some in my pocket…” At that point, I deliberately fell over and took off my board to go back up and get it. You don’t leave Burt’s Bees behind, man. That stuff is serious. I want to try it again on Mt. Daisen for the next three day weekend, and hey….maybe I’ll do it enough to warrant buying a secondhand board. It would definitely make it cheaper in the long run.

After the mountain, we all piled into a minibus for yakiniku (grill your own pieces of meat) and nomihodai (all you can drink) Oooooohyeah that was nice. Cans of chu-hai everywhere, chocolate fountain, and an endless supply of delicious meat. Afterwards, we went back to a big cabin to play a murder mystery! My character was T.J Shade, a military artifacts collector. Basically, I was Indiana Jones. Wish I had time to get a costume though I guess I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to warrant buying a bullwhip. Sigh. Except, I didn’t quite understand my character’s objectives…kinda messed up my part a little. The chu-hais didn’t exactly make concentration easier either. But it was great to see everyone else really getting into their characters (Erin can play a pervy old lady quite well, and Declann does an excellent Groundskeeper Willy impression). After passing out on the futon and waking up the next morning with my ENTIRE BODY complaining everytime I moved, we all (slowly) moved towards the onsen for some nice soaking time, though I’m still incredibly sore. Luckily, I only have one class tomorrow so I can chill at my desk and just…not move. …..Maybe just use my rolly chair in class too….. On Saturday, there’s the Australia Day party in Matsue, where I will partake of kangaroo meat and pretend that I’m Crocodile Dundee the whole time. It’s goin’ ta be a beaut!

Thailand!! :D + My Epic Quest Home D:

Whoo hoo! Finally back in Higashiizumo after a whirlwind adventure to Thailand! It’s currently snowing (again…more on that later) and Shimane clearly does not believe in plowing….or salting the roads for that matter. So I think I’ll just sit here, sip some tea and write a blog.

For organization’s sake, I’m just gonna split this up according to date and place.

WEDNESDAY-BANGKOK

After a late night drive down to Fukuoka in Nick’s unheated car (brrr), we left from the airport with little trouble to Taipei, Taiwan for a small layover. However, the first thing we see coming off of the plane in Taipei was this little welcome:

We....love you too, R.O.C

Needless to say, even though we had no drugs on us (I think), it was a little nerve-wracking o_o We did, however, sample some fine local cuisine of Godiva fraps and turkey bagel sandwiches. After a few more hours in the plane, we arrive in Bangkok and make our way to the hostel. I must admit, I was rather surprised we made it alive. Thai traffic is insane. Our taxi driver was even more insane. Lane lines are more like “suggestions.” At some points, we were close enough to the cars next to us that I wouldn’t have been able to open my door wider than a couple of inches. But we did make it to the hostel. I’m also just going to go ahead and use the word hostel loosely. After weaving our way through a series of narrow, flooded back alleys, we were greeted by Boi, the lady…boy. Very friendly guy, likes his eyeliner and short shorts, but hey, who doesn’t? We met Danny from London, who helped us a lot and had a guy make us some damn fine Thai food, which was incredibly…..incredibly spicy. Holy god. And Lauren and I only got the “mild” spicy. After sleeping on some futons (aw, just like home), we were on our way the next morning to…

THURSDAY- PHUKET

Phuket was a huge tourist trap to the extreme. Pretty place, though. Our hotel was next to the beach and pretty standard Thai decorations.

Our bathroom.

We hung out on the beach, enjoying excellent, EXCELLENT fruit shakes and watching the sheer mass of Europeans that descended upon Phuket. Actually, for most of my stay, I think I only saw a handful of Americans. The rest of the tourists were overwhelming European or maybe Australian. Swedes, French, German….whatever. Lauren and I did a little shopping and it’s only haggling there. I. Hate. Haggling. Just give me a price tag and I’ll decide if it’s worth it. Lauren got a huge kick out of it, to the point she was trying to bring down the price by 10 baht, which is about 30 cents and the woman was like, “10 baht is nothing for you!” hahaha!

FRIDAY-SUNDAY- KOH PHI PHI

Friday, we were on our way to Koh Phi Phi Island. Another hellish ride on the minibus to the pier. Ferry ride to Koh Phi Phi, followed by a longtail ride to our resort, which is the only way to get from the main pier to our resort.

But longtails are so pretty, so I didn't have many issues

Beach Resort!

Yep, right on the beach again and it was bungalow-style! Awesome. That night, we had a Christmas Gala with a buffet full of Thai food as well as lobster and crab. Needless to say, delicious.

And oh-so-pretty!

Our host was a nice Thai guy who really tried hard to get some energy and excitement out of our hotel crowd….but other people just weren’t really into it. Could be because there were a lot of family crowds/foreigners…I dunno. But he would try to get people to volunteer for games and no one would. So of course, Nick, Lauren and I did. We lost Simon Says (unjustly, but whatever) and later when the “Santalinas” danced to some Glee Christmas music…

Mm-hmm. Totally keeping the "Christ" in "Christmas," for sure.

they wanted some people to dance with them, and no one did again……so Lauren and I did. Sigh. We lost to some old guy Tom (once again, unjustly) but we did win some brandy. So not a total loss. After that, we watched some fire dancers:

They were pretty awesome Then we lit some lanterns to float away in the sky…Followed by fireworks and much-deserved sleep!

Saturday, we met up with Jesus and Shanyn and did a little snorkeling tour around Koh Phi Phi Leh, a smaller island close-by where The Beach was filmed. It was gorgeous and the water was so clear!

Can't beat it.

We saw parrotfish and other random fish I don’t know the name of, as well as monkeys!!

Said monkeys.

That night, we saw another fire show, drew a bunch of things in the sand, watch a newleywed couple send off their own lanterns with messages from friends and family (cute) and then….Muay Thai boxing?

Peace on earth and goodwill towards men!

Holy crap, Muay Thai boxing is intense. I’ve seen it on TV, but actually having it in front of me was something else. At one point, Black Shorts was literally tossed out of the ring and proceeded to vomit a little, only to get back in and win the match. Yay Black Shorts!

On Sunday, we walked to the other side of the island (it’s pretty small) to a secluded beach that wasn’t filled with tourists I mean, I know I was tourist but c’mon, gotta escape sometime. We went back to the resort beach for a little while too, and swam with the fishes. Seriously, those suckers were EVERYWHERE. Little black and yellow guys, white ones, thin ones…everywhere @_@ Got some massages (omg, amazingamazingamazing) followed by dinner and out to explore the nightlife of Koh Phi Phi, which was legit. I will leave it at that.

MONDAY/TUESDAY- KOH NGAI

Next, Lauren, Nick and I went to Koh Ngai, a smaller island with lots of snorkeling. Lauren and I went on a 3-island tour around, and saw pufferfish, huge jellyfish (from a safe distance), more parrotfish, and bats (not underwater).

We swam through Emerald Cave, which is supposed to reflect a lot of green-ness..hence the name…but it was a little too overcast for that, but we did swim through a pitchblack cave, and that was fun! Then just a lot of relaxing by the pool and reading, taking advantage of the poolside cafe. Seriously, I could not get enough of the fruit shakes. Fruit is damn expensive in Japan, but the fruit in Thailand was just amazingly cheap and incredibly fresh. I probably had 2 shakes a day. I miss those. A lot.

WEDNESDAY- KOH MOOK

By Wednesday, our luck of having good weather had officially run out and it was raining when we took the speedboat to Koh Mook, an even SMALLER island compared to Koh Ngai. So it was another relaxing reading day in our bungalow:

Home sweet home

I proceeded to bulldoze my way through Goblet of Fire. Awwwwyeah. I’m cool. For dinner, it was a scrumpicious steak buffet worthy of my farewell dinner, as Nick and Lauren stayed a couple days longer and I proceeded to make my way back to Japan alone. Yep, Mom, ALONE. Cause, like, adults do that ‘n stuff. This is the part where my Thailand saga ends and My Epic Quest Home begins.

MY EPIC QUEST HOME

For those who don’t follow facebook or just want the whole story, whelp, here it goes: The story of the worst luck possible. First I took a speedboat to Koh Lanta, then a ferry to Koh Phi Phi. Since I didn’t have enough money on me for the ferry to Phuket, I got off the ferry in Koh Phi Phi to go to the ATM. And missed the last effing ferry to Phuket by 2 minutes. 2 freaking minutes. I was so angry. Thai hasslers, while sometimes annoying, actually proved quite helpful in this circumstance though, as I managed to secure a speedboat to Phuket for the wonderful price of only $200. Ich. Ouch. But since my flight was leaving that night, not much I could do there. But the speedboat ride was hella fun though….met Bah, the driver, who was…um, let’s put it as “adventurous.” Raced some other boats out of the harbor, and then he let me drive!! That was great But it was still raining at this point and I got soaked through and the water was really choppy, so I stopped with the driving. Got to the airport and chilled until my flight at 11, arriving in Bangkok at 12:30. We’ll count this as Night One. I tried to sleep in the airport, to not much success. So it was a lot of wandering around, hanging out at Starbucks from 4-6am, reading my Kindle…..needless to say, I was ready to leave already and try to see if sleeping on the plane would prove better.

I arrived in Fukuoka no problem, and was waiting for the luggage to arrive at the baggage claim when the little 5 year old Japanese boy next to me started asking his dad about the sign on the floor that said “Please wait in front of the red line.” The sign used the kanji for “temae” which isn’t used that often, I suppose, and he asked him what it meant (it means “before” or “this side of”). His dad explained and then also knew some English and was explaining that “in front of” in English could mean different things. Like, you could be behind or in front of the line and both are correct. The little kid nodding wisely, then proceeded to whisper “bakayarou” to the English sign a few times (which means “idiot”) …I got quite a kick out of it. Then as I was low on funds once again, I tried to get more money out of the ATM in the airport, but Japanese ATMs close at a certain time….and I had just missed it by ten minutes. Just really not much luck. And it was New Year’s Eve, which meant they would be closed for the next couple of days. Of course. At least good ol’ American plastic still worked. Whew. So I spent my New Year’s in a Comfort Inn, pretty exhausted. Thus ends Night Two.

The next day, I took the shinkansen to Okayama, hoping to jump on the regular train to Matsue and finally be home. But nope. Not gonna happen. Turns out, Shimane and next-door Tottori were in the middle of a blizzard that they haven’t had in the past 40 years. So at first, only the next couple of trains were canceled, so I hung out in a coffee shop for a couple of hours….then checked again, and ALL of the trains were canceled. EFFFFFF sums up my reaction. So I lugged over to the Tokoyo Inn. I met the same desk clerk I had a month ago when I missed my train back coming home from America (…I don’t exactly have the best track record…) and she remembered me! She spoke really good English and we had a good laugh. But by this point, I had about 3 cups of coffee throughout the day and didn’t sleep well. Go me. End Night Three.

Next day, woke up, got to the station, got on the train, except…WHOOPS. WRONG FREAKING TRAIN. Turns out, the train to Mihara in Hiroshima Prefecture comes RIIIIIGHT before the Izumo train and I wasn’t paying attention and boarded the wrong train. Didn’t realize it because I fell asleep and woke up when it reached Mihara an hour and a half later and reversed direction back to Okayama. Cool. Really, really cool. So I went BACK to Okayama and finally got on the right train. I was calling and updating my supervisor Fukumoto-san throughout all of this since he was picking me up in Higashiizumo, and I could tell he was worried but trying not to laugh at the same time. I also got a call from Toyoko Inn that I had left my purse in my hotel room. I had all of my important things in a separate bag, so I told them to just send it back to me and didn’t think much of it. So I finally arrived in Matsue, but the local train that would take me to Higashiizumo still wasn’t running, so I had to wait an hour for Fukumoto to drive in the snow, when it normally takes me maybe 15 minutes. Driving in the snow without ANY salt or plowing….that was a pretty interesting experience. But at least Route 9 was a major road and there was some possibility of driving. Off of Route 9 to my apartment is a much different ballgame. We kept sliding around and couldn’t get any traction up the hills and Fukumoto just proposed I stay at his apartment for the night. So we headed back and bought some beers and chu-hai, and watched Sasuke, which is an obstacle course show on effing steroids. There were some Americans participating, so as we continued drinking, it turned into a Japan vs. USA cheering match. Well, no one completed the final stage, but I consider it an American victory because we had 4 finalists and Japan only had 2. USA! USA! USA! An awesome way to end Night Four.

On Day 5, Fukumoto went to pick up his girlfriend Noriko who was in Ehime for New Year’s and then took me to my apartment. By this time, the roads were a little better and as we were walking up to my door, I realized the purse I left in Okayama had my apartment keys inside. I was speechless. Like….really? My luck is THAT terrible? The landlord was still on New Year’s vacation until the next day, which meant….back to Fukumoto’s. We rented Inception, which they hadn’t seen yet, and ate snacks, then I made them dinner for hosting me so graciously. Followed by more drinking, because….well, they’re Japanese. And thus ended Night Five.

Day 6, Fukumoto and I slept in until 1pm (ooooh how I love sleeping in) and finally made it into my apartment when my purse package arrived in super speedy time. Finally. Jesus Christ. That was more than an ordeal. Whew.

So there you have it! My winter vacation! Tomorrow is my first day back with some kind of special New Year’s event at school, and then a 3 day weekend! I’m ready to just do….a whole lot of nothing. I’ll leave some other pretty photos I took down below.  Lateeeeeer!

Tricia

Visit back to the States!!

Wow! Get ready for a long post, this one is going to be fun! Also, expect shout-outs.

My week back across the Pacific has absolutely flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was leaving work to take the train to Osaka. That in itself was a whirlwind adventure…taking the regular train to Okayama (2.5 hours) then the bullet train to Osaka (1 hour). By the time I arrived at Shin-Osaka station, it was about 10:00. My original plan was to hobo it up at Itami Airport since my flight left early in the morning, BUT it turns out the airport “closes” at about 9:30 and there were no more shuttles going there, according to a taxi driver. So instead, I ended up paying about gosen-en (Maybe $60) for a taxi ride to a nearby hotel, and ichiman (~$120) for a hotel room that I stayed in for abooooout seven hours. On a weird note: there was a random window to the bathroom, so you could even see into the shower. I was so confused. I might have stumbled upon a really unimaginative love hotel. Who knows.

wtf window

I flew from Osaka to Tokyo and was expecting only a 2 hour layover. That’s fine. Totally cool. Except the plane we were supposed to get on had a massive fuel leak and the flight was delayed by another 4 hours. Gaaah. I set up shop in the corner next to the plug and spent most of my time bitching to Jason, Greg, Chris, and whoever else happened to be on to experience my frustration. There were a few things that made me smile though: a couple of little Japanese girls decided to put on a fashion show with some Disney Princess purses they had, a surfer dude talking about his divorce and custody of his kids, and I ended up unwrapping an onigiri for an older gent (American) when he couldn’t quite figure out the packaging. Annnnd finally, we got on the plane to Dallas. Plane ride: Long. Uneventful. Didn’t sleep much because I had an aisle seat. Moving on.

I had already missed my connection by the time we landed but got rushed through customs and security since the next flight was leaving soon so that was nice! And I didn’t get a body scan or a pat-down by TSA. Whoopie.

I arrived in Cincinnati and my mom picked me up, holding a sign saying “Welcome to America, Tricia-san!” (My family is soooo clever.) Without further ado, I whisked away to Columbus with Mike (aka Business T. Coombs) to see the wonderful Alice and Drew and the last night for the gobblerito (Thanksgiving dinner wrapped in a tortilla, it’s a beautiful thing) at Mad Mex, an OSU tradition for my friends. Alice and Drew REALLY enjoyed their gifts:

Words just can't express.

Didn’t stay up too late because of the jet lag and Grandma Alice and Grandpa Drew both worked early in the morning. At 7am (I was up anyway), I had coffee with THE Dr. Kentaro Fujita, Ph. D (aka Kendo Ken) and then whisked BACK to Cincinnati because Mike had to work. Man. People and their WORK.

Wednesday was my official welcome back to West Chester, complete with a welcome dinner of tacos and mashed potatoes:

That's...normal, right?

And early Christmas. Among other things I got an iPod touch (wheeeee) and some cloth-bound books of Jane Eyre, The Hounds of Baskerville, Pride and Prejudice, and Great Expectations, and everyone seemed to like what I got them from the Nihon.

Thursday was wedding errand day, followed by family dinner at Aunt Patty’s.

Friday, I met with the lovely Ashley Hall for the best damn Chipotle I’ve EVER had and then it was rehearsal day, which is always fun trying to get everyone and EVERYTHING down to Cincinnati. Total time required to go through the rehearsal? About seven minutes. Then it was rehearsal dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, where the food is great and the rum and cokes come in full glasses. 8D Lauren’s pre-wedding night consisted of the two of us watching Roseanne in the wedding suite. Roseanne is REAL, guys. She deals with REAL ISSUES.

Then came…THE WEDDING DAY. Surprisingly laidback for all the craziness that happened on the days preceding. Lots of snow coming down as we got our hair did, eating sandwiches, and watching Man vs. Food.

I drank Mountain Dew out of a plastic champagne flute because I have CLASS.

The bridesmaid dress

Realizing we probably should hurry up and finish getting ready.

Lauren's dress

Before the ceremony, Lauren and Brad saw each other at the Cincinnatian, which was pretty cute.

AH HERE SHE COMES

Oh herro

Then we went to the Contemporary Arts Museum, where the wedding was, and did some wedding photos. It was pretty fun because we did it in the interactive art exhibit, which consisted on a classroom on a steep slope, a swaying trailer, and light-up squares. The ceremony was really cool, it was in the front lobby of the museum with big glass walls and a huge column with Shepard Fairey works (the guy that did the Obama poster and Andre the Giant “OBEY” signs) that framed the front…altar….place. Lauren and Brad opted for some nice indie rock for the music and Dad got to walk her down the aisle. I managed not to cry for most of the ceremony, but then I heard everyone else sniffling, so I did a little. Just a little. Then Joey, one of Lauren’s maids of honor (I wasn’t one, ya know, cause I was in JAPAAAAN), whispered “dry it up, guys” and then I just tried not to laugh.

Then came hor d’ouerves and the first dances. I was standing next to Sara and Britany, two of my roommates during my sophomore year when I lived with Lauren, when the father-daughter dance was about to start, and I said that we should just laugh at Lauren because Lauren just can’t dance but then…she pulled out a chair to sit next to my dad in his wheelchair and they sang the Beatles together. And then everyone just started CRYING at how moving it was. Pssh. After Lauren stood up and started wheeling him around like the nurse in Drop Dead Gorgeous (if you’ve seen the movie, you know exactly what I mean), I started crying because I was laughing so hard.

Dinner (which was super-oishii), dancing, blah blah blah…overall, it was just a fantastic time and I think my sister and Brad pulled it off without a hitch. CONGRATS, MR. AND MRS. SHEETS.

After that, I had about two days to see my friends (which is not enough, buuut what can ya do) and before I knew it, it was time to get back on the plane. This flight was a lot better because there was no one next to me in my little two-person row, so I basically made a bed and slept the whole time. It was glorious. The problem came when I was lugging around my massive suitcase in the train station trying to get back to Shimane, and missed the train in Shin-Osaka that would’ve made the last train to Matsue in Okayama….thus, resulting me in spending yet another night in a hotel I was going to sleep in for about seven hours. At least the Okayama hotel was cheaper. And I ended up going to school right after I got picked up at the train station. Boy, was that fun.

WHEW. Sorry for that rambling disaster of a post. Other stuff happened this weekend with a BOE enkai and celebrating Shane’s birthday….but….I don’t think I can remember enough to post.

LATAH

Reigning Champions!

Woo, man! What a crazy few days it’s been! Lots of driving time, seminar time, soccer time, drinking time….but let’s get this thing started.

So, first off was the Mid-Year Seminar for Shimane ALTs (henceforth known as MYS) in Hirata on Thursday and Friday. It’s the only event where I get to see every ALT in my prefecture because…well, everyone has to go. So it’s pretty nice to catch up with people I haven’t seen for a little while and meet new people as well. We listened to a few speakers from various universities and schools about the importance of English in the Japanese school system, different ways to present lessons, etc. etc. etc….etc. After that, since Hirata isn’t too far away from Matsue, I decided to opt out of staying at the seminar center/sleeping on a futon and went back with Jason to devour conveyor belt sushi (no shinkansen this time, zannen) and watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine because that movie is hilaaaaaarious. Seriously. Great comedy.

Day Two of MYS was a lot like Day One. Not much happened there.

After that, I went over to Izumo to drop off my car and begin the epic journey over to Awaji Island in Hyogo prefecture for the All-Japan ALT Soccer Tournament Western Division Lots Of Capital Letters! It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there by car (we’re an all girls team, we have to take lots of potty breaks) and we stayed at the Hotel Athena, this really sportsy looking hotel place. First night consisted of us checking in and promptly passing out.

Second day began the tournament…there were 5 total teams in the women’s division (the men had a lot more): Shimane, Fukui, Ishikawa, Kochi, and Osaka. We had the best uniforms:

Remember those days of soccer pictures, Mom? Weren't those great?!

We could only get 6 girls from Shimane to actually play, which is the bare minimum on the field, so we came with no subs and totally expected to get last place. But then the tournament coordinator Chris asked if two of his Japanese friends, Mie and Eriko, could play on our team. We said “uh, duh” and now had two subs. As it turns out, we kicked major ass! Our first game against Kochi we won 8-1, then 3-1 against Osaka and 5-0 against Fukui! Mie and Eriko were GREAT players and our fearless leader Jenn was the envy of the entire women’s division. I played goalkeeper most of the time, since I used to play that, and as you can tell, I wasn’t too bad myself! Ahem. Anyway, we just came looking for a good time, and we did! We weren’t striving to win, it just ended up that way! But we did have a fantastic theme song for the whole weekend: “Fuck You” by Ceylo. Good times, good times.

So after day one was over, we went back to the hotel to clean up, eat dinner, and get some rest before going out to hang out with the other ALTs. Ended up at this nice cafe and talked with the guy’s team from Tottori (our neighboring prefecture) and after that, stayed in the lobby of the hotel for an hour and a half discussing the meaning of reality. Yeah. I’m a loser. And as it turns out (because we were all beyond tipsy at this point), we weren’t really answering the same question…one guy was trying to explain PERCEPTION reality while the rest of us were discussing REALITY reality. Yeah. We’re cool.

So day two rolled around and we had one more game against Ishikawa (who were like…waaaay hardcore about it, what’s up with that) before the final…and won that one too! So we played Osaka again and although it was a TOUGH game, we won 2-0 and became champions with a trophy and everything!

…Yes, we won beer too. We gave most of that away though. Then came the fun ride back (a lot faster without all the potty breaks)! I picked up my car in Izumo and was driving Sarah back to Matsue when my oil light decided to flicker on and off and every time I pressed the accelerator, the car would shudder and my RPM gauge would go up really high! Ack! Luckily, I was close to a rest stop and pulled in there and called Fukumoto-san to pick us up….poor guy!!! I interrupted his ramen eating too. <_< I have a rental car for the week while it’s being fixed, though. It’s nice because at least the rental has a CD player in it.

And there you have it! Fun times all around! And they’ll continue as I go back to Izumo tonight to see the newest Harry Potter with some friends and stay up past 10:30 because tomorrow is a holiday! Man, I love the Japanese and their holidays.

Peace out!

Okuizumo Day Trip

Yay for autumn! The leaves are finally changing color!

Kinda!

So on the schedule for this weekend was a day trip for Okuizumo, a little town in the mountains of Shimane. Apparently, Miyazaki based Iron Town from Princess Mononoke on this town, because Okuizumo had some of the best iron in the world and a huge forge and everything. So on Saturday, Jesus, Erin, Kyle and I got some sushi for lunch, where special orders are delivered via AWESOME TINY SHINKANSEN (bullet train):

ZOOOOOOOOM

and then drove down to explore a little bit. Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly have the GREATEST of maps, and everything was kind of spread out, so we didn’t end up going to the forge. >_> BUT. We did go to an Iron and Sword museum. There’s an old man in Okuizumo that forges swords and holds demonstrations but….we missed that too. Basically, the internet kinda failed me this weekend when it came to research. But that’s okay. There were a couple of other guys there that are also forgers and they explain a little bit of the tools they used and different stages of sword-making:

Tools and stuff

Final results

And I got to hold some 8D It was so cool! I’ve held imitation katana and even a titanium one once, but these were real, legitimate, handmade swords. I was just in awe. And they’re a lot heavier than anything I expected. I’ve come up with a new goal: before I leave Japan, I’m going to buy a real katana. It’s going to happen. I’m going to love that thing.

After that, we did a little more driving around (trying to find that damn forge), but we stumbled upon a little park on the side of the road with just a lot of…Greek statues, randomly enough. We were the only ones around and it just had a very creepy vibe to it:

GAAAAAAAAAH

The last we ever heard from Jesus and Kyle.

Then we found a shrine as well, which was also creepy:

GAAAAAAAAH OH GOD WHY

Just trust me on this one.

Then it was a drive back to Izumo followed by a dinner of MacDonald’s (of course).

Today was a day of cleaning and shopping. Have to pick up stuff for the soccer tournament next weekend (which we have yet to all practice together for…..whoops) and Christmas gifts. Dear lord, so much stuff. And I’m not even done yet. But I did get those Reebok balance ball tennis shoes…those are a lot of fun btw 8D Soooo yeah, that’s basically it. Short post today. Not much happened. I guess it all just leads up to this week, a 3-day school week because of the JET Mid-Year Seminar on Thursday and Friday (wheeee.) followed by the drive over to Hyogo prefecture for the soccer tournament!! And maybe seeing Harry Potter…?

Until next time!

Tricia

Hiroshima Goings

Annnnnd welcome, kids, to another post!

This week was a fun one, considering I only had 3 days of school, whatwhat! Monday was off because the culture festival was on Saturday and Wednesday was off because it was Bunka no Hi- Culture Day! OMG CULTURE EVERYWHEEEEEERE. Monday was an alright day off, marred by the fact that I couldn’t even sleep in because of meetings. On Tuesday, we had an enkai (staff party) for a post-celebration drink-off. I couldn’t drink, unfortunately, because I was driving to Oda afterwards, but I always have fun at these things. It’s the only time my coworkers aren’t afraid to talk to me! I was talking to the (cute) soccer coach as well, and I might be joining in some soccer practices once I have some time on my hands after school! yaaaays.

So after enkai fun, I drove to Oda to spend the night at Erin’s house because in the morning we were heading to…..Hiroshima! More yays! Hiroshima is the closest ACTUAL city to Shimane and was a little less than a two hour drive. We started off at a pizza/pasta/dessert buffet (mmmmmm so yummy) and walked through the Peace Park, which is really beautiful. After, we commenced what girls do best: shopping. First was Loft, which is AMAZING. Seriously, I could probably just spend all my money there. Then we went to Jupiter, which has a lot of foreign foods, so I got tortillas, Andes, crunchy peanut butter, Smucker’s jelly, Kraft mac and cheese, and Campbell’s tomato soup If only I can find some Lucky Charms, then we would be aaaaall set to go. Then it was just a lot of walking around and visiting random stores, but I did pick up this little jewel:

It’s a pocketwatch necklace :O I wear it all the time now, and my students love it (there’s a lot of “HEEEEE?!” [surprised sound] and “SUGOOOI” [wow]) And after the obligatory Starbucks visit and purikura (it’s like a photo booth on LSD, seriously), we had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki:

I got a little excited, so I only remembered to take a picture halfway through it

Then it was time to go home! We figured we can visit Hiroshima once a month for a dosage of actual urban life and get some food.

The rest of the work week was uneventful…though after work on Friday, I booked my flight for Thailand for Christmas! I’ll be leaving on the 22nd through the 31st…so technically, I still get to see what New Year’s is all about in Japan (it’s kind of a big deal). So far, the plan is that we’ll land in Bangkok and spend a few days there, then go to the southern portion to hang out on some islands there. Basically, I want it to be December NOW.

After that was taken care of, I went down to Kawamoto-cho for Jenn’s birthday. We went to a little restaurant for a veritable feast of deliciousness. The chef was from Tokyo and trained in European styles as well, but moved to Shimane because his wife was from here (awwww). He also treated us to some guitar and played “Sunny Side of the Street.” Japan is just always full of surprises it seems like

Saturday night, Jesus and I went to see his friend Keishin’s DJ set at a bar which is always fun…plus, I got to try the new chocolate cake McFlurry at McDonald’s which is just all kinds of epic. And passing out after watching Pocahontas at my apartment is just icing on the cake haha.

So up for this week: an observed demonstration class on Wednesday for a san-nen-sei class and probably a looooot of shopping for Christmas gifts for my prodigal return in a few weeks, plus maybe a visit to Izumotaisha and the Matsue brewery? :O who knooooows.

Until next time!

Tricia

Eek! Privacy Notice

Okay, so just a quick blog update! So, during JET orientation in Tokyo, they were very adamant about not publishing photos of your students on public forums like YouTube and blogs. Well, as it turns out, this is not only limited to photos, but to ANYTHING that is related to my workplace or students. No, I didn’t get in trouble, and in fact, no one in my Contracting Organization knows I have a blog. But, I would much rather be safe than sorry. JETs have gotten busted in the past for writing things that happened during work (even positive things!) because, technically, any specific mention of names or things like that is a breach of our contract. I’ve gone through my blog quickly and deleted portions related to work or just made the whole post private if all it was about was a school event. If I missed anything though, tell me! I’m definitely allowed to write anything I want about what goes on during my own free time (though I’m gonna practice some discretion if it’s at a JET-sponsored event, obviously). So lo siento! Verbal communication is still allowed though, so I’m more than willing to tell funny stories over Skype with family and friends or send emails out so that means if you want to know more about what my workday is like, you gotta talk to me! Now, that’s not so bad, is it? ^o^

Until next time!

Tricia