Tomiyama Nursery School Summer Festival

Saturday in Japan proved to be just as exciting, even when my plans were just to go to one of the nursery school’s summer festivals. I had a migraine from the rainy weather and I was really not looking forward to going out in the heat and mugginess, but I said that I would go so I went. When people pick me up from the apartment, they typically don’t speak too much English so after the initial, “Hello, how are you?” The rest of the ride is usually in silence. Today was exactly the same.

I always feel like I have this VIP status everywhere I go with any of the school people. I was greeted at the back door by the principal, shuffled in, given a chair in the air conditioned office. Immediately I was offered my choice of beverages. I offered to help in any way I could but no way would they have that. People were running around, sweating to death. I felt terrible while I just sat there in the office watching. After awhile I was given a guided tour of the events and then led back to the office and seated to be briefed on the schedule of what would take place and when. Next I was asked what I would like to eat, even if I wouldn’t like it they were going to bring it to me so that I could at least look at it. I was also told by the principal that she was going to be giving a welcome speech. She wanted me to come with her so that she could introduce me and I could wave. Until then, I was to sit in the office in the air.

About thirty minutes later I was summoned to go to the speech. After she introduced me I waved like I was supposed to. I smiled too (for good measure). Haha She grabbed my arm and told me to say something short. Uhhh…What was I supposed to say? Also, if I had known I was going to be speaking I would have put on something a little bit nicer than the Old Navy sundress I was wearing. After having the microphone (yes, this was an outdoor event with a sound system) handed to me I said something like hello and how I’m excited to be in Japan and thank you for having me…or something. They all just stared at me and clapped. I probably could have said anything I wanted and they would have clapped because most of them didn’t understand English (I didn’t mean that offensively either). I should have thrown in a tap dance too but I wasn’t thinking clearly.

Okay, so next I was ushered back in the air conditioned room to sit down and relax again…because my speech took so much out of me. Do movie stars get treated this way? I was given another tour after that and encouraged to play the games. There was a ring toss, some stacking cans games, some fishing games that you hooked cans and things with a pole and hook. My favorite was that the cans were all beer cans and the children were all playing the fishing game, trying to hook the beer cans. In American that would NOT be okay, totally cool here though. I went through the haunted house next. Sloss Furnace has got NOTHING on this nursery school.

Someone was sent to get my food after I played the games. I tried a lot of stuff. Most was not my favorite but I tried it anyway. I found a couple of things that were kind of tasty. I prefer American (or Korean!!!) barbeque though. I had tons of food around me and everyone was chatting me up. I couldn’t eat anymore so I snuck outside to try and get some pictures.

Later on the kids played this game that was sort of like hitting a piñata. It was the same concept but they hit a watermelon in a bowl on the ground instead. There were SO many watermelons as backup for when one was whacked open. That was fun to watch. Afterwards the teachers did a skit and then the children did a dance. The kids were all dressed in kimonos and looked so beautiful.

After everything was over and it was time to leave, I was walking through the gate to get in the car. An old man stopped us and tried to tell me (in broken English) how he spoke Spanish. Then he told the teacher who was driving me (in Japanese) that he spoke Spanish. I told him that I spoke English. He kept shaking me hand over and over. When we got in the car, the teacher and I had a good laugh about how he had also heavily been into the alcohol (which, by the way, they were selling at the event) due to his slurred voice and funny remarks. It was just like the book told me when I was reading about Japan…I was getting heckled by the drunks. Haha

The teachers demonstrationg the game...blindfold, hold the stick...
walk towards the watermelon...hit with the stick!
One of the children trying to hit the watermelon
The teachers playing the drum during the dance
A child dressed in the traditional kimono while dancing

Hurray for the Weekend!

Hurray for the weekend! I am so tired. I feel like I have run a marathon or something. The last time I wrote was on Wednesday and that seems like ages ago. Since then so much has happened. Thursdays and Fridays are my longest days. I have to ride the train to Fukuyama for an hour both directions plus teach a whole day (from 10:30 until 6:30). By the time I get home it’s about 8:30. I literally come in and fall into bed.

Thursday was very confusing. I had everything that I needed, I got to the station to be picked up and I waited…and waited…and waited… After about 20 minutes I was wondering if I was just really early or if they had forgotten me. I got a phone call and it went something like this: “Amanda! Are you okay?” “Yes, are you okay?” “Where are you?” “The train station…waiting on you.” “You are supposed to be at Midori today (my Friday school).” “No, it’s Thursday. I go to Hikari.” “No, your schedule is switched this week.” “What?? No one told me!!” “I’m coming to get you.”

Needless to say, I was upset. It turns out that they had not given me the schedule that had the switch on it, nor had anyone told me. I was fine, it didn’t bother me (other than to irritate me a little because I didn’t have my materials for that school with me so I had to improvise) but they all FREAKED out when I didn’t show up at the station. It started a Japanese phone tree like you wouldn’t believe. I also got a visit that night from two of the Japanese teachers bringing me presents and new copies of ALL of the schedules. It was a good day though, all in all.

On Friday I went to my Thursday school (Hikari). They are preparing to have a Summer Festival on Saturday evening so they let me go home early. I was so thankful. I was so tired during my teacher lessons that I thought I was going to nod off. One of the teachers brought me fish as a gift! Now I have some tiny little pets for my apartment. I am going to take really good care of them. Although I said that in college and after my roommate and I went through 3 or 4 of them, her mom finally sent us glass fish so that we wouldn’t kill anymore. I am more optimistic this time.

Clo called me when I was on the train. She asked if I wanted to get dinner. I was excited to go out with a friend. While we were talking the train man came up to me and started talking Japanese. I think he was telling me that you can’t talk on your cell phone while you are on the train. I asked Clo later and she said yes, that’s probably what he was saying.

It was pouring down rain when I got to the station so someone came and drove me home. That was good because I had those fish and my bags…a disaster waiting to happen on a bike. I quickly threw my stuff down and ran off to dinner. I was SOAKED when I got to the restaurant. I had to walk because my bike was at the station, even if I had ridden the bike I would have been soaked. The people here are very good at riding the bike with one hand and holding an umbrella with the other. I just don’t have the balance and coordination yet.

Clo and I were at dinner for over 2 hours. We went to Sunday’s Sun. It was fun. We talked and listened to the music while we ate. They were playing all kinds of English songs that were from the 90s. Things like Backstreet Boys, Madonna, and the Macarena. It was hilarious. We made plans for Sunday and then headed home. Today looks cloudy and I am waiting for the rain. More later!

First Days of Teaching

Teaching in the school has been a very enjoyable experience. It has been very strange in a way though. I don’t understand the children and I’m sure that they don’t understand me to a certain extent. In America, I know when I have taught enough for a lesson. There are a lot of clues that the children will give me: the get squirmy, they start talking, the start looking around, they ask when we are going to lunch... Here most (NOT all) of the children are so well behaved or so mesmerized by a new person in their classroom that they just stare at me. They don’t ask questions so I do not know when they do not understand (which I figure is more than they let on).

I also find myself doing these wild arm and hand gestures. It’s pretty funny. I’m sure they are wondering if all Americans do this, or is it is just me. I know that Mandy did it and I am sure Carla did it too. It’s just that I have to ask everything out in order for them to understand. It’s great though, I love it. It’s really preparing me for my Broadway debut upon arrival in the States next July (Caroline).

There are so many precious children. I want to rename them all though with names I can remember. The Japanese names are hard for me to remember. I don’t know if it is because I have so many to learn or is it is because the pronunciation is difficult. Probably both. There is always one…you know what I mean…that cute little thing who you fall in love with at first sight…and he/she turns out to be your BIGGEST challenge. I’ve got them at every school. If just goes to show you that children are children no matter where they are.

Yesterday I went to a large book store. Good news friends! They will sell the American Harry Potter on Sunday. I think I will order it from Amazon though because it will be close to $40. They store had a great English section. There were games, books, and magazines. I was so excited about the prospect of catching up on my Hollywood gossip. That was a bust. US weekly was a few weeks out of date and the price was about $15!!! I almost fell over. Cosmo was about $17. I looked to see how much some others were and Vogue was about $40…right up there with the new, hard back (I’m assuming), 800+ page Harry Potter book! I was shocked.

When I got home last night I crashed. I fell asleep about 6:30 and slept until 8:00 this morning. I was so tired. I am still getting used to my long days here and the long travel. I miss my car but I’m really excited about the exercise I’m getting.

I tried some interesting food today. It was tofu and tuna mixed together into little patties. It sounds disgusting but it was really good. I had some noodles that had sesame seeds on them. They were okay. The cook at Jyoto (my third school) had even made blueberry muffins. Delicious! I am still not eating well here yet. I eat lunch and that’s about it. I think it has to do with how tired I am. I sleep through dinner a lot and I might grab a granola bar for breakfast but that’s about it. I have HUNGRY days and not hungry days. I’m sure it will even out soon.

On Wednesdays I get finished at 1:00. I came home and read and then took a long nap. I feel much better now. Yoko just came by. She dropped off my bike key. I had a very unfortunate bicycle situation yesterday…it broke. Both tires were flat and the pedals did not want to turn and I couldn’t get the kickstand up. I was so mad. Instead of riding my bike home from the train station, I walked and pushed the bike. I called Yoko when I got home. She couldn’t believe that I walked home. She came at once to get the bike to take it to the repair shop. Turns out that the operator (me) just had the kickstand locked; that’s why it wouldn’t work well, but the tires were flat so they pumped them up or got new ones. I just got it back. Yea!

That’s all for today. I’m going to be in bed early tonight again. I have to ride the train for an hour tomorrow (both ways) to Hikari (pronounced Hick-ar-ee) Nursery School. I will work a LONG day so I want to be well rested.

My Train Station

Just so you will know what I mean when I say “my train station,” I added some pictures.

Kitanagase Station! I do all of my coming and going from here.
These are the millions of stairs that my aching legs have to climb after the bike ride.
This is where I park my bike in the morning. It's way cool to have your own bike guys.
Can you see the train? That is the platform (over the bikes). We load and unload from there.

Toy Museum

Before I went to bed last night I figured out that I was using the washing machine correctly. They clothes were taking forever to dry though and it just wasn’t happening so finally I took them out and hung them on the balcony like the locals do. I threw in another load to do while I slept. This morning those were not near dry so I hung them to dry while I was gone.

I rode to the station on my bike and I boarded the train. I rode all by myself to meet the teachers. I was so proud. We loaded up in their car and went to the museum. When we got there I thought we were goingLunch made us all sleepy but we had to go get me some indoor shoes. Here you take your shoes off when you go inside but then you change shoes into slippers or indoor shoes. Since I am teaching and dancing and moving a lot I needed shoes and not slippers. They took me somewhere that looked like a Rackroom Shoe Store. I ended up getting some Adidas that looked like water shoes but they were slip on, light weight, comfortable and ON SALE!

Next we hit the 100 yen shop and called it a day. We were all beat. I thought I was going to fall asleep in the car and on the train but I made it home before I crashed.

Fish update: I am closer than I was before. I think I might be getting one this week. I asked the teachers about one so I should get info soon. J to the toy museum. We were, but first we went to the SHOE museum! I was so excited! They shoes on display were all the way back to when they wore wooden shoes with spikes to step on fish and there were come that were boards that they tied to their feet for farming. It was interesting to see how their shoes had evolved. It progressed through the years incorporating other cultures into the museum. There were Native Americans, moon boots, high heels, and a variety of shoes for the whole family. They even had wallabees.

In another part of the museum, famous Japanese people had donated a pair of their shoes. There was a famous ballerina, sumo wrestler, basketball player, and baseball players…including Matsui (he plays for the Yankees)!!

Me in front of a giant shoe on the wall.
Giant flip flops on the wall.
Some teachers from two of my schools who took me out today.
The lady making my wooden Japanese flip flops.

The finished product. How cute!!
We went to the Toy Museum next. It showed many traditional toys in Japan and talked about the holidays that they use a lot of these toys, masks, dolls, etc. There was so much meaning behind every bit that we looked at. There was a lot in English too so I was able to figure things out as I went along.

Afterwards we went to the gift shop. I wanted a pair of those Japanese flip flops. They didn’t have my size. Here in Japan, I am the size right after their largest size. The lady at the counter told us where we could go get some though so we went down the street. I tried on a pair and YEA! They fit. It’s so neat because in this shop they MAKE the ones you want! You tell them which bottom you want (what color wood) and what band you want. Then they put them together right in front of you!
Us eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant. I'm learning chop sticks. Next we went to lunch. We went to a Japanese place and let me tell you, it is not like any Japanese place I’ve ever eaten at in America. They have the grill at the table but they don’t cook it there. They cook it in the kitchen and then set it on the grill at the table to keep it warm while you are eating. I don’t really know what I ate. It reminded me of a very thin pancake with noodles, cabbage, and shrimp mixed up on top of it and another very thin pancake on top. It was good though. I ate it all up.
My new indoor shoes. Very cool, huh?
Lunch made us all sleepy but we had to go get me some indoor shoes. Here you take your shoes off when you go inside but then you change shoes into slippers or indoor shoes. Since I am teaching and dancing and moving a lot I needed shoes and not slippers. They took me somewhere that looked like a Rackroom Shoe Store. I ended up getting some Adidas that looked like water shoes but they were slip on, light weight, comfortable and ON SALE!

Next we hit the 100 yen shop and called it a day. We were all beat. I thought I was going to fall asleep in the car and on the train but I made it home before I crashed.

Fish update: I am closer than I was before. I think I might be getting one this week. I asked the teachers about one so I should get info soon. :)

Rice Fields

The rice fields start off as just dry dirt. Then they are flooded with water and then planted. You can see how swampy it looks but how neat the rows are.
This is a bigger picture of a rice field. At the bottom left corner there is a dirt slope so that someone can walk down into it.

This is a full sized view of a rice field. Hopefully this clears up some misconceptions. There could be some snakes hiding out in there but definitely NOT alligators!! :) When the wind blows it is really neat to look at.

Super Sunday

These are pictures of the cute little shopping place across from my apartment.

What a day! I will call it Super Sunday. I woke up early and got to talk to my family on the phone. I love having skype. It’s so great to be able to talk to people like we were just down the street. I went to bed about 10:30 last night. The wind was still howling and the rain was beating at my door but I felt safe enough. When I got up this morning it was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining for the first time since I have been here. It was warm and slightly breezy. Some kids were having a baseball game in the sandlot behind my apartment.

I decided that today would be a good day to explore the neighborhood. Around 12:00 or so I headed out to those cute shops across the street. They are called Arow & Department. I have always had great taste because no matter where I go, I find the most expensive shops. They had some really cute stuff. I wanted to buy a lot of things but I decided that this was only my first time out and I better hold off just yet. After that I headed back to the main road. I had seen a 100 yen shop down the street when we had ridden our bikes to school on Monday so I thought I’d walk to it and check it out. I wanted to get a few things so off I went.

I walked for a little while…man, this was taking a long time. I kept walking…where was this place? Did I miss a turn? I kept turning around to see if I could still see my apartment building. Yeah, there it was. Hmm…should I turn around and go get my bike? Nah, it wasn’t that far. I would have remembered. I kept walked for awhile longer. Two cars pulled over to chat. They were full of teachers from one of the nursery schools. They were going to my building to clean Mandy’s apartment since she had moved out. For a second I thought about hopping in the car with them and going back but I didn’t. I kept walking a bit more. Why hadn’t I gotten in the car and gone back?? Then angels sang out from the heavens, “AAAAAAHHHHH”…there it was, the 100 yen store. I am really bad with estimation but I think I walked a couple of miles. I walked about a 10 minute bike ride and my shoulders are bright red if that tells you anything.

In the 100 yen store I just had myself a little field day. It was so great. They have everything and not the normal junk you would buy at the dollar store. I mean high quality, cutesy wootsey stuff. I stocked up on much needed items (and a few things I could have lived without but they looked heartbroken sitting on the shelves).

Then I started the trek home. Wow, I thought I was going to keel over there a few times. I arms were loaded down with my great bargains and my feet were hurting from the flip flops…not to mention the sunburn that was setting in. I made it though, all the way back to the apartment.

I checked my email and called home to chat about the stores. It’s so great when you buy stuff and then can talk about every little thing you bought in great detail. It’s like reliving the whole experience. The teachers were still cleaning so I hung out with them some. Dear, sweet Misaki came through the door and saw me and made a beeline for me. She was so excited to see me. She brought me a drink and a snack. It was some bread thing with pudding in it. Very good.

After they left I was getting hungry so I decided to make my last stops for the day. I went across the street to the bookstore. It is two stories full of books. Most everything is in Japanese but I still managed to find my way around. Upstairs there is a TINY English section with books that are pretty outdated. We all know my love for Harry Potter. That was one of my reasons for going in. I wanted to see if they would have the last book in English. I don’t think so. They have paperbacks in English but they are old and do not look like the American ones. They did have the Japanese ones but they were about $40 each. I think I will have to send for one in America. I had the best time in the children’s books. Eric Carle’s books were in Japanese. I am going to go back and buy a couple one day. I already have them picked out.

My next stop was the grocery store. They have all of this food that is cooked and prepared for you to eat. It’s like our deli with the chicken and veggies, only theirs is Japanese food. I grabbed a couple of things for dinners and then left. As I was leaving something caught my eye…a fish!! They sell little fish that you can buy as pets. I am going to have to go back and get one once I do some research. I am already thinking of names for it. The girl was so excited that I was excited. We communicated through some wild hand gestured and smiles. My new fish will be so happy at home in the apartment.

As the evening comes to an end, I think about the day. I am reminded many times a day that I am a foreigner. I think, though, that I have somewhat found a solution (at least for walking around): big sunglasses. I wore mine today and I found that people stared less and honked their horns less as I was walking on the street. Maybe next time I’ll throw on a hat for good measure. I can’t imagine how movie stars do it…always being followed around with cameras and people starting and talking to them. It would creep me out.



I managed to figure out how to work the washing machine tonight. It has been working on my clothes for about three hours. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign. It is a washer/dryer combo so I think it is drying them in there too. I'm getting a little concerned. I'll let you know how it turns out. I've kept busy by watching Grey's Anatomy, occasinally going in their to look into the washer.



That’s the end for today. I have a big day planned for tomorrow. It will be the first time I ride the train alone!! WOW! Sayonara!

Day Eight

Everything goes by here so fast. I can’t believe I’ve been here for a week. Immersion truly is the best way of survival because you either sink or swim! So far I have learned how to use money, figure out the train system, work all of my appliances that are in Japanese, figure out enough of the language to communicate, and NOT get lost. I remember when Candace came here and she emailed about trying to find food in the grocery store. Environmental print was her saving grace, as is mine. I have located many name brands that I recognize.

I woke up this morning and finished my book. I went down to Mandy’s afterward because today is her last day here. She is supposed to leave tomorrow but because the weather is so bad she is going on to the airport tonight. While I was down there Yumi and Misaki came over. Yoko had sent them to check on me because I was getting sick yesterday. Yumi pulled out a thermometer and said that she needed to take my temperature. Here they take them under the arm. It was normal. I was feeling better from last night too. I have taken some medicine and got a lot of rest. We decided not to do to the doctor because I am still talking antibiotics from home. She was so sweet though because she brought me water, fruit, and ice cream! It was so thoughtful of her.

Mandy’s friend Melissa was there at the apartment. She is from New York and is 25. She and I talked a lot while Mandy finished packing. Then the three of us headed out for some lunch. After lunch we went to the grocery store and met up with Caroline. We did some shopping for provisions because I am about to experience my first typhoon.

I’m sure if you have been watching CNN you have heard all about the weather here. It is supposed to hit late tonight (Saturday night). Right not it is really windy and rainy. I asked a million questions about where I should go (down low, a ditch??). All I have to connect this with is a tornado or a hurricane. They told me to stay in my apartment and not go outside. They said that the winds will get really strong and could blow signs and things away and they could hit me if I was outside. It reminds me of watching coverage from hurricanes and things. I plan to stay inside with my cell phone right next to me.

To prepare for the typhoon (I made the mistake of calling a tsunami and scared some of the Japanese teachers to death…kind of comical actually when we sorted it all out) I bought some cheese and stuff. I also bought notebooks so that I could prepare lessons while I was cooped up inside. I am so excited about all of the things that I can do in my lessons.

When we came back to the apartment (the grocery store is across the street) I was SOAKED. My light gray shirt was dark and my jeans were wet. I had been wearing my raincoat too if that tells you how strong the wind and rain were. Yoko came over and talked to Mandy about leaving for the airport and I went up to my apartment for a little nap.

It’s about 6:40 here and Mandy left awhile ago. It’s so quiet without someone to talk to. On the plus side, I have found someone to do my hair!! Caroline is going to get hers done this week and I am going to go with her to watch and meet the guy. He studied in London and I’m very excited. Not much else going on here. I’m in for the night…no shopping for me at those cute little shops. I am going to plan lessons, read, and maybe watch a movie.

Day Seven

Yesterday was Friday. I woke up early to a phone call from Yoko. She informed me that it was raining and that she would come and pick me up at my apartment and drive me to the train station. I got ready for school and sure enough, she was there, right on time. When I got to the station, Mariko was there to meet me. She was me escort today to Midori Nursery School in Fukuyama. We rode the train for an hour and then Yuko, the principal, picked us up at the station and took up to the school. As soon as I walked in the children were saying, “Hello Amanda Sensei!”

They had a school wide assembly for me (very small, keep in mind). It was great! All of the different classes stood up. They all sang songs and did motions. We ended my doing to Hokey Pokey. The kids were hysterical, especially the babies!

Afterwards I went to the 3 year old classroom. Yuko asked me if I minded teaching the 3 year olds for 10 minutes each week. She wanted me to teach them songs and dances. They all introduced themselves. (MY NAME IS….) It was so funny. It kind of reminded me of the time we had the recital and the little kids walked on stage during set changes and said, “My name is …. And I love my dancing school!”

I met the 4 year old next. I will see two groups of them. They introduced themselves and asked me questions. Then we read In the Mirror. The 5 year old class is small so I will see them all together. They introduced themselves, asked me questions, and then we read Mrs. Wishy-Washy. Their English was really great already. I’m excited about working with this school.

Something that I noticed in all of the schools that I have been in is the autonomy that the children have. If they get into an argument they are expected to work it out. The teacher may mediate, but the students do the talking-no matter what their age it. I am so happy to see this! I do this in my own classroom and it is encouraging to see it being done even with the 3 year olds. Another thing that the children do to solve problems like who will go first, second, etc. is play Rock, Paper, Scissors!! I asked Mandy if she taught the kids this game and she said no. It’s just really popular in Japan. It cracked me up because my own first graders do this in America to solve problems or see who gets something or goes first.

After meeting the children I went to the Kato’s house for lunch. I checked my email and ate and then I have about an hour to myself for a rest. I read my book which was so nice. I never get duty free lunch at school unless it’s a special day or something. Here I get is every day. Jealous, friends?

I gave the teachers lessons after that. We talked about the curriculum that I was going to cover and them we just had conversation in English. We talked about our families, pets, homes, etc. I had the teachers in two groups. Usually I will start at 10:30 and end at 6:30 but today I finished at 3:00. They took pity on the tired American who looked as though she was going to fall asleep on them. I am also getting a chest cold. I think it might be bronchitis. I used to get this when my room was damp and muggy and that is how the air is everywhere here.
The train ride home was great. Another hour of reading. It was raining when we got to the station so I got to ride home in a taxi. Very stinky. Back at the apartment I curled up with my book again and listened to it rain. Yoko came by. It seems that Yuko, the principal at the school, had called her and told her that I had a cough. Yoko brought me some cake and had come to see if I was sick. She said she would call me in the morning to see if I wanted to go to the doctor. Nothing is a secret with these people--they are all looking after me!

Today is Saturday. I wanted to go exploring across the street. There are these neat little shops I can see from my window. I got out my binoculars the other night and tried to see into the stores. I couldn’t see very well but I think some are clothes and one might be books. Anyway, I wanted to walk over there and check it out. It’s raining though so I don’t really need to get out in that.

Day Six

Thursday was my first day to go off to work alone. I went to Fukayama to Hikari Nursery School. I rode my bike all the way to the train station. I was so proud of myself. Matsayuki met me at the station and rode with me to the school. It took about an hour to get there by train. I tried a new drink while I was on the way to Hikari. It is called C.C. Lemon. It is supposed to have a lot of vitamin C in it. It tasted a little like sprite. I am trying to fight getting sick.

When we got to Hikari I was just in time to see all of the children come out and dance in the playground. They are having a summer carnival this weekend at school and they are going to do this dance. Afterwards I met all of the students that I will be teaching. The 4 year olds introduced themselves and we did the Hokey Pokey. Then the five year olds introduced themselves and we did the Tooty Ta. We also read a big book together. It was fun. I ate lunch there and then was going to have teacher lessons.

Matsayuki’s house is right behind the nursery school. He is also a Buddhist priest so he took me inside of his temple. I had never seen anything like it before. It was very ornate with a lot of gold. It was beautiful. Outside of his temple and house he had a little pond with carp. They are huge! Some are orange, white, and black. The teachers told me later that they cost 1,000,000 yen each which is somewhat close to $10,000 each. I couldn’t believe it. He also showed me a separate room from the nursery school that we use for teacher lessons. It is next to his house. It’s like a little apartment. I have a break after lunch and I can go in here and take a nap or read or whatever.

I will be working with Matsayuki on constructivism this year. We watched a video of a speaker abd my job was to explain what some of the words meant. This shouldn’t have been that hard but at the same time I was so tired that I was trying to follow what the speaker was saying and comprehend it and he was constantly stopping the video and asking me questions about it and I was struggling to remember what context the word that he was wondering about was just used in…this will get easier I’m sure. It was really funny when I had to explain psychoanalytical to him. That was a trip!

After his lesson I met with the first group of teachers. We chatted and talked about ourselves. The second group of teachers were the ones that teach my classes of kids. They were really funny. They have planned a day trip for us on Monday. We are off work because of a national holiday so we are going to go to the toy museum. I’m excited. I read about the museam unline awhile ago when I was researching Okayama and Fukayama.

After the lessons Matsayuki took me to Fukayama Castle. We went to the top of it. The inside is a museum so we looked around. It was artifacts and things but since it was all in Japanese I didn’t understand too much. I was also really hot and really tired so it was a quick trip.

Back on the train we rode for an hour back to my station. I will do this by myself next week. I feel confident that I can do it. I’m getting comfortable with reading the train times and knowing which train to ride on. I also know how to buy train tickets and read the train map thing.

I rode my bike back to the apartment and then checked my email in Mandy’s room. When she got home from work she showed me how to set up Skype voicemail. I now have a local phone number that you can call me on!! If I am not there, leave a message and I can call you back.

We went to the grocery store to get some dinner. They have premade foods that are really cheap and good. I had something that looked like dumplings and in the middle was meat and spices and maybe some cabbage. It reminded me of an egg roll filling. I also had two shrimp. They were really long and fried. It reminded me of Captain D’s. We also walked around the street and found a neat little shop that sold cool home stuff. There were some neat vases made out of newspaper and there were spoons that were metal but looked like they had been hammered and then leaves cut out of them for straining purposes. It was all pretty cheap too.

I was so tired when we came back home. We ate dinner, Yoko came over, and then I went to bed. I tried to read some before bed but my eyes were closing. I finally gave in and turned out the light. Right now it is Friday morning here, Thursday evening in Birmingham. I’m going to go eat some breakfast and get ready to go while you are probably about to eat dinner and dash off to your evening plans. I miss you all so much and I wish you were all here on this adventure with me. I really want to climb Mt. Fugi…(cough, cough, Tara J) Seriously, if anyone wants to come, come on! I have a futon!

Day Five

I’m losing track of the days. I have to think really hard to figure out what today is. It’s even worse when I start trying to figure out what day it is at home! Haha This is the end of Wednesday here. It was such a long day. I didn’t think it would ever end. I am sleeping better now. So well in fact that I didn’t want t get up this morning. It was raining and it made me groggy. Today was the last day that I would follow Mandy around. The next two days I am on my own.

We biked to the station. I got a little bit closer this time before I thought my legs were going to fall off. I made it though. It gets easier every time. It will be so awesome when I can write about biking to the station and not even thinking about how tiring it was! We were picked up by a driver who took us to our school. It was a nice school with many children but I was really amazed at the classes. At the other two schools the children were really mild mannered and well behaved. At this school they were very wild and hard for Mandy to get control over. I found out that there were a couple who were autistic and some with severe ADD. Mandy said that this was her most challenging school.

After the lesson we ate lunch with the children. They were really sweet kids. The were obsessed with rubbing me arms. They liked the hair on my arm—but I’m not really a hairy person. J They also liked to touch my nails. One little boy kept touching me on the bottom. Mandy said that he did that to her too. I was like, “Whoa buddy!” Another little boy kept giving me kisses on the cheek. It was a very interesting class.

The teachers threw Mandy a party too during nap time. We ate ice cream and some Japanese stuff that tasted kind of like what I imagine paste to taste like. We played Bingo and musical chairs! It was fun. Three of the teachers also did a dance to Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. It was so cute.

We left there and went to another school. Mandy did lessons for 1st graders after their regular school. They were making something special for Tara Sensei who will arrive in 2 and ½ weeks. I was so tired at this point. Afterwards we went to the train station to go home. We stopped at Okayama Station (it’s really big) and I got some wheat bread and some cheese bread from a bakery. Then we got back on the train and went to our station.

The bike ride home was not bad at all. I realized why I hate my bike so much…the tire is flat. We are going to pump it up tomorrow and it will feel better to ride on. The internet was waiting on us in Mandy’s room. Mine is still not connected but I can use hers. I have a key to her room. I checked email and then headed to my room. I rearranged the furniture to better suit my needs. I think it’s a lot cuter now too.

Day Four

I finally am getting on a normal sleeping routine. I went to sleep around 9:30 last night and woke up about 6:30. I know I will sleep well tonight though because I am worn out after today! I am taking full advantage of Mandy being here until Sunday. She has been here for a year and knows her way around so I want her to show me everything and explain all that she can before she leaves.

We rode the bikes to the train station this morning. It is further away from the nursery school but I made it. She taught me how to read the train signs and which train to get on. It’s not really that hard from the small station by our apartments. When we got to Okayama Station it got more difficult because it is a lot bigger. At Okayama Station she showed me the store Jupiter. It is a store that sells imported goods. They even had Combos! I picked up a copy of the newspaper that was in English and told foreigners of what was happening around the city. It’s pretty cool.

The school we were to today is the farthest school from a train station so someone comes to pick us up. When we got to the school we were greeted with smiling faces. It was mostly the same as yesterday. This school belongs to Yoko’s sister who is Matsumi’s wife. The five year olds, who I will teach, introduced themselves to me, asked me questions, read a book with me (a big book about me that Carla had made), and then we did the Hokey Pokey. It was cute. I also had a chance to check my emails while I was there. Thank you so much for all of you who have written me! I appreciate it so much. I am so sorry that I have not been able to personally respond to everyone yet. The internet is not connected in my apartment but we are hoping that it will be in the next few days and then I can respond to everyone individually. Until then I type these at night and upload them at the schools.

After school Mariko took Mandy and me to the bank. We closed Mandy’s bank account and then we went to the post office. In Japan you can open a post office account that is basically the same as a bank account. It holds your money and you can even send it to your account in America. It’s much cheaper and faster to do it this way too. We closed Mandy’s and opened one for me.

We went to the college next for Mariko’s lesson. She and Mandy just talked a lot. They practiced conversational English. After that she took up back to the train. Mandy and I went to a different stop so that she could show me some shops that I might like. One was a second hand store but MUCH nicer than out thrift shops. They have great kimonos there! We also went to the 100 yen store. It’s like a dollar store but you can get so much more awesome stuff there. We had dinner at a little restaurant. I even had fries!! I met Mandy’s friend Chloe (pronounced Klow). She is from Italy and it teaching high school here at a Catholic private school. She will be here until mid-August. She is really great. I’m going to hang out with her when Mandy leaves. She speaks and reads Japanese and has the most beautiful accent. I also met another friend of Mandy’s named Caroline. She is leaving Japan soon but her replacement, Melissa, is about my age. We are all going to meet up this weekend for dinner so that we can get to know each other and we can hang out while we are in Japan. It’s nice to have American friends to speak English with! I am also going to sign up for the JET program where foreigners can get together to go on trips and stuff together. Mandy did it and it’s pretty cool. It’s a non-committal thing so if I want to go somewhere I can and if I don’t want to then I don’t have to.

We just got back to the apartment about 30 minutes ago. The bike ride back was killer. My legs and butt are sore from peddling and bumping along the sidewalks. It was hot too and yucky out but I did it! I am so proud that I am taking these challenges and laughing in their faces! J haha I hope everyone at home is doing well. You should all let me be an inspiration to you to go out and get a bike and then ride it up and down the sidewalk with a busy rode on one side and a rice field on the other. I am always scared I’m going to fall in the rice fields. In case you don’t know what they look like, they are like a marshy/wet area with rows grass. No fences around them either.

I miss you all tons and I wish you were here to share this experience with me!

Second and Third Days

My first day in Japan was not too busy but it wasn’t until I was out doing stuff that I realized how tired I was. I didn’t sleep very well my first night. I think it was nerves and excitement all meshed into one. I slept for about five hours and then I was wide awake. I got up and looked at the disaster of my apartment and started unpacking. Everything is in its place now. I was to rearrange the furniture but it’s kind of like living in Bruno…there’s only one way to put things! Anyway, it’s cute.

I took a shower. I LOVE the shower. It’s nice and roomy. It’s about the size of a large closet and it’s split in half (the back half by the wall if the bath tub). And yes, that thing on the wall IS a TV! I hate turning the TV on though because everything is in Japanese and their voices are REALLY shrill. I’m sorry to everyone who has ever told me to be quiet!! After you take a shower you dry off with a thin towel. It is as thin as the cheapest Wal-Mart washcloth, only larger. Then you hang it up in the shower room and turn on the dryer in the ceiling. Yoko said that it takes a few says to dry. Yuck!

Yoko picked me up at 12:00. Se brought Misaki, the 6 year old daughter of Yumi, her chief teacher at her school. Yumi was waiting for us in the car. We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. That was fun. I had some spaghetti with mozzarella cheese chunks in it, but I tasted all of their food too. It was really delicious. Misaki served my plate. She was so cute. She knew a little English so we talked in broken English and Japanese. They had a buffet too of salads. I had lettuce and something close to ranch dressing. I also tried pasta salad, green beans, broccoli salad, potato salads, and some other stuff. It was all really good. I skipped some of the stuff that I couldn’t recognize. Haha

We left the restaurant and went to Yoko’s school. Her school is Futaba Nursery School. It is about three minutes from my apartment. I will go here to teach every Monday. I checked my email and then read with Misaki. I met a few of the teachers while I was there. Yoko gave me my schedule and explained everything to me. There are a lot of national holidays that I will not have to work. One is July 16. I already have a day off! I’m excited about that. There are all of these really cool stores around my apartment. I can see them from my window and I want to check them out! Some of you have birthdays coming up…

We went to get my picture made next. In America we smile big. In Japan they want you to drop your chin and look natural, no smile. They loved my expressionless face, I hated it! Whatever. I had to have a picture for my Alien Registration. Tomorrow we are going to the City Office to take care of that.

We went to the train station where I will go most mornings. It is little and quiet. I think I can handle it. Yoko bought all of my train tickets for the month. That was exciting and scary at the same time. We went to the grocery store next and bought milk. I paid!

When we got back to my apartment (across the street from the grocery store) Yoko made me flash cards!! She bought me a little notepad and on each page she wrote something in Japanese that I might need and the English underneath it. Some say “Please call police.” “Please call ambulance.” “I want to purchase train tickets for…train.” These are in case I ever need something and I can’t find someone who speaks English. She also showed me how to work all of the things in the apartment and how to take out the trash.

When she left I crashed! I was so tired that I thought I was going to fall asleep at the table so I changes into pajamas and lay down. It was 5:00 and I am just now waking up at 3:30 am. I wanted to write all of this stuff down though before I forgot all of the details then back to bed for me. I have a busy day tomorrow!

Today was my third day in Japan. After I typed that up there, I went back to sleep for a few hours. When I woke up I get ready for school. I knew it was supposed to rain and I also knew that I was going to ride a bicycle! Mandy came and got me before school. We went down and unlocked our bikes. I don’t know when the last time I really rode a bike was. I still had it, but it was tricky to wind through the streets. There is a separate bike place so that you don’t ride on the rode. That was good because there was a lot of traffic. It was about a 15 minute ride to school.

When we got to the school I immediately heard little voices calling, “Amanda Sensei!” There were all of these little Japanese kids who knew me already. We went inside and I watched Mandy teach the four year old classes. It was so basic (color songs, Hello Neighbor, calendar and weather). She taught two classes and then I toured the school. The school is for children under one year – five years. They were all eating lunch when I was walking around. I stopped in the five year old classroom to meet them. I will be teaching them every Monday. They were so excited to see me. I looked like an idiot. I sat there and spoke English and they spoke Japanese and we all just talked at each other instead of to each other. We need to work on that. Haha

It was time for me to eat lunch next. I met the cook and I ate her food. It was rice and some vegetables with meat and egg. There were also some potatoes. Not my favorite but I ate enough to taste it and see that it wasn’t bad. When I checked my email I was so happy to get so many! Thank you all so much! It makes me feel so blessed to have such great friends and family. Back on the bike after that to the apartment. MAN, I’m going to be ripped.

Yoko picked me up and took me to the City Office. It was hot and gross but no one seemed to notice. I was battling a migraine due to the heat and the rain. We applied for my alien registration card. That took about an hour. She took me home afterwards and invited me out to dinner with her family. When I got home I took some medicine and laid down. The humidity and heat and rain made me really sleepy and dizzy. Mandy said that it happens to her about 2:00 every day. That’s about the time it hit me too. I slept for a little while and felt a lot better.

Dinner was AWESOME! We went to a Korean bar-b-que. They bring you raw meat and you grill it right at your table on a real grill that is built into the table. The meat is sliced really thin so it cooks fast. You can dip it in sauces and eat it with rice. I tried eating with chop sticks but I wasn’t great so they brought me a fork. I didn’t give up though and I started to get the hang of the chop sticks eventually. I met Yoko’s sons and her parents. I also met Matsumi’s son. Yumi and Misaki came with us too. Misaki was SO excited to see me again. She is the cutest little Japanese 6 year old!

My heavy suitcase came today so I unpacked after dinner. I also was given an electronic English/Japanese dictionary. Tomorrow I will bike to the train station with Mandy and then ride to another nursery school. At lunch we will come back and then go open a back account. I will open one at the post office so that I will be able to send my money home. I’m not exactly sure how that works but Mandy has been explaining everything to me.

Everyone keeps saying how safe it is here. I’m sure it is, but I’m still not going out after dark. Mandy goes and hops the train at 8:00 in the evening to go do things but that just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. I threw that in there so that everyone knows that I’m not out and about! I’m taking it slow and staying close by. I’m waiting for Tara to get here before I do anything really. She comes in three weeks.

Terrible Toilet Troubles!

“Welcome to Japan-Panasonic!” I was greeted with a huge sign when I walked off of the plane. Then I had to maneuver my way to customs by way of shuttle. I just followed the crowd. I found a black lady who spoke English and asked her if I was going the right way! She was very helpful. She is from the States but has a law firm in Okinawa. She lives here permanently.

Going through customs was a trip. First I had to go through immigration to get my passport checked. The guy was trying to explain to me how to go to the courthouse and get the alien registration form and all but he had limited English. I passed there and went to get my bags. I probably looked like Miley trying to drag that huge Oboe around…except I had two! I finally got my bags and drug them over and got them on a cart. I went through the customs table and the man took pity on my and just waved me through without making me show him anything.

When I went through the customs door into the airport I was greeted by Matsayuki with a sign that read, “Amanda Lynn Daniel WELCOME!” It was fun. I took a picture of him holding the sign. We went to the train station and got our train tickets, then he had my luggage sent to the delivery service. We went to a coffee shop for some water. It was JUST like in the books that I’ve read. In the windows were plastic replicas of the food. The menus were picture menus. It was so cute! There is a lot of English everywhere too.
Every kept staring at me (again, just like in the books). They would look from Matsayuki to me. Maybe they thought I was a mail order bride or something. Haha We got on the train next. It is so cool! We are going super fast over water. It is really dark outside but all of the big buildings are lit up. From a distance it looked like the New York skyline. When I got closer and actually went passed it, it looked like city blocks like Vegas with all of the buildings. The only difference is that the buildings are not silly looking theme buildings.

There is a ton of environmental print. I want to take more pictures so that I can add them to my pictures of Italy and London environmental print. We just passed a McDonald’s and it was so funny to see it written in symbols!

The train experience was interesting. The first train was not crowded. I was able to stretch out. The next ride was full of people. We were all jammed together. I had to use the restroom. I found it in the train car in front of mine and again, like in the books, there were three: gentlemen, Japanese style, and Western style. I opted for the Western one. That train ride was very hot but fast. When we got to the station Yoko was waiting for me. She pulled me off of the train like I was going to get sucked back in. When I was safely on the platform she hugged me and took me to the car. I am nervous about the train ticket system but I am sure I’ll get it down.

When we got in the car it was fun to ride one the “wrong side of the road.” I felt like I was in New York with all of the big signs that were all lit up. It looked like Time Square on Good Morning America! She laughed at that. She drove me out of downtown and showed me all of the sights on the way to her nursery school. The first thing she wanted me to do was email Mom! She was so worried that Mom would be worried so she was getting me to the computer as fast as she could! On the way she pointed out many grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, etc. I saw my apartment building. It looked just like the picture. When we got to the school we ran across the street to where Matsumi’s house is. His wife if Yoko’s older sister. She will be taking care of me with Yoko while I am in Japan. Yoko showed me her house too. It is within walking distance to school, a bike ride from my apartment-with streamers and bell Lindsey!! (about a 3 minute drive in the car).

The school was so cute! Of course it was dark so I couldn’t see much, but what I could see I loved. We went in and took our shoes off. I am used to this from Dima’s house so it was nothing new. J I was immediately sat at the computer to email home. It was hard to get the hand of the keyboard. It is a little different than ours and it has all of the Japanese characters on it so I was having to be careful when I was typing. My internet will be hooked up in one to two weeks at my apartment so until then I will just check it at the schools every day. Please write!

After that we went to my apartment. MAN, it’s tiny! It’s like living in the common room in Bruno! No, really, it’s like the downstairs at Turtle Creek (main room and little bathroom) with a shower room about twice the size of the closet and the kitchen is about twice the size of the bar. It is cute though!! All of my stuff was here in boxes waiting for me. Yoko stayed for a little while and showed me how to lock the doors, work the security system, work my cell phone (it looks like a blue Razor), etc. They had left me food (lots of fruits) and drinks in the fridge in case I was hungry.

After she left I wanted to take a shower but I needed my stuff so I had to unpack boxes to find it. That was a disaster because I made SUCH a mess in this little place. You know how I am about unpacking too. It was like a flashback to moving into the dorms. I immediately didn’t care about the shower anymore, I wanted everything unpacked and put away BUT I was exhausted. I ended up just making a mess and then Yoko called back and told me that she was coming back over because she forgot to show me how to work the hot water.

Everything is computerized here. It is great…IF you know the language. She was reading the symbols and I was trying to understand what it all meant. I finally just said that I though I understood because I was just too tired. If I had to take a cold shower then I would! I figured that Mandy could explain it to me tomorrow.

I went to bed around midnight here. It was like being back at St. Bernard…HOT with no air. I have air but it is not like at home. I turned on a fan and went to sleep AFTER I found some cards tucked in boxes and bags. Reading those got to me. I was so tired and missed everyone so much after traveling for a full 24 hours. I hated that I couldn’t pick up the phone and call and when I read those letters I realized that I’m here and y’all are there. I was worried that I made the wrong choice. I forced myself to read them though and those words of encouragement made me remember why I chose to do this. I have the greatest family and friends who offered the greatest amount of support. I finally went to bed (after eating the rest of Casey’s treats and hanging up all of my pictures of family and friends where I could see y’all!!!). Of course I didn’t sleep but 5 hours and I am still so tired but I did get a lot unpacked this morning. And the best part is that when I woke up and saw those cards I felt so much better about being here. I feel so confident in my decision and I am so excited to start this adventure.

When you come visit (because I know you ALL will), bring an air mattress. My bed it little and not like my Tempra-pedic!

By the way, you all will get a kick out of this, but Lindsey especially. I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I said that everything it electronic…well, even the toilet. I pressed the wrong button and water started squirting out of the toilet up on the wall. You warned me!

Okayama Adventures

Masayuki met me at the Osaka airport. Do you love the sign??

Hey everyone! I am officially in Okayama, Japan. These are pictures of my new home. It's a tiny apartment that is really cozy. I have posted a lot of pictures so that you can see where I am living.

This is the washer/dryer combo and then the shower room.

You can obviously tell that this is the kitchen.

You can tell which one is my bedroom (look how happy my bears are). It's about the size of a closet.

You can go onto the balcony from the bedroom and the living room. They are behind the GORGEOUS flowered curtains.

Next to it is the living room. I have a little couch and a dest and a couple of bookshelves. That white thing on the wall over the glass door is the air conditioning. It has a remote control. Fancy, huh? It's a mess in here today. I had just finished unpacking. Sorry!