So being here without much to do, I have started to read again. When I was a kid I would devour books, anything that was put in front of me, I would read in no time flat. I would often read two or three books at one time; juggling the stories was always fun for me. However high school hit and then college, and all reading for pleasure went right out the window. I even boycotted to the point (and I am somewhat ashamed to admit this) that I wouldn't even read textbooks or assigned reading for some classes. It got to the point that reading just was not an enjoyable thing for me to do any more. It was a struggle to get through books, even ones I liked! I think throughout all of college I actually read 4 books from start to finish; about attempted about 7 others that have just fallen by the wayside only half read.
But, much to my pleasant surprise, I had this huge desire to read once I got to Japan! And luckily, my apartment is filled with all kinds of books that have just accumulated over the years of JETs living in this apartment. So I was searching through the shelf and picked up American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I have heard of it before and I know there is a movie that exists with Christian Bale as the lead actor. I had some inkling that it was kind of a dark story about a serial murderer. Really, I had no clue what I was getting myself into!
I read this book in fairly short order, about 6 days, which is nice because I am back to my old speeds. But I think it was the most difficult book I have ever pushed myself through. It is an understatement to call this book dark. It is deeply disturbing due to the extreme nature of its content. In places it is almost pornographic and then it quickly changes into the most detailed accounts of murder and mutilation. Honestly now, I never need to see the movie, EVER. And I would NOT recommend anyone to read this book. But if you do, or you already have at some point in your life, I would like to discuss it with you, so let me know.
Now I am on a reading kick and I really hope it stays this way for a while. I have a ton of books on my shelves at home, but if anyone has some good suggestions, I will totally try to track down some of them while I am in Japan! Amazon.com still delivers to me. :) As I read I will be giving mini reports about my thoughts and feelings; not that any of you want to read them, but I want to write them. Fun how since this is my blog I can write about whatever I want, even if it bores you....haha. But seriously if I am boring, let me know and I will find something more exciting to write about.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Writing letters to pass the time
At the suggestion of someone pretty fantastic, I just joined this network called Postcrossing.com. It's a pretty awesome endeavor and essentially I am now going to have as many random penpals as I can handle from all over the world! Given the fact that I have been so into writing lately (letters, postcards, blog entries, my diary, etc.) this is going to be a blast.
My favorite pasttime as of late is to sit and write letter after letter. I think I have sent about 16 or so by now. And don't worry, if you haven't gotten one yet it is enroute....or you never gave me your mailing address and that is something you should do ASAP!!!
The best part I have discovered about letter writing is that, unlike a face to face conversation, you can take your time and really decide what it is you want to write. It also gives me a chance to reestablish contact with some people who I rarely speak to. Not all of the letters I have written have been happy and cheery and glowing. Of course I have my weak moments and some of the letters I have sent home have been sad, or a little depressing. If you have gotten or will be getting one of those letters, I'm sorry; I'll try to make the next one happier.
There is no pressure when you're writing a letter. At this point people are so excited to receive mail, myself included, that even some rambling is acceptable. Mail is also a sign that someone is thinking about you and thought you were important enough to take the time to write a little card or a letter. Letter writing is a genuinely sincere form of communication while others are still lacking. So the next time you are thinking of someone special, and you want them to know they are special, just write them a letter and it will speak volumes about how you feel about them!
My favorite pasttime as of late is to sit and write letter after letter. I think I have sent about 16 or so by now. And don't worry, if you haven't gotten one yet it is enroute....or you never gave me your mailing address and that is something you should do ASAP!!!
The best part I have discovered about letter writing is that, unlike a face to face conversation, you can take your time and really decide what it is you want to write. It also gives me a chance to reestablish contact with some people who I rarely speak to. Not all of the letters I have written have been happy and cheery and glowing. Of course I have my weak moments and some of the letters I have sent home have been sad, or a little depressing. If you have gotten or will be getting one of those letters, I'm sorry; I'll try to make the next one happier.
There is no pressure when you're writing a letter. At this point people are so excited to receive mail, myself included, that even some rambling is acceptable. Mail is also a sign that someone is thinking about you and thought you were important enough to take the time to write a little card or a letter. Letter writing is a genuinely sincere form of communication while others are still lacking. So the next time you are thinking of someone special, and you want them to know they are special, just write them a letter and it will speak volumes about how you feel about them!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Living in Japan
Being a foreigner and trying to set up residence in Japan can be a little tough. There is a ton of paperwork and verification; it means having obscene amounts of cash on you at all times for different payments and fees and no one takes credit cards. I have to get a foreigner identification card and they tell me I can’t do anything else until I have that. That card takes three weeks to get once I have applied for it; but I have some stealthy people helping me out, and I have been able to get a lot of things set up without it!
I have a cell phone now, which is really awesome because Japanese cell phones kick butt! I have a name stamp too, because the Japanese use these stamps instead of a signature. My school had one made for me the day I got here and they picked out a really pretty case for it too! I have gotten started on the process of setting up my internet, which takes a long time just because of sending modems back and forth and verification stuff. I am also in the process of having my car inspected and getting insurance. That is taking a while because my car is pretty old. I think the Japanese are just worried that the American, who is used to driving on the right side of the road is going to break herself, the car, and maybe other people! I’m glad they are taking their time with it, but I will be glad to have a bit more freedom and mobility once I am able to start driving. My health insurance card is on its way as well as my re-entry permit.
My re-entry permit is crazy important because if I were to leave Japan without it, my workers Visa would become void and I wouldn’t be let back into the country. So for just 6000 yen (about $60) I will be able to buy a permit that lets me come and go from Japan as I please. I am pretty excited about the traveling I will get to do while I am here. Once I go back home to the States, I will hit my comfort zone again, and it may be quite a while before I leave again, so I better just go crazy now! I am going to start a running list of places I want to visit this year. If anyone has any suggestions for good things to do, please, please let me know!!!
I think this is enough blogging for now. I hope I have given you all plenty to read!
I have a cell phone now, which is really awesome because Japanese cell phones kick butt! I have a name stamp too, because the Japanese use these stamps instead of a signature. My school had one made for me the day I got here and they picked out a really pretty case for it too! I have gotten started on the process of setting up my internet, which takes a long time just because of sending modems back and forth and verification stuff. I am also in the process of having my car inspected and getting insurance. That is taking a while because my car is pretty old. I think the Japanese are just worried that the American, who is used to driving on the right side of the road is going to break herself, the car, and maybe other people! I’m glad they are taking their time with it, but I will be glad to have a bit more freedom and mobility once I am able to start driving. My health insurance card is on its way as well as my re-entry permit.
My re-entry permit is crazy important because if I were to leave Japan without it, my workers Visa would become void and I wouldn’t be let back into the country. So for just 6000 yen (about $60) I will be able to buy a permit that lets me come and go from Japan as I please. I am pretty excited about the traveling I will get to do while I am here. Once I go back home to the States, I will hit my comfort zone again, and it may be quite a while before I leave again, so I better just go crazy now! I am going to start a running list of places I want to visit this year. If anyone has any suggestions for good things to do, please, please let me know!!!
I think this is enough blogging for now. I hope I have given you all plenty to read!
School and my new teacher friends
I have been working at my school for about a week now and things are pretty simple so far. I come in, greet everyone, get online and work on my Self-Intro powerpoint. At noon or so I go to lunch with some of the teachers and then I go back to my desk until the end of the day. It’s nice here because different teachers come up to talk to me throughout the day. I have showed the photo album I brought from home. The teachers here are so genuinely kind and interested in me that it makes being in school really fun. Just think when students are thrown into the mix, it’s going to be a party all the time!
One of my favorite days so far was the day the science teacher, who doesn’t speak English, took me out to my van in the parking lot and helped me practice driving! She is young, maybe mid-thirties and has a great smile. She knows how to drive a manual transmission and said that when she was young, she didn’t have a choice between manual and automatic, so she had to learn! She knows the words for clutch, brake, accelerate and reverse. First, she had me watch her drive up and down the road a little bit. She was narrating as she drove, and then she prompted me to narrate for her, to make sure I was paying attention and understood what she was doing. When she was finished her demonstration, she let me drive some in the humongous parking lot of the school. I got in and she started giving me step-by-step directions for how to drive and start from a stopped position. I think the coolest part was that every instruction she gave, my Dad had also given in my crash course at home. It made me smile as she taught me little tricks to driving a manual car and the nuances she had that are universal. She was patient with me and congratulatory when I would do anything correctly. I really loved that day and our lesson.
Since then I have been out to lunch with her and showed her pictures. We had a discussion about the difference between American high schools and Japanese high schools. We have talked about crocheting and our families. It is really amazing the conversations people are so capable of having even without speaking the same language.
The apato
I arrived to my new abode one week ago. To call it a sardine can could seem derogatory to most, however when you are the size of the sardine (me) and the can actually suits you quite nicely it can just be a description of small. I have a kitchen, an office/closet room, and a living/bedroom. There is a bathroom too, but it almost feels like a port-a-john. It’s not dirty at all, just surprisingly tiny to have a bathtub and toilet in it at the same time. I have begun to decorate some with pictures and my digital photo frame.
The Japanese should be revered for their recycling intensity. Something that is totally stressing me out is my trash schedule. They have this really detailed schedule in my town about when different things are picked up and when I should throw away different items. They separate it into burnable items, plastic, plastic bottles, aluminum, steel, glass, and non-burnable items. I have to get the right trash out on the right day, otherwise, they bring it back to me. I have been so nervous to take out my trash that I have a rapid pile growing in my kitchen; I better wo-man up and take care of it soon!
There has also been a ton of stuff left in my apartment from previous JETs who have lived here. It almost felt like I was moving into someone else’s apartment. I have a ton of books to read and travel guides. I think I also found 4 suitcases that were not my own in the closet, which is also filled with hangers and pillows and sheets. I have some serious cleaning out to do. Also my fridge, there is some mustard, sauerkraut, ice, some sort of popsicle. I have been left with three bottles of wine, and about 7 beers in the fridge. There are tons of papers for teaching and lesson plans, which I will find SOOO useful when I start getting into all that. For now the extent of my preparation for school is my self-introduction which I finished today, so that means I am going to have to be finding something else to do for the rest of the week.
All in all I really like my apartment. It is going to be kind of fun going through everything and cleaning up and out. Given my summer, I have become an expert at such things and seeing as nothing in this apartment is mine, the difficult sentimental stuff won’t be there!
The Japanese should be revered for their recycling intensity. Something that is totally stressing me out is my trash schedule. They have this really detailed schedule in my town about when different things are picked up and when I should throw away different items. They separate it into burnable items, plastic, plastic bottles, aluminum, steel, glass, and non-burnable items. I have to get the right trash out on the right day, otherwise, they bring it back to me. I have been so nervous to take out my trash that I have a rapid pile growing in my kitchen; I better wo-man up and take care of it soon!
There has also been a ton of stuff left in my apartment from previous JETs who have lived here. It almost felt like I was moving into someone else’s apartment. I have a ton of books to read and travel guides. I think I also found 4 suitcases that were not my own in the closet, which is also filled with hangers and pillows and sheets. I have some serious cleaning out to do. Also my fridge, there is some mustard, sauerkraut, ice, some sort of popsicle. I have been left with three bottles of wine, and about 7 beers in the fridge. There are tons of papers for teaching and lesson plans, which I will find SOOO useful when I start getting into all that. For now the extent of my preparation for school is my self-introduction which I finished today, so that means I am going to have to be finding something else to do for the rest of the week.
All in all I really like my apartment. It is going to be kind of fun going through everything and cleaning up and out. Given my summer, I have become an expert at such things and seeing as nothing in this apartment is mine, the difficult sentimental stuff won’t be there!
The prodigal blogger has returned
Back from sabbatical and I am ready to start blogging again! I have a few stories to relay so far, and I think I am going to do it by posting each story separately, for easy reading.
Arriving in Japan was different this time than it has been in the past. I think a large part of that is because I am not here for a short stay with an already wonderful group of friends as I have done in the past. On those occasions there has always been a lot of excitement and anticipation of what is to come and sharing it with someone else. At this point I have been living on my own in effect for three years and I am just coming here to live. I am happy to be here, I don’t feel upset or morose, but just normal. It’s comfortable and feels like I should be here.
I have been through three orientations at this point. Things are starting to get a little redundant, but I guess it would be irresponsible not to have them. I am in a bit of a different situation than most of the JETs I have encountered because I have actually studied the Japanese language, I have been here multiple times before, and I have spent the past six summers working with and teaching/learning from Japanese adults and students. I understand the subtleties in their style of communicating, I can speak to them in their own language (to an extent) and I like the food!
*Side note* I desperately need to learn to start cooking real food instead of just using the microwave oven. If anyone out there has some good recopies that are of the Asian persuasion, it would be uber helpful if you could send them to me!!!
I have met some nice people and I think there are some good friendships beginning to form here, so that is really great. This is going to be an important year for me and I really hope I walk away with some great friends and new contacts.
Arriving in Japan was different this time than it has been in the past. I think a large part of that is because I am not here for a short stay with an already wonderful group of friends as I have done in the past. On those occasions there has always been a lot of excitement and anticipation of what is to come and sharing it with someone else. At this point I have been living on my own in effect for three years and I am just coming here to live. I am happy to be here, I don’t feel upset or morose, but just normal. It’s comfortable and feels like I should be here.
I have been through three orientations at this point. Things are starting to get a little redundant, but I guess it would be irresponsible not to have them. I am in a bit of a different situation than most of the JETs I have encountered because I have actually studied the Japanese language, I have been here multiple times before, and I have spent the past six summers working with and teaching/learning from Japanese adults and students. I understand the subtleties in their style of communicating, I can speak to them in their own language (to an extent) and I like the food!
*Side note* I desperately need to learn to start cooking real food instead of just using the microwave oven. If anyone out there has some good recopies that are of the Asian persuasion, it would be uber helpful if you could send them to me!!!
I have met some nice people and I think there are some good friendships beginning to form here, so that is really great. This is going to be an important year for me and I really hope I walk away with some great friends and new contacts.
Friday, August 1, 2008
On sabbatical
My last night in the states and my last chance for internet for maybe a month. Ta ta for now, I will post again my first opportunity in Japan. You may get multiple posts all at once depending on how long I am without internet and how much I need to talk and get out my thoughts and feelings. Instead of multiple blog posts I may just write letters to those of you who I know (or hope) will reciprocate. ;) I hope everyone will be well.
I'm off...
I'm off...
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