...are among the small group of things in Japan that are larger, rather than smaller than their counterparts in the US. We have a little pond at school with some massive koi there. They have to be like, the length of my arm or longer, at least. MASSIVE.
Also on this list:
- spiders
- butterflies
- most bugs in general
- cockroaches
- public transportation
- trees
On the most definitely smaller in Japan list:
- portions
- cars
- streets
- drinks
- water cups at restaurants
- ice cubes <3
- living spaces
- clothing
- ovens (if they exist at all)
- stoves
- toilets
- height of tables, etc
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Niimi
So I teach primarily in two different cities: Niimi and Takahashi, about half an hour away by train. In Niimi I teach at Niimi North, Niimi South (both high schools), and kenkou no mori (a special needs school). Today was my first day actually going to Niimi North by myself and - I kid you not - my directions on how to get here were "well, there are going to be tons of students walking to school so just follow them."
Needless to say, I was slightly apprehensive. Instead of taking the hella early train, which gets in right before 7 am and leaves somewhere around 6:30, I took the later train, which gets in just after 8 and leaves around 7:30, so that I would have plenty of students to follow. Naturally, it takes half an hour to walk to school, which ends in a giant uphill climb. I was not only late, but also sweaty when I got into the teacher's room since the meeting had started right at 8:30 and I was a couple of minutes late. >_< First day on the job and already, I'm late.
Lame. D:
But I guess I might turn into a morning person with this stupid commute I have to make haha... Especially if I start taking the 6:30 train. I might have to just bite the bullet and take that godforsaken early train and use the extra time to buy breakfast and lunch for later.
It's just so early though. I mean, I had to wake up this morning at 6 am - and that was early. Normally for Takahashi, I wake up at 7. To catch that train, I'd have to wake at 5. I shudder to think of it. That essentially means that I would be going to sleep no later than 11 pm. ._. yeah... fmylife haha. I mean, it's not the most horrible of commutes but jesus is it hot right now.
Needless to say, I was slightly apprehensive. Instead of taking the hella early train, which gets in right before 7 am and leaves somewhere around 6:30, I took the later train, which gets in just after 8 and leaves around 7:30, so that I would have plenty of students to follow. Naturally, it takes half an hour to walk to school, which ends in a giant uphill climb. I was not only late, but also sweaty when I got into the teacher's room since the meeting had started right at 8:30 and I was a couple of minutes late. >_< First day on the job and already, I'm late.
Lame. D:
But I guess I might turn into a morning person with this stupid commute I have to make haha... Especially if I start taking the 6:30 train. I might have to just bite the bullet and take that godforsaken early train and use the extra time to buy breakfast and lunch for later.
It's just so early though. I mean, I had to wake up this morning at 6 am - and that was early. Normally for Takahashi, I wake up at 7. To catch that train, I'd have to wake at 5. I shudder to think of it. That essentially means that I would be going to sleep no later than 11 pm. ._. yeah... fmylife haha. I mean, it's not the most horrible of commutes but jesus is it hot right now.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
KABI KIRRAAAA
Yesterday, I decided it would be a fantastic idea to ride home with two brooms just chillin and hanging out of my basket. But for some reason, the mood to clean hit yesterday and I found a bottle of this stuff called kabi kiraa (mold killer) that had been recommended to me by another JET for cleaning mold.
So I changed into my cleaning gear once I got home and attacked the shower, which, regretfully, I have no pictures of prior to the attack. Literally, the ceiling around the tiny room was COVERED with spots that looked like it was or had been mold spots. All over. Not subject to being rubbed off either; I tried.
But I sprayed it with this magical stuff and WOW. Wow. My walls are white again. Like seriously. It's pretty amazing cause of how awesome it looks. I had to close the door to the shower room because I was spraying above the door, and was also using water to spray the top stuff (since I wasn't sure if I was supposed to rinse or drench in water or what...). It turned into a virtual sauna in there. I was definitely sweating enough for it to be.
It's so clean though~
I'm so happy about it. I used the whole bottle of cleaner though, and it is probably not the best for one's health. Oh well. My bathroom is clean. It smells an awful lot like chlorine, so in essence, my bathroom smells like a swimming pool. But it's clean!
So I changed into my cleaning gear once I got home and attacked the shower, which, regretfully, I have no pictures of prior to the attack. Literally, the ceiling around the tiny room was COVERED with spots that looked like it was or had been mold spots. All over. Not subject to being rubbed off either; I tried.
But I sprayed it with this magical stuff and WOW. Wow. My walls are white again. Like seriously. It's pretty amazing cause of how awesome it looks. I had to close the door to the shower room because I was spraying above the door, and was also using water to spray the top stuff (since I wasn't sure if I was supposed to rinse or drench in water or what...). It turned into a virtual sauna in there. I was definitely sweating enough for it to be.
It's so clean though~
I'm so happy about it. I used the whole bottle of cleaner though, and it is probably not the best for one's health. Oh well. My bathroom is clean. It smells an awful lot like chlorine, so in essence, my bathroom smells like a swimming pool. But it's clean!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Food club
There's a FOOD CLUB here! OMG~ I'm so excited! :D :D :D :D I am slightly worried though, that it will conflict with the English Club, which is my priority club since really, I'm here for teaching English and so on and so forth. Plus Suga sensei is the main one on that.
Also on the note of food, I need to really start bringing my lunch more often. Or I should. Cause I'm spending a good 500 yen every day on buying lunch at school which, I suppose, isn't too bad but still. I feel bad about buying my lunch all the time. One of my super-pred (since I'm assuming it wasn't Andrew) left me a bento box buuut I think I'm going to throw that away. I wish I knew where there was like, a goodwill or something here.
That being said though, the food that we can order through school is pretty tasty. Your standard range of foods: bento boxes (which I don't care for very much) yakimeshi (fried rice), curry, yakisoba/udon, udon... but I'm sure I'll get tired of it eventually. It's just that it's way too hot to cook right now. And bento boxes are small. Like seirously. The teachers next to me all pretty much bring their lunches and they're so tiny! I'm like, I would need to eat FIVE of those to not feel hungry. Maybe when it cools down, I will attempt to bring my lunch to school every so often.
It's been super hot lately, to add to the misery that is muggy humid weather. I don't hate much but this is just awful. That, and heat attracts bugs. Yesterday, on top of the excruciating humidity, the temperature was 37 C, which is about 98 F. 98 F is hot on it's own but then you add in the fact that you feel like you're being smothered by some intangible yet tangible thing out there every time you step outside... Oh and the sweat. It just doesn't stop. It's disgusting. I live in fear that someone will try to shake my hand (gotta love bowing) or touch my arm or shoulder or back or something (doesn't matter where) and they'll be all "EW GROSS IT'S ALL WET."
Yay humidity.
Also on the note of food, I need to really start bringing my lunch more often. Or I should. Cause I'm spending a good 500 yen every day on buying lunch at school which, I suppose, isn't too bad but still. I feel bad about buying my lunch all the time. One of my super-pred (since I'm assuming it wasn't Andrew) left me a bento box buuut I think I'm going to throw that away. I wish I knew where there was like, a goodwill or something here.
That being said though, the food that we can order through school is pretty tasty. Your standard range of foods: bento boxes (which I don't care for very much) yakimeshi (fried rice), curry, yakisoba/udon, udon... but I'm sure I'll get tired of it eventually. It's just that it's way too hot to cook right now. And bento boxes are small. Like seirously. The teachers next to me all pretty much bring their lunches and they're so tiny! I'm like, I would need to eat FIVE of those to not feel hungry. Maybe when it cools down, I will attempt to bring my lunch to school every so often.
It's been super hot lately, to add to the misery that is muggy humid weather. I don't hate much but this is just awful. That, and heat attracts bugs. Yesterday, on top of the excruciating humidity, the temperature was 37 C, which is about 98 F. 98 F is hot on it's own but then you add in the fact that you feel like you're being smothered by some intangible yet tangible thing out there every time you step outside... Oh and the sweat. It just doesn't stop. It's disgusting. I live in fear that someone will try to shake my hand (gotta love bowing) or touch my arm or shoulder or back or something (doesn't matter where) and they'll be all "EW GROSS IT'S ALL WET."
Yay humidity.
One Week
So I'm finally starting to work, and I'm not entirely sure that having my laptop at work is the best idea. Probably not, since my ability to get distracted is liiike really really high. I like to think of it as multitasking but - who am I kidding - it's probably detracting from my work. And I really want to do well at this job. I might have to forcefully disconnect myself from the internet while I'm at work haha... unless I'm just using it to look up pictures or something.
Even then, I've noticed that I get distracted really easily. Like somehow I stumbled on an article about "Emerging Adulthood" that's SUPER interesting, but I told myself to save it for later in the day for home, when I need something to read. Maybe, in the absence of books, I will read articles instead. Haha, I feel super nerdy thinking about that. But I mean, it makes sense. Kinda.
I've also been downloading podcasts through iTunes to listen to while I'm at home since, whenever I'm in my air conditioned sanctuary, I don't have access to the TV or dvd player. So I need something else to fill my time, and I really like listening to some o the podcasts. If anyone has a suggestion for a good one, I would love to hear it. Maybe I'll check out iTunes U and do a bit of learning as well. I should really see if they have any Japanese language ones... that would actually be helpful haha.
Even then, I've noticed that I get distracted really easily. Like somehow I stumbled on an article about "Emerging Adulthood" that's SUPER interesting, but I told myself to save it for later in the day for home, when I need something to read. Maybe, in the absence of books, I will read articles instead. Haha, I feel super nerdy thinking about that. But I mean, it makes sense. Kinda.
I've also been downloading podcasts through iTunes to listen to while I'm at home since, whenever I'm in my air conditioned sanctuary, I don't have access to the TV or dvd player. So I need something else to fill my time, and I really like listening to some o the podcasts. If anyone has a suggestion for a good one, I would love to hear it. Maybe I'll check out iTunes U and do a bit of learning as well. I should really see if they have any Japanese language ones... that would actually be helpful haha.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Mr. Moo Cow
I bought a fantastic pillow at the mall the other day. We ended up at the mall in Kurashiki because the Kinoshita Circus (like the one from Yakitate! Lols) had completely sold out. I still want to go, but hopefully it will be cooler...
But anyways, this pillow I bought is shaped like an adorable cow, and I'm normally not a big cow person. So it's pretty freaking awesome and adorable. It even has a little pouch where you can put one of those cold packs so that you have a cold pillow! Sweeet.
Maybe there will be pictures, if I ever get the internet at home. I feel kind of guilty for using the computer here, but I really don't know what I am going to do at home other than sit there, type, and watch movies.
I need like, a life or something.
Oh wait, I actually have movies I want to watch! HOORAY. lol.
But like seriously, it is way way too hot here to explore or anything. Last night, I forgot that I had set my aircon on the timer (what a dumb idea) and fell asleep super early (before 10pm). Guess who woke up at 1 am sweating? ME. :D Yaaay. Yeah, not doing that again. I'd rather pay an expensive bill and have to use blankets than sweat while I sleep. No thank you.
I am praying for a long autumn and spring haha.
As far as my desk goes, today I pretttyyy much went through it and organized stuff, sorted things, and worked on the speech I have to give in front of my coworkers tomorrow. Nerrrvous!
Maybe I should take the train somewhere haha. It's only 4pm, so if I go to the next city up, that's only half an hour. At least it would give me something to do. Maybe I should rethink about living closer to the train station haha.
But yeah. I should go home eventually. Or figure out if I can practice with the basketball people haha.
But anyways, this pillow I bought is shaped like an adorable cow, and I'm normally not a big cow person. So it's pretty freaking awesome and adorable. It even has a little pouch where you can put one of those cold packs so that you have a cold pillow! Sweeet.
Maybe there will be pictures, if I ever get the internet at home. I feel kind of guilty for using the computer here, but I really don't know what I am going to do at home other than sit there, type, and watch movies.
I need like, a life or something.
Oh wait, I actually have movies I want to watch! HOORAY. lol.
But like seriously, it is way way too hot here to explore or anything. Last night, I forgot that I had set my aircon on the timer (what a dumb idea) and fell asleep super early (before 10pm). Guess who woke up at 1 am sweating? ME. :D Yaaay. Yeah, not doing that again. I'd rather pay an expensive bill and have to use blankets than sweat while I sleep. No thank you.
I am praying for a long autumn and spring haha.
As far as my desk goes, today I pretttyyy much went through it and organized stuff, sorted things, and worked on the speech I have to give in front of my coworkers tomorrow. Nerrrvous!
Maybe I should take the train somewhere haha. It's only 4pm, so if I go to the next city up, that's only half an hour. At least it would give me something to do. Maybe I should rethink about living closer to the train station haha.
But yeah. I should go home eventually. Or figure out if I can practice with the basketball people haha.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Paper Shredder
Seriously, this thing is super fun to use. And I have a lot of paper to shred. My desk -literally- has things from 2003 and later. Holy wow.
Today was my first really official day here, working, and I am definitely still learning things. At least, today, I got my official schedule on when I am supposed to be working where. At least, I know the days (but not the times for the other schools).
Twice a week, I am at my base school, Takahashi Senior High. Wednesday and Thursday, to be precise. Two schools, Niimi (North) and Takahashi Jounan I visit once a week, on Tuesday and Monday respectively. Two other schools, I visit every other week: Niimi (south) and Kenkounomori.
Takahashi Senior High and Takahashi Jounan are both in Takahashi, and Niimi (North) & (South) are both in the city north of me on the train line, Niimi. It's like, half an hour away or so. The other school... well, my pred said it is in the middle of nowhere. I get to take a bus to get there.
Already, I have a bunch of things to do, like, actual work haha. This is kind of weird... it feels like I am back at school (which, I am) but this time, I am on the other side. I actually have to plan and remember stuff. Time to ramp up the remembering game I guess. I have to make a speech in Japanese on the 19th... in Japanese! They said they would help me out with it. I think I was supposed to prepare something over the holiday, but with everything going on, I kind of forgot. Seriously, I need to figure out a good system for this now that I am not connected 24/7 with my iPhone.
Maybe I should have waited after all.
But I want to figure out how to live without it. Surely, it can not only be done, but done well. I will figure out a way. Mobileme made things waaaay tooooo easy lol. I guess I could use google calendar since really, it does the same things as mobileme. I suppose. Since I can't even access it.
I also have to make a decision whether or not to stay at the place where I am right now. Like, it does need some fixing up, but really, the place is growing on me. I'm willing to give it a good cleaning and see how it holds up and all. My other option is to see if I can find a good cheap studio that will rent to me for not very much near the station. That makes it a pain to come to takahashi, but that means it will be much easier to go to Niimi since I will need to go by train there.
Today was my first really official day here, working, and I am definitely still learning things. At least, today, I got my official schedule on when I am supposed to be working where. At least, I know the days (but not the times for the other schools).
Twice a week, I am at my base school, Takahashi Senior High. Wednesday and Thursday, to be precise. Two schools, Niimi (North) and Takahashi Jounan I visit once a week, on Tuesday and Monday respectively. Two other schools, I visit every other week: Niimi (south) and Kenkounomori.
Takahashi Senior High and Takahashi Jounan are both in Takahashi, and Niimi (North) & (South) are both in the city north of me on the train line, Niimi. It's like, half an hour away or so. The other school... well, my pred said it is in the middle of nowhere. I get to take a bus to get there.
Already, I have a bunch of things to do, like, actual work haha. This is kind of weird... it feels like I am back at school (which, I am) but this time, I am on the other side. I actually have to plan and remember stuff. Time to ramp up the remembering game I guess. I have to make a speech in Japanese on the 19th... in Japanese! They said they would help me out with it. I think I was supposed to prepare something over the holiday, but with everything going on, I kind of forgot. Seriously, I need to figure out a good system for this now that I am not connected 24/7 with my iPhone.
Maybe I should have waited after all.
But I want to figure out how to live without it. Surely, it can not only be done, but done well. I will figure out a way. Mobileme made things waaaay tooooo easy lol. I guess I could use google calendar since really, it does the same things as mobileme. I suppose. Since I can't even access it.
I also have to make a decision whether or not to stay at the place where I am right now. Like, it does need some fixing up, but really, the place is growing on me. I'm willing to give it a good cleaning and see how it holds up and all. My other option is to see if I can find a good cheap studio that will rent to me for not very much near the station. That makes it a pain to come to takahashi, but that means it will be much easier to go to Niimi since I will need to go by train there.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Matsuyama Odori
Well, here I was thinking this was going to be the thing I update most frequently! I hope that will be the case, once I actually get fully settled in (ie, I actually get internet at my house). My situation right now? I live on campus, at Takahashi High School, in my own tiny little house. Granted, if I had a bigger place, I would probably just get it messier. But it is growing on me, and I rather like it there.
It would be nice though, if I stopped finding dead bugs (and live bugs) all over the place. But I suppose I shouldn't complain, or be careful what I wish for haha...
Yeah, I suppose it isn't so bad. I really need to figure out a good way of getting rid of all the bodies of dead insects I keep finding though, since I'm pretty sure that cremating them would probably not be the best of ideas, seeing as how like, half of my house is made of wood. ._.
But right now, I only can access the internet through the school's computer, which is a Dell, uses an ancient version of IE, is all in Japanese, is super slow and sometimes doesn't work. It is, however, better than nothing at all, but what this means is that all the writing I have been doing at home... goes into my personal journal, and I have really only been using the school computer for short stints, which, in my book, is not enough time to write an actual entry. I mean, I like to write and ramble on so I need a good half hour or more to write my entries. I like to think that thought went into them haha.
I also tried looking for wifi hotspots and internet cafes around Takahashi, but alas, the only place I found a tiny weak signal was across the river (a 10-15 minute 100 yen busride) at the YouMe Town McDonald's. And yeaah, I'm not that desperate. I have a cell phone (probably should have waited for the iPhone, but oh well) so I can connect to mobile sites. After having an iPhone... oh man, it's such a difference! Mobile sites totally suck lol. Full pages ftw. I keep getting errors on the silliest things (like wikipedia searches) and they're all in Japanese, but I'm fairly certain that they are telling me that sorry, can't access this site on your mobile. Lame.
I can check my email though (gmail anyways, not mobileme unfortunately) and facebook. But that is abooout it. Seriously, I almost think it's worth it to try and return the phone and order an iPhone instead, since I seriously could use the iPhone to its full potential.
On the other hand, I want to try and be a little bit more disconnected. I have been at both ends now - completely wired and connected 24/7 and completely disconnected - and while generally, I don't mind being completely wired, I feel like I'm missing out on something. Like looking up and enjoying the scenery once in a while haha.
So while I really really want an iPhone, I think I will just stick with the bright pink phone that I have. It works. It lets me do what I need to do (and nothing more). If I could figure out how to do twitter on there, that would be cool, but then again, I would probably be on my phone too much (though, I already am).
But enough about my wireless situation. I have no idea when I am actually going to get it at home, and at least I have a cell phone, so really, I have no reason to complain. On to Matsuyama Odori!
For some reason, despite my city being Takahashi (or Bitchu Takahashi for the train station name) our obon festival is called Matsuyama Odori. I have no idea why. People I ask do not know why either. It's three days long, from 7pm until like, 10something, and it is waaay bigger than even Jtown's Obon festival. Maybe the same size as Cherry Blossom, but I almost feel like this is bigger and has more people involved. Perhaps not though. They bring in six HUGE blocks of ice (that make you want to throw yourself all over and just rub your face up against them haha) and they carve them into these beautiful ice sculptures. Along the main street in front of the station, there is this booth set up and everyone, literally, joins in the odori dances. No need for practice or anything. You just watch the people with hats (they're like, official dancers I guess since they're all in groups with matching kimonos and hats) and off you go~
There are two types of dances that run for the entire three hours of the festival - the slow dance and the fast dance. They're both super easy to learn; even I was able to learn and join in.
Apologies for lack of pictures, they're all on my other computer. I haven't felt quite up yet to trying to bring stuff in a flash drive yet.
Along this other street are the majority of all the food and game vendors. It is almost like festival at home; they have hot dogs (really really long hot dogs) on sticks, they have a billion shaved ice people (some let you put condensed milk on top, which is actually very very tasty), udon (except the udon is stir fried like yakisoba is), skewered meat (so freaking tasty - more of a savory thing though, than our beef teriyaki is at home. Ours is sooo tasty but a little on the sweet side, and has bell peppers. Here is just sticks of bite sized chunks of MEAT), the duck game (but they have ducks that light up) and goldfish (ours doesn't have goldfish, but the Berkeley festival I think had goldfish) as well as a chicken booth, but theirs was flavored with garlic instead of teriyaki.
They also have french fry stalls like, everywhere. It's kind of funny actually, how many there are. There are also stalls for yakisoba, takoyaki, taiyaki, squid on a stick, kaarage (fried chicken), these popsicle things that were kind of like otter pops, castella cakes, pineapple spears, these things called hashimaki (almost like okonomiyaki wrapped around a pair of chopsticks), and my favorite, the candied fruit stands. THey have candied apples, and these really cute baby candy apples, grapes, and strawberries. OMFG. The strawberries. I freaking LOVE those things. They're SUPER sweet and oh so delicious. The strawberries themselves are Driscoll and fairly sweet, but they are dipped in this red candy stuff that hardens so that when you bite into it, it crunches. Wow it's fantastic. Seriously, I could eat like, ten of those. SO TASTY.
Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
I've also been exploring Takahashi, both by bike (I have a bike! It has given me several bruises in exchange for carrying me places) and by foot. I gotta say, while having a bike is super convenient, I like wandering around on foot a little better, since you actually have more time to really notice your surroundings, since you're moving a lot slower.
The more I explore Takahashi, the more I am slowling willing to accept that it is not as rural as I originally though (though I guess, compared to places like kurashiki it is still pretttttyyyy damn rural). I would almost say suburbs? I don't know. Takahashi is technically a city since it bears the city marker (shi) in its name. It is more like a town though, I think, since it is sooo spread out. But more and more, I am questioning our concept of 'city' and 'town' and 'rural.' I mean, I am definitely not as rural as the places I passed to get to Takahashi. We have a train station and a small department store. A bowling ally. A university.
So it isn't a village, that's for sure. But I still would be hesitant about calling it a real city. Suburbs? What the heck are the suburbs anyways?
I suppose the real question here though, is, does it really matter what you call it? It is what it is, I suppose, and I am exploring it bit by bit.
I cannot wait to put up pictures. X)
It would be nice though, if I stopped finding dead bugs (and live bugs) all over the place. But I suppose I shouldn't complain, or be careful what I wish for haha...
Yeah, I suppose it isn't so bad. I really need to figure out a good way of getting rid of all the bodies of dead insects I keep finding though, since I'm pretty sure that cremating them would probably not be the best of ideas, seeing as how like, half of my house is made of wood. ._.
But right now, I only can access the internet through the school's computer, which is a Dell, uses an ancient version of IE, is all in Japanese, is super slow and sometimes doesn't work. It is, however, better than nothing at all, but what this means is that all the writing I have been doing at home... goes into my personal journal, and I have really only been using the school computer for short stints, which, in my book, is not enough time to write an actual entry. I mean, I like to write and ramble on so I need a good half hour or more to write my entries. I like to think that thought went into them haha.
I also tried looking for wifi hotspots and internet cafes around Takahashi, but alas, the only place I found a tiny weak signal was across the river (a 10-15 minute 100 yen busride) at the YouMe Town McDonald's. And yeaah, I'm not that desperate. I have a cell phone (probably should have waited for the iPhone, but oh well) so I can connect to mobile sites. After having an iPhone... oh man, it's such a difference! Mobile sites totally suck lol. Full pages ftw. I keep getting errors on the silliest things (like wikipedia searches) and they're all in Japanese, but I'm fairly certain that they are telling me that sorry, can't access this site on your mobile. Lame.
I can check my email though (gmail anyways, not mobileme unfortunately) and facebook. But that is abooout it. Seriously, I almost think it's worth it to try and return the phone and order an iPhone instead, since I seriously could use the iPhone to its full potential.
On the other hand, I want to try and be a little bit more disconnected. I have been at both ends now - completely wired and connected 24/7 and completely disconnected - and while generally, I don't mind being completely wired, I feel like I'm missing out on something. Like looking up and enjoying the scenery once in a while haha.
So while I really really want an iPhone, I think I will just stick with the bright pink phone that I have. It works. It lets me do what I need to do (and nothing more). If I could figure out how to do twitter on there, that would be cool, but then again, I would probably be on my phone too much (though, I already am).
But enough about my wireless situation. I have no idea when I am actually going to get it at home, and at least I have a cell phone, so really, I have no reason to complain. On to Matsuyama Odori!
For some reason, despite my city being Takahashi (or Bitchu Takahashi for the train station name) our obon festival is called Matsuyama Odori. I have no idea why. People I ask do not know why either. It's three days long, from 7pm until like, 10something, and it is waaay bigger than even Jtown's Obon festival. Maybe the same size as Cherry Blossom, but I almost feel like this is bigger and has more people involved. Perhaps not though. They bring in six HUGE blocks of ice (that make you want to throw yourself all over and just rub your face up against them haha) and they carve them into these beautiful ice sculptures. Along the main street in front of the station, there is this booth set up and everyone, literally, joins in the odori dances. No need for practice or anything. You just watch the people with hats (they're like, official dancers I guess since they're all in groups with matching kimonos and hats) and off you go~
There are two types of dances that run for the entire three hours of the festival - the slow dance and the fast dance. They're both super easy to learn; even I was able to learn and join in.
Apologies for lack of pictures, they're all on my other computer. I haven't felt quite up yet to trying to bring stuff in a flash drive yet.
Along this other street are the majority of all the food and game vendors. It is almost like festival at home; they have hot dogs (really really long hot dogs) on sticks, they have a billion shaved ice people (some let you put condensed milk on top, which is actually very very tasty), udon (except the udon is stir fried like yakisoba is), skewered meat (so freaking tasty - more of a savory thing though, than our beef teriyaki is at home. Ours is sooo tasty but a little on the sweet side, and has bell peppers. Here is just sticks of bite sized chunks of MEAT), the duck game (but they have ducks that light up) and goldfish (ours doesn't have goldfish, but the Berkeley festival I think had goldfish) as well as a chicken booth, but theirs was flavored with garlic instead of teriyaki.
They also have french fry stalls like, everywhere. It's kind of funny actually, how many there are. There are also stalls for yakisoba, takoyaki, taiyaki, squid on a stick, kaarage (fried chicken), these popsicle things that were kind of like otter pops, castella cakes, pineapple spears, these things called hashimaki (almost like okonomiyaki wrapped around a pair of chopsticks), and my favorite, the candied fruit stands. THey have candied apples, and these really cute baby candy apples, grapes, and strawberries. OMFG. The strawberries. I freaking LOVE those things. They're SUPER sweet and oh so delicious. The strawberries themselves are Driscoll and fairly sweet, but they are dipped in this red candy stuff that hardens so that when you bite into it, it crunches. Wow it's fantastic. Seriously, I could eat like, ten of those. SO TASTY.
Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
I've also been exploring Takahashi, both by bike (I have a bike! It has given me several bruises in exchange for carrying me places) and by foot. I gotta say, while having a bike is super convenient, I like wandering around on foot a little better, since you actually have more time to really notice your surroundings, since you're moving a lot slower.
The more I explore Takahashi, the more I am slowling willing to accept that it is not as rural as I originally though (though I guess, compared to places like kurashiki it is still pretttttyyyy damn rural). I would almost say suburbs? I don't know. Takahashi is technically a city since it bears the city marker (shi) in its name. It is more like a town though, I think, since it is sooo spread out. But more and more, I am questioning our concept of 'city' and 'town' and 'rural.' I mean, I am definitely not as rural as the places I passed to get to Takahashi. We have a train station and a small department store. A bowling ally. A university.
So it isn't a village, that's for sure. But I still would be hesitant about calling it a real city. Suburbs? What the heck are the suburbs anyways?
I suppose the real question here though, is, does it really matter what you call it? It is what it is, I suppose, and I am exploring it bit by bit.
I cannot wait to put up pictures. X)
Monday, August 9, 2010
So Takahashi is very very beautiful. It has a lot of green. The mountainsides (yeah, I have a mountain in my backyard) are densely packed with trees; so dense that the first time, I thought the trees were just really really short. THen I walked up to one and was like noooo these are tall trees.
Sorry to everyone on the email thing. I have something to send to people! But my list is on my computer at home, which does not have internet! I will find a way (hopefully soon) to send it to people. Cause yeah. It is kind of awesome. Pictures and everything.
I have not found a good way to upload pictures to the school computer yet. Hm, I do not know if I Can either. Everything on here is in Japanese... so yeaaah. I really cannot wait to get internet at home haha. So, please be patient on getting pictures from me, because I promise when I get internet at home, I will upload them. :)
Takahashi is a small city though, almost really, a town. It does have a train station, and a castle which is cool. But no internet cafes. Two large supermarkets/mini department stores. Kinda like someone squished a supermarket and a strip mall together into one building. One mcD's. Two 7-11. My town is kind of rural haha. And by kind of, I mean, is.
Even driving here feels a lot like I am driving through a Miyazaki movie, with the fields of rice and the mountain hills and the houses that dot the rice paddy landscape. Very scenic and pretty.
I have a bike too! I was super excited to get it, and promptly got lost the next day haha.
Sorry to everyone on the email thing. I have something to send to people! But my list is on my computer at home, which does not have internet! I will find a way (hopefully soon) to send it to people. Cause yeah. It is kind of awesome. Pictures and everything.
I have not found a good way to upload pictures to the school computer yet. Hm, I do not know if I Can either. Everything on here is in Japanese... so yeaaah. I really cannot wait to get internet at home haha. So, please be patient on getting pictures from me, because I promise when I get internet at home, I will upload them. :)
Takahashi is a small city though, almost really, a town. It does have a train station, and a castle which is cool. But no internet cafes. Two large supermarkets/mini department stores. Kinda like someone squished a supermarket and a strip mall together into one building. One mcD's. Two 7-11. My town is kind of rural haha. And by kind of, I mean, is.
Even driving here feels a lot like I am driving through a Miyazaki movie, with the fields of rice and the mountain hills and the houses that dot the rice paddy landscape. Very scenic and pretty.
I have a bike too! I was super excited to get it, and promptly got lost the next day haha.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Paradox
Japan is a really really really *really* clean place. Like seriously, even the Chinatown is a clean place (and I can say this, after having been to china as well as several chinatowns in the states. They're all gross. Like, five-second-rule-does-not-apply-here gross). But after five years, Tokyo is still really clean, despite the insane number of vending machines.
More surprising is the extreme lack of garbage cans. In the USA, garbage cans are *everywhere* and the floors are still littered with gum, cigarette butts, and people's garbage. But here, you don't find that. You do find some recycle bins for cans and bottles close to some vending machines, yes. But zero trash cans. I searched the whole floor here, and the closest trash can someone could direct me to was the one inside my room. Craziness. It's driving me sort of insane already haha, not being able to find a trash can anywhere! I heard though, that Japanese trash is a crazy sort of nightmare for foreigners on its own; trash is separated into 3 or 4+ categories, including burnables, non-burnables, glass, cans, and bottles. Already, I'm like yikes. That's going to be fun.
I swear I will get pictures up eventually. Unfortunately, I don't really have any of when we first arrived in Tokyo (felt too hot and sweaty to worry about taking pictures) or the bus ride over (slept most the way over and left my camera in my purse, which was stowed underneath the bus since my purse was really a huge tote) or food (still too sweaty feeling and hungry). But I will have some later! We went to this fun j-fast food place that had *buris and curry. I got this tomahambagu, which was a hamburger in this tomato garlic sauce stuff with a poached egg, soup, rice, and salad. It was a looot of food. Very tasty though.
Anyways, orientation early tomorrow morning! Time to actually go to sleep. :)
More surprising is the extreme lack of garbage cans. In the USA, garbage cans are *everywhere* and the floors are still littered with gum, cigarette butts, and people's garbage. But here, you don't find that. You do find some recycle bins for cans and bottles close to some vending machines, yes. But zero trash cans. I searched the whole floor here, and the closest trash can someone could direct me to was the one inside my room. Craziness. It's driving me sort of insane already haha, not being able to find a trash can anywhere! I heard though, that Japanese trash is a crazy sort of nightmare for foreigners on its own; trash is separated into 3 or 4+ categories, including burnables, non-burnables, glass, cans, and bottles. Already, I'm like yikes. That's going to be fun.
I swear I will get pictures up eventually. Unfortunately, I don't really have any of when we first arrived in Tokyo (felt too hot and sweaty to worry about taking pictures) or the bus ride over (slept most the way over and left my camera in my purse, which was stowed underneath the bus since my purse was really a huge tote) or food (still too sweaty feeling and hungry). But I will have some later! We went to this fun j-fast food place that had *buris and curry. I got this tomahambagu, which was a hamburger in this tomato garlic sauce stuff with a poached egg, soup, rice, and salad. It was a looot of food. Very tasty though.
Anyways, orientation early tomorrow morning! Time to actually go to sleep. :)
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