This weekend was much needed. I had my first near(ish) death experience with a volcano, got naked with a bunch of old people at a Japanese onsen (hotspring), ate some amazing Indian food (which is hard to come by in these parts), bought a lot of great things for my apartment, and learned my lesson again not to EVER drink Starbucks for any reason. This weekend helped me forget what hard work tending to kids can be and reminded me of the reason I moved to Japan- so that I can explore this part of the world little by little. On Sunday morning we had a Halloween party for all of our kids at the school, a "fashion show" for them in a public mall, and then they went trick or treating to all the stores in the outdoor mall. It was early, hot, and the kiddies were all jacked up on sugar. They were cute but it was more stressful then fun, so I was relieved to ditch out of town since I had Monday off. Sarah and I bought our tickets to Kagoshima for 1400 yen (which is only about 14 dollars even with the ever decreasing dollar) and took off around 3:00. We arrived into Kagoshima which I believe to have population of about 600,000 or so, but mind you in a very small piece of land, so it has a lot more hustle and bustle than Miyakonojo. We rolled into town, found a hostel to stay at, ate some Italian food, and then went to this pub owned by a British transplant named Richard. We drank some of the miracle drink "Sochou" which does not posses any of the main hangover causing agents, toyed with idea of playing some Panchinko as we always do, then decided to get some sleep and wake up early the next day. This morning we rose with the sun and were delighted to see that it was an amazing day to be by the sea. Sarah got really excited about there being a Starbucks by our hostel so we stopped by in the morning before we got on the ferry to the volcano. When I was in Hong Kong I remember ordering coffee and it being in a six ounce cup, and because Japan is the land of "all things small" I figured I'd order a large White Chocolate Soy Mocha with an extra shot. I was really excited as well to drink coffee that wasn't instant. In Japan most of the sweets aren't very sweet and if they are they are very small in size so my body hasn't really been ingesting the its typical sugar and caffeine supply it was so accustomed to in the U.S. I deserved the sickness that ensued. It was Starbucks afterall. The only dinning experience more lowly then this one is what they call Macu-Donarusudu in Japan. This is forbidden. After Starbucks we caught a cab over to the ferry terminal, and it is so cool- in Japan the doors of cars in cabs automatically open and close without any human toil other then the driver pushing a button. We took a very short and cheap ferry ride over to the island where Sakurajima lies with hopes of maybe hiking up to the top or catching a bus up there. They say that they let visitor get within 2 kilometers of the crater. Before we had anything to do with the volcano Sarah and I were intent on having an onsen experience. There are tons of hotsprings all around Japan, particularly in Kyushu and we had yet to visit one. The night before, the owner of the pub we were at gave us directions to get to an outdoor onsen that you can warm up in while gazing out at the sea. Turns out it was closed for cleaning this day so we went to another a few blocks away. This one was really nice too although it is still difficult to live in Japan when your not 100 percent sure what is going on all the time and you can't read half of the signs. We got to the onsen and we somehow communicated with the women working there that we needed to buy tickets out of this machine that had Kanji writing only on it in order to use the onsen, we needed to buy towels, and we needed to be naked amongst other onsen goers. You get into this room and you are supposed to take a shower among many other people first so as not to pollute the balance of the water. They had a really hot onsen with huge windows that opened to the ocean outside, one that was quite chilly particularly after using the hot one, and a third that was either a medicinal volcanic bath or a sand bath- it was hard to say. It was really refreshing to experience and there were also saunas to use afterward as well as all kinds of fun soaps and shampoos to clean off with afterward provided. They had those foot massage machines and massaging chairs as well which I was happy to try. I guess the really incredible part was that it only cost about three dollars for use of the facility. Now that I have overcome my onsen shyness I am looking forward to trying out some more and finding my favorite. After the onsen, Sarah and I discussed hiking up the volcano to check out the crater. We went and spoke with a women at the tourist center and she informed us that we could catch a bus up to the observation point but the rest of the hike would be up to us. We decided to maybe hike up later on in the month as we both wanted to check out the rest of the city before left that night. We found a beautiful shrine around the area, took some pictures, and then caught the ferry back. On the way back we heard a loud rumble and saw Sakurajima spit out a huge plume of ash. I of course, am scared of anything and everything remotely dangerous thanks to my mother, ,so I was freaking out a little bit; particularly because we had just watched a movie on the volcano's destructive capabilities. It was fantastic that we were able to see all of this happen as we were leaving the island, not as we were within two kilometers of the crater as we had planned on possibly doing earlier in the day. People that build cities around potential natural disasters are either stupid and brave. I'm not sure, I've always lived on one fault line or another all of my life. I guess these minor eruptions are what earthquakes are to me- not a big deal really. Some Japanese people were a little freaked which freaked me out. Anyhow, we lived. After this we went to this really great "ethnic" store where I purchased a lot of stuff for my apartment, we also went to an English bookstore where I picked up a book from a really popular Japanese author, and what seems like my one hundredth Learn Japanese book. Not much else to tell about the day. Kagoshima is REALLY nice though and it is very close. I think I may go back next weeekend for a festival they are having although I'm also thinking of going to Osaka.

I don't know why the font is all crazy on this one.

I got hit by a car today and survived to tell the tale. This morning I woke up feeling a little woozy from the nomihodai (all you can drink) and hopped on my bike to go to the video store a whopping two blocks away from my place of residence. All Forrest Gump style, I meant to go to the video store but I just kept riding and riding until I was almost at Nagata Gorge which is almost in the mountains which is almost a really long bike ride. On the way I saw some lil' ponies and and other fascinating sights such as a beer vending machine. Last summer when I was in S.E. Asia I took mental note of the fact that indeed Asians were bad drivers, it wasn't just a racist stereotype. I remember taking a cab to the airport and being afraid for my life not only due to the drivers inability to navigate the road, but also because the car smelled like it was going to blow up. So this dude in this little Japanese car apparently wasn't seeing me bike directly in front of his car and he drove right into me. For some reason as it all happened in slow motion I wasn't scared that I was going to be hurt. The back of the bike and my leg were hit with quite a bit of force but luckily he realized that a human being was in front of him and he stopped. I stopped and just stared at him for a second a little confused and then gave my bike a once over and confirmed to him "Die-zyoo-boo" as he rolled down the window. This means many things but in this case it meant I'm ok- and I sped off just as he sped into me. I think I may have been seriously injured had I been in Bakersfield and this car been a hummer, but luckily I am in the land of small things and it turned out to be a small incident. Upon reflection I think that maybe the man didn't stop, perhaps I stopped the car when he ran into me. I probably weigh more then that car. The Japanese folk at my work find it quite humorous that I have feet bigger then most Japanese men and that I do thinks like break chairs frequently from just sitting in them. They will find this quite humorous. I am happy to provide entertainment. Speaking of being an oddity, I am starting to become a little impatient with everyone staring at me all the time and giggling. I didn't mind so much at first or rather I ignored it, but now I am starting to stare back at people who can't keep their eyes off me. I make an exception for children, they can't help it. I know that it isn't done to be rude, but I am not too comfortable with being on display all the time. It makes me feel like I need to comb my hair in the morning. I guess deep down the only part of me that cares is the part that wants my privacy. My friend Lindsay had the same experience when she was in Japan. She said that she had to go to the doctor for a headache or something out of town and the next day the mailman asked her how her head was. I guess there are ups and downs to the situation. Because I am noticed a lot of people want to talk to me and take me around but at the same time I am not Japanese and am a bit of a sideshow. Well not much else has happened since my last post. Last night when Sarah and I went to the nomihodai we ran into some three other "Gaijin" (foreign persons) that work at City Hall and they invited us to a party they were throwing. Unfortunately this was a nomihodai as well and seeing as I have to attend a Halloween party tomorrow at school this was not a good idea so neither of us went. Tomorrow after the party is over Sarah and I are taking the train to Kagoshima which is only about an hour and a half away. This is a pretty big oceanside city and I am really excited to check it out. I have been re-reading the book from my Modern Japan class I took a few years ago and found out that the US rolled up to Kagoshima bay in 1837 and demanded Japan open itself up for trade. Japan responded with a barrage of cannon balls. From the way things seem in the store and after eating Japanese peanut butter today, it feels as Japan still has not opened itself up to trade. Kagoshima is known as the Naples of Japan because there is an active volcano and supposedly the inhabitants of the city have a hot temperament but I'll have to see it to believe it. I heard there is a really good all English bookstore there and some really good ethnic cuisine. Should be fun. I have a three day weekend coming up next month and I am going to take the bullet train up to Osaka on my own. I am really looking forward to that and also checking out Kyoto, Nara (at the advice of Lindsay), Hiroshima, and Okinawa, maybe even Sapporo for unknown reasons.

On Sunday our work had a Halloween festival for the kids so they could show off how cute they were and sing a few Halloween songs for their parents. We are also having some big to-do at school all day next Sunday. I am dressing up like a witch, the kids will easily believe it as I am the most stern teacher at the school. Here is a photo of my favorite kid Bunta in his Yoda outfit and the girls "Dream Cure" outfits. To the left is a view off of Sarah's balcony in the morning.

Shopping

I did the traditional Japanese sport of shopping this weekend,I really needed to get some stuff for my apartment. Visualize the most Asian looking flowery curtains you can conjure, tatami mats, and a ratty brown and orange futon- this is my apartment. I love it, but it does need some work. I went to the mall a few blocks away and found some great stuff at this big department store called Daimeru, the 100 yen shop, and the Japanese version of Walmart known as Nishimuta. Shopping is probably my favorite thing to do right now because everything is totally unusual. I knocked over a big stack off air fresheners at one store today and the lady apologized to me for ME knocking them over. Japanese people are really apologetic, as soon as you walk into any store they welcome you and then apologize. When I was at Nishimuta earlier some lady apologized to me just because I walked by her and made eye contact. It has been a pretty quiet week so far. Yesterday our school took all of our kids to a waterfall and gorge about a half hour out of town in the mountains. It was really beautiful out there but I had to carry around my student Bunta who was crying the whole time. Its a good thing I love him. They kids picked acorns, ate tons of sugar, then we had to leave because it started raining.I think I am going to suck it up and buy a nice bike so I can bike to places like the gorge on the weekend. I finally got around to joining the gym here yesterday. I went running for the first time in three weeks or so and it felt amazing. The only thing that concerns me is that the gym doesn't have air conditioning and it can get really hot here in the summer. I'll deal with it somehow. Get an eyeful of what 15 dollar grapes look like on my flickr page. Click on it to the left. AND, while I'm on the topic of complaining I would like to confront the Japanese with the ridiculousness of their whole counting methodology. A few years back I learned how to count in Japanese numbers 1-100. This was difficult enough and took me quite awhile to learn, and then as soon as I learned it- I quickly forgot it. Now being in Japan, I am reminded that in addition to the standard 1-100 numbers they also have different words to count people, small animals, big animals, inanimate objects, long thin objects etc. This is a bunch of crap. Check it out for yourself: http://www.learn-japanese.info/Counters.html

Lantern Festival

I just set up some links to your left side of the screen that will take you to all my photos and some other random stuff. I went really overboard with the pictures this weekend at the lantern festival.
Yesterday before the festival I also went to a movie premiere at the Wellness Center in Miyakonojo. The movie was about the declining Geisha population of Japan and the process of becoming part of the Geisha community. It was visually a really cool movie and about half the movie was in English which was nice. After the movie they had a Geisha from the movie dance and perform a tea ceremony. It was really amazing to watch. The lantern festival was also really great but wearing a kimono got old by the end of the day. Kimonos are sometimes about 10,000 dollars so I was really afraid of getting something on it since it was not mine. Someone told me that Japanese women usually get a really nice kimono on their 20th birthday but these days sometimes they prefer a car instead. It was fairly restricting but it was cool to have worn one at least once. The festival was in a smaller town that foreigners don't often visit, so everyone was taking photos of my co-worker Sarah and I. I just starting waving at the camera and greeting them in Japanese and then they pretended like they weren't photographing me. I think it was a combination of us being foreign and the fact that we were wearing kimonos. We went to this really famous Japanese tofu restaurant before going to the Takanabe lantern festival. It was really good and the tofu was amazing but my feet fell asleep from sitting on the ground and I couldn't walk for awhile. I tried a bite of octopus and I vow to never do so again. Sarah and I were talking about going to some hot springs on the bus ride over to Takanabe and we met some girls our age that said they would take us to the medicinal volcanic clay hot springs sometime soon. A lot of Japanese people want to take us places and show us around. It is nice to have so many personal tour guides. After the festival Sarah and I went out with our other co-worker Patrick and we did a little Karaoke. Most places that you go out to here have a charge of about 20 dollars or so and you can drink until 7:00 in the morning. This is a necessity as all the food portions here are so tiny that I feel like I need the extra caloric intake of lots of beer. There are crazy huge spiders and bugs everywhere here and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes last night so I am going to go itch them right now. Here is a clip of the tofu restaurant.

Second week of school

I am so incredibly happy that I now have internet in my apartment. As much as I loved all the free ice cream and sodas at the internet/billiards/massage/karaoke/comic book store across the street, it feels good to have a computer in my lap and be able to be connected to everyone without feeling like I need to eat 280 yens worth of ice cream every time I log on. I downloaded Skype, a program that will allow me to make free calls- so please email me your phone number so that I can call you. BrookeMalley@gmail.com-OK? Alright. I don't have your number. My phone in the US went on the fritz a few days before I left. So I just finished my second week of school and I have quite a bit of things planned for the weekend. My work day is pretty long. I either show up to work around 7:30 or 8:30 and get out around 4:30 or 5:30. I guess it isn't that long, but anyone who has ever been around little kids for more then a few hours knows that it can be really exhausting. I love all of them though and have complete creative control over what goes on in the classroom. Basically I am not working at a "normal" school- it is a private school of sorts for kids who are getting a head start on English before they enter their standard schooling within the Japanese educational system. This is nice because all the teachers at the school are Canadian or American (except for one Japanese teacher that works in my class) and have been really helpful. The owner of the school, principal, and office staff are painfully helpful as well- I think most Japanese people are. Wednesday night one of the other teachers from my school took me to his karate class. Somehow, somewhere along the lines, I guess this dojo has something to do with "Karate Kid" the movie. This place in particular has been open for at least a hundred years or so and had all these great pictures of all the Black Belt teachers that had ran the school over the course of its history. After the karate class we sat around and drank tea and ate soybean cakes and they fit me a kimono.The owners own a kimono shop and are going to take my co-worker Sarah and I to a lantern festival about an hour away from where we live on Saturday. We are going to some famous tofu restaurant, getting dressed up in kimonos, going to see some new Japanese movie, and then going to the festival. I may join the class permanently. It is super cheap (as most things in Kyushu are relative to the rest of Japan) but I haven't decided yet. I'm also excited because I just found out that there is a hotspring about a block away from my house that I am going to go check out this weekend. They are called "onsen" and they are all over Kyushu. Next weekend my co-workers and I may go camping and try and find a few. I live about an hour or less away from a beach in Miyazaki city and another one in Kagoshima. The one in Kagoshima is supposed to be really nice for snorkeling and stuff like that. The other thing that I am doing this weekend is going to a "Welcome" party for my co-worker Sarah and I. The owner of our school is taking us to some all you can eat all you drink place and then I think we are going to go bowl and karaoke. Last weekend my co-worker Patrick took Sarah and I to a Karaoke bar where I sang LaBamba. We met some Japanese girls and sang unti three in the morning or so. I live in a pretty lively spot but there is a very popular area to go out to about five blocks away from my house. It is nice living in a small big city. A lot of things are open 24 hours and its all so bright and flashy. Check out my kids. They are only 2-6. So cute.

I thought I was going to die this week. Not in a 16 year old got dumped by her boyfriend a day before the prom kind of way, but was too sick to even call anyone for help. My body has a tendency to not travel well, I usually break out into hives, have a massive headache for a week, get a bladder infection, a hacking cough. This time it was all the above and I slept for three days straight. Going to the Japanese doctor was interesting. Even with someone there to help me try and communicate what was wrong, not much got through. The good news is that it was quick healthcare on the cheap (Grandma says because Asians are so smart!). Everyone should try and go to a doctor in Japan at least once in thier life. Maybe it all seemed so strange because my brain was frying (No I wasn't doing drugs Mom and Dad!). I went and sat down in what seemed like a compromise between someones living room and a doctors office (equipt with grandfather clock and everything). The really fantastic part about it was how many times I had to change my damn shoes there. So if you didnt know, in Japan you take your shoes off pretty much every time you enter someones house or a school and many other places. What is even more interesting is that there are other special shoes you need to put on to fullfill other tasks while in the house/hospital/etc. So I get to the hosptial and I change into the standard size 6 slipper they provide for me and then I mosey over to the restroom. In the bathroom there were other shoes that I was to put on instead of the slippers while using the toilet. This country is very complex with its shoes policy. What is driving this slipper frenzy? Is it something the Japanese people do to keep themselves occupied so that they do not constantly fret about impending typhoons, earthquakes, and volcanoes? As soon as my Japanese becomes good enough ill be sure to ask and get back to you on this issue.