Happy Anniversary, Japan!

Today I have lived in Japan exactly 1 year. Aside from my very short trip home in January I have not left the country. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. It seems like just yesterday I was fresh off the plane in Tokyo, jet-lagged and wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. (I direct you to my first post from Japan)
July 29, 2007

July 29, 2008

And tomorrow I am going with my supervisor to Gifu city to pick up 4 of the new ALTs.

I can't believe how much my life has changed in the past year. When I first got to Japan everything was amazing and colorful. It was like the entire place was sprinkled in fairy dust. Though the winds of time have gradually blown that dust away, and now it feels more like life than a fairy tale, I can still honestly say that I love this place. Sure, the vending machines aren't quite the novelty they once were and eating a whole fish or squid jerkey isn't quite the adventure it once was, but I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I am to be in Takayama. More than that, being able to live and work in Miya and Kuguno, with my awesome staff and my crazy students.











I have made so many friends, met so many great people, and had so many amazing experiences, it's impossible to sum it all up in one post. But I can certainly try ^o^














I guess like anyone on this program I've had my ups and downs. A lot of difficult decisions had to be made, and there are always those sticky cultural misunderstandings and language barrier issues that arise when living in a foreign land. As my friend Daniel so eloquently put it, living here helps you discover what you are by showing you what you are not. Japan, like any other country, has it's sucky parts as much as it's fabulous ones. I think I've just been lucky enough to experience more of the good than the bad. So here's looking forward to another fabulous year v^_^v

Team Takayama!

We had a going-away party 2 weeks ago for all of the ALTs who chose not to re contract for this year. Technically I think all of their contracts are up next week, most of them are going home (2 will be staying in Japan, just not with the JET Program). This was the last time we would all be together, I think, and I had initially intended just to go to the dinner. But once I got the yukata (summer kimono) on and a few beers in me, it wasn't long before we were all at karaoke and I had to crash on Kyle's tatami, ha ha.

Hooray for Team Takayama, 2007-2008!





Ever wonder what it's like at a karaoke bar in Japan? Well here you go :D

I can't believe it's been a year already. I'm really going to miss the people going home, they have become like my family away from family.

New peeps are arriving next week, and I'm the only ALT stayin with the program who will actually be in Takayama when they arrive. Eeep!

A taste of Miya

Summer has finally descended upon us up here in the mountains. High temperatures, increasing humidity, and sunny days have given both my students and I summeritis in a big big way. There's a week and a half of classes left before the "break"; I put break in quotes as most of them will still come to school almost every day for club activities and summer cram classes. It seems the insane Japanese work ethic is ingrained from a young age.

But I digress. All this summerness has me itching to not be at work, and my students' laisser-faire attitude isn't helping much with my own. Add a touch of homesickness (oh Chipotle, how I miss you), and I was in a bit of a meh mood on my ride home today. And then something amazing happened. I was greeted by one of the many little old ladies of Miya in our small grocery store. And then by my neighbors, who stopped their car on the little road that runs between the rice fields behind my apartment to chat with me about the weather. And when I got home I had this nice little present waiting for me

Living in a bigger city certainly has it's benefits (markets open past 6 pm! laundromats! Starbucks!), but there is just something about living with the farmers out in the country that can't be duplicated anywhere else. I really do love this town ^_^

4th of July

This week I was finally able to prove to myself that yes, the 4th of July does exist in other countries. Unfortunately, it's just July 4; other than being a Friday it wasn't much more than a typical school day.

I did make a point of talking about the holiday and printing out some pictures to show my students how we celebrate Independence Day at home. I got some interesting responses when I asked them why July 4 was special... when I gave the hint that it was an important birthday in AMERICA I got "Jen!" (no!) "Bush!" (no!) "Obama!" (no!) lol, it was only after I said it wasn't a person that they finally figured it out ^_^ The picture of the flag cake got the most interest; in Japan, they have something similar called hinomaru bento, which is a box lunch that has white rice with an umeboshi (pickled plum) in the center, representing the Japanese flag.

(hinomaru bento pic from wired.com )
Personally, I think cake is a much a tastier way to eat your country's symbol ^_^

(pic from recipetips)

Although I wasn't in the US, this year I did get to spend my holiday with other Americans - 3 other Takayama ALTs. And I had the honor of hanging out with the chief instructor of the Ki Society in the US, and all-around really-cool-guy, Kashiwaya Sensei and his daughter, Yuki, who were visiting Takayama ^_^ (For those who don't know, I studied Ki Aikido in the US before moving to Japan)

After baseball practice, I headed up to Takayama where I met Kashiwaya Sensei, Yuki, and 2 other Aikido students who were also in Takayama, Randy and Felicia, for dinner. The PE teacher at KJH actually set the whole thing up for us, I love how helpful people are here ^_^

4th of July dinner this year? Hoba miso (a traditional Hida dish served on a big leaf)


After dinner, Sensei, Yuki, and I met up with 3 other Takayama ALTs, Katie, Dan, and Angela for some fun with fireworks. Which are surprisingly easy to acquire here. In Colorado they're almost universally banned because of the fire hazard. But here you can get them in almost any convenience store during the summer.

The biggest challenge is finding an open area to light them; we chose a spot next to the Miya river near the Hachimon shrine.


Dan, looking like the Statue of Liberty

Sensei

It may have been small, we didn't have BBQ or cake, there were no silly people dressed like flags, but it was the 4th of July. And we had fireworks (^-^) Yeay

Okinawa

Yesterday I returned from a 6 day stay in Okinawa, where my friend Angela and I tagged along with my friends Nari and Ken on their annual windsurfing trip. I'm waiting for pictures from Angela to do a proper post and upload to the picasa album, but for now I thought I'd give you a few teasers since it's been a while since I last wrote. Enjoy!

At Centrair, the beginning... still on Honshu

My horrible windsurfing form ^o^

Fun with Awamori

The beach