Survey!

One of those silly surveys that gets passed around. Decided to post mine here. Also, I found a bunch of old pictures from when I first moved to Japan and I was taking pictures of EVERYthing, so I sprinkled them in randomly. They have nothing to do with the survey answers. Enjoy!

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE:
I got my first name from my Irish grandmother and my middle name is the same as my mom*. Ironically, my Irish grandmother's real name was Jane, but everyone called her Jenny (hence me being Jennifer), and here in Japan everyone seems to think my name is Jane.

*As has been pointed out to me recently, my American grandmother's middle name was Jane, not Ann... not sure why I remembered it wrong. Let's just chalk it up to Jen's crap memory for now
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Either way, it still fits in with the Jen/Jane theme ^^

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Tears of joy in a laughing fit last weekend ^^

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It's ok I guess. A little sloppy. And I can never seem to write す properly.



WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
uh, turkey?

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Nope!

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Of course. I'm awesome.



DO YOU USE SARCASM?
No. Never.

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
As far as I know, yes.

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I'd like to think I would, but I'd probably get to the top, take one look, and back out :D

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Whatever happened to cracklin' oat bran? man that stuff was good.

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Depends on the shoes, but generally speaking I've gotten quite adept at the Japanese slip-off-method.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Vanilla.



WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I have an odd habit of looking at hands for some reason...

RED OR PINK?
Red

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I'm a bit of a procrastinator, so I'll put off answering this one for a little while



WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
fuzzy white and grey striped uniqlo pajama bottoms and no shoes

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
The sounds of my apartment

IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
emerald green. or some fancy named color that is emerald green. like fern. or mountain meadow.

FAVORITE SMELLS?
I really love the smell of rain, especially on rocks. Also, I miss the smell of the forests in Colorado.

FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Baseball. BASEBALL!!!!!!



HAIR COLOR?
Natural color is a fairly boring shade of dark blond that I find it nearly impossible to cover up in Japan. Also, it's increasingly gray. I'd say right now there's probably about 4 or 5 different shades in my hair, from the old light tips to the brown lowlights, some old highlights, the gray, and the natural color.

EYE COLOR?
kind of a chameleon-ey green that can look blue depending on what I wear.

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No. the optometrist said I have better than 20/20 vision. nya! :P

FAVORITE FOOD?
mexican. oh god, how I miss mexican. and corned beef.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
generally speaking, happy endings are good. unless they're unrealistically happy, then they suck.



LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
uh, something on the airplane back to Japan

WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
red.

SUMMER OR WINTER?
I love winter sports but I don't like the cold. I'd say I'm more of a fall person.

HUGS OR KISSES?
yes please :)

FAVORITE DESSERT?
vanilla ice cream. or butterfingers.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene (I am, after all, a science nerd)

WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Didn't watch tv last night



FAVORITE SOUND(S)?
I really miss the sound of the mountains in CO. The wind blowing in the trees just doesn't sound the same here.

ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Not sure. I'm pretty far now, but maybe, Sydney? or Hong Kong. Probably Sydney is farther.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I've discovered a latent baking ability, now that I live in a country with no ovens.

Yum

In a sign of just how much I've changed since moving to Japan, tonight after taiko practice, while we were all sitting around chatting in Japanese and eating snacks, I ate a chocolate-covered piece of seaweed from Korea. And I liked it. So much, in fact, that I ate two.

My Valentine?

I've never been a big fan of February 14. But in the spirit of giving, I thought I would share with you one of the unique traditions in this country.

In most places around the world, Valentine's Day is all about the ladies. Men famously agonize for weeks over the perfect gift, dinner, night out, whatever, for the object of their affection. Women sit around and wait to be impressed. As it should be.

In Japan, however, things are backwards. Women give men gifts. Usually of chocolate. In fact, there are two types of gifts, giri choco, obligatory chocolates for bosses or co-workers, and honmei choco, for their true love.

Not ones to miss out on a marketing opportunity, in 1978 the National Confectionery Industry Association began to take advantage of the deep feelings of obligation (especially as relates to gifts) in the form of White Day, held one month after V-day, on March 14. This is the day for men to repay the kindness shown to them by their loved one, or their employee, by purchasing any number of White Day gifts. link

I had the fortune of experiencing this particular oddity firsthand last year. It just so happened that my first visit to one of my elementary school's after having returned from the Snow Festival in Hokkaido was on Valentine's Day. When you take a trip in Japan, usually you are expected to bring some kind of omiyage or souvenir for your co-workers. The gift to bring from Sapporo is a white chocolate biscuit called Shiro Koibito, or white lover. So, being the good employee that I am, I brought some white lover back for all of my schools. Because of the fairly rigid hierarchy in Japan, usually I give the gifts to the principal of the school, telling him that it's for everyone. Then they pass it along. Usually they understand this.

About month later, close to White Day, I realized the message on this particular occasion hadn't been clear. I was actually quite confused at first, when my principal came up to me in the staffroom. A bit embarrassed, he looked at me, fumbled for a minute trying to think of what to say in English, decided he couldn't do it, and handed me a small bag with some sweets from Tokyo in it. Surprised, I thanked him and he was on his way.

It took the rest of the day to figure out what had happened - apparently he mistook the Sapporo omiyage for a Valentine's gift, of the giri choco variety I assume, and therefore was reciprocating with a White Day gift. It was so sweet I didn't have the heart to tell him my gift had been omiayge, intended for everyone (*^_^*)

With V-day safely on a Saturday this year, I plan to celebrate (by which I mean completely ignore) the holiday snowboarding in Nagano. So doubtful I'll get any White Day gifts this year... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see ^^

Is it an early spring, or just a tease?

It's really warm here right now. Like, REALLY warm. Today it was in the 50's. In the 50's! It's February. Early February. This fantastic springtime weather is about 2 months early.

Today at elementary school, I played with my 1st graders during the lunchtime recess, and then, because I had no classes after lunch, again for about 2 hours in the afternoon before it was time to go home. We played on swings, on the bars, the jungle gym, played several games of tag, and dodge ball. They rode around on the unicycles (which I've always found fascinating - can you imagine a shed full of unicycles for the kids to play on during recess in the US?) and played on stilts (another safety-conscious toy that shows up at the schools here) and I tickled them as they tried to cross the monkey bars. We ran all over that dirt school yard, which should be covered in snow at this time of year, but which is only a bit damp and a little squishy. And me with nothing more than my fleece vest.

As far as "normal" life is concerned, the warm weather is fantastic. Lots of chances to enjoy being outside and it's way easier than shoveling my car free in the morning. Even the parking lot for my apartment is all but snow-free at this point. My olive oil is liquid, for pete's sake!

But as far as winter sports are concerned, this weather couldn't have come at a worse time. The snow, quite frankly, sucks for snowboarding or skiing. I went last Sunday and it was, quite 'meh'. And right now Takayama is hosting the All Japan Junior High School Ski Tournament. I have several students participating, actually. And I can just imagine what they must be thinking... now, of all times, to have this glorious weather. LOL

Ah, Mother Nature. How you do like to toy with us so.