Hello! Its been an a lot longer than I thought it had been. Last time I posted here it was still summer and I hadn't even climbed fuji yet. Now, its fall. So, I guess you guys would like an update, maybe!?

I will start with that list that I posted last time, and continue on from there.

First off climbing Mt. Fuji was amazing! It was one the highlights of my time here in Japan. If you want to read more about that though, please check out my blogspot. I posted some pictures and more details about the climb.

Than I was supposed to go to HEC camp, however there was a bear spotted in the campsite just two days before the camp and therefore camp got cancelled. It really upset me, but what can you do.

After that I went to Wakkani. The Wakkani trip was amazingly fun. I traveled from Sapporo to Wakkani in a car and got to stop at a lot of the michi no eki along the way. Michi no eki is basically a rest stop area along the highway. Usually around the michi no eki are famous products or sights of the town. So, I got to see a lot of Hokkadio and taste and see many things along the way. Once in Wakkani I got to stay at my friend's farm. The farm was super beautiful, though it was a cow farm and therefore smelled too. At the farm I got to see a baby cow being born, and that was just really interesting too see. The not so fun thing about it was that it was a boy, which means it will become food. Poor baby cow. :( I also ate yakiniku, climbed things, and went to the beach. I even got to eat this special tofu like food that is made from the cow that has just given birth. It can only be made with a cow milk that has just given birth, so it was extra special. I also made butter! Later in the evening of my first night there I went with my friend to meet up with some of her friends and we partied into the night. Singing Karaoke with a whole bunch of different people, you have just meet was surprisingly a lot of fun. The next day we were supposed to go to Rebun and Rishiri, but the weather was bad and so instead we went to the most northern tip of Japan. From this tip of Japan on a clear day you can see Russia. I can know say that I have stood in the most north of Japan you can get too. Not many foreigners can say that, so I think that is pretty cool.


So, recently....what has been up?

In August, Hell Festival came again. Its my favorite festival in Japan. Demons walk the streets, the sounds of loud takio drumming feels the air and the smells of sulfur get into your clothes as you walk next to the Hell Valley. It was once again a GREAT time. I got to play Taiko in it again this year, and than after that I danced in the Oni dance. I made it though the whole dance too. The dance lasts about 1 hour or so, and since its doing the same thing over and over again, it can get pretty tiring. But, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot.

In September, the local shrine near my house had their festival. This year it was a lot smaller, because there was supposed to be a typhoon. The Typhoon didn't end up coming though, so a couple of people set up some booths around the shrine area, and the shrine people still paraded though the streets. However, in years past the festival is like three streets long and really fun, this year it was kind of sad. But, I meet some local people and enjoyed eating a lot of festival food and seeing the omikoshi (portable shrines).

September 17 - 19th was spent in Sapporo, since we had three days off. I went skating, shopping and ate my first REAL hamburger in a long time. I also went to Round 1, finally. Although it was a bit expensive it was SO much fun. Round 1 is a giant play house in which there was boxing, golf, tennis, mini volley, basketball, bull riding, roller skating, video games, and a whole lot more. It was a ton of fun, but it really made all of us sleepy. So after Round 1 we headed out for karaoke before sleeping. Than on Sunday it was the 15th annual Rainbow March in Sapporo. I had a lot of fun marching though the streets of Sapps supporting the GLBT of Hokkaido. After the parade there was shopping, karaoke, and food. Than I headed to the dance club for the GLBT event in which there was a live Drag show. I haven't ever seen Japanese Drag Queens that close-up before, so it was fun to finally get the chance. I really enjoyed it.

On the Monday before we left, we went over to the Koibito Chocolate factory. Our plan was to eat at the all you can eat cake buffet, but it was sold out for the day so instead we got the three cake set with coffee or tea. It was a lot of fun! The factory reminded me of Willy Wonka. The had small houses to play in, a old toys museum and they had a afternoon show in which there was automated things dancing and singing. At the end of the show they set off bubbles and I had to stop myself from singing, "pure imagination." But, it was a lot of fun anyways. The cake was AMAZING!, and the tiny houses and things were fun to play in. All in all a great day.


September 23- 25 was another three day Holiday. On Thursday night I left for Aomori on a night train. The train was from 23:40 - about 6am. I was hoping to sleep a lot on the train and be ready to rock Aomori, but that didn't happen. I was soo tired when we got to Aomori, but somehow I still made it though the day.

First we went to Inakadate to see the rice art. Basically somebody planted there rice fields in such a way that it created art. It was very beautiful and really well done. This years theme was to encourage Japan to be strong. The art work was very beautiful, but always a tourist trap since there was only two pieces and you literally went up in this building, followed a circle around and came back down. Still it was nice.

Than after Inakadate we headed off to Hirosaki. Hirosaki was one of the cutest towns I have ever been in, in Japan. It was very small town feeling in a big town. There was a castle festival going on too, so the entry fees to a lot of the tourist attractions ended up being free. Also, they had free bikes that you could take out for the day and ride around town on. So, we took out the bikes and rode all day stopping off too look at the attractions and scenery of the town. Everybody was super nice and as we rode by they would shout out, "Hello" or "Konnichiwa."

So in Hirosaki we saw the castle, gardens, temples, pagoda, ninjas, house archery people (the actually competition we couldn't see cause it was the next day at like 3). Than we also ate Apple Pie, because apparently Hirosaki is famous for apple pie. After the long day seeing all the sights and riding around town we headed off to an onsen that has apples in it. However, when we got to the onsen the apple bath was done for the day, which was a bit disappointing so instead we went to their outdoor apple foot bath and played in that before heading into the onsen. After that we went back to the hostel were we meet some nice people and enjoyed chatting before hitting the stack.

The next day we got up and biked a bit more around Hirosaki and saw the old Samurai houses, and the Nebuta village before heading to the train station to leave for Aomori City. Aomori City wasn't as cool as we thought it would be. There was another festival going on though, and that was nice. In Aomori we ate a lot more Apple treats, and saw Nebuta. First we went to the Nebuta museum and than later that night at the festival we were treated to some live lighted up Nebuta. That was a REAL treat, since the Nebuta usually only come out durning Aomori's big Nebuta Festival. It was really cool to see the dances and the way they moved the big Nebutas. I am really glad we got to see that. After the festival was over we still had some time before our train, and since everything was pretty much closed we went and looked around a huge shopping mall. But, the mall was like filled with 80's like clothes and it really didn't have anything good in it at all. It was a good laugh though. :)


So, I guess that bring everybody a bit more up to date. Sorry it was so long.

pictures from Wakkani: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/Wakkani/

Pictures from Sapporo: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/Sapporo%20%20plantation/

Pictures from Aomori: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/Aomori/

Hello!

So lately I haven't really felt like updating this journal, again. I know I should get better at it like make sure I get something up at least once a month. Sorry guys!

So the HAJET musical is finally over. It was great seeing foreigners every other weekend, and seeing so many places around Hokkaido. But, this was the first weekend since the musical started doing its performances that I have had free. It felt great!

Last weekend I went to Sapporo for a goodbye party for a friend of mine that will be leaving this year.
I am sad to see her go, but she has too. That weekend in Sapporo was the Yosakoi Dacne Festival as well, so I got to watch a ton of Yosakoi in Sapporo. After that we all went to play pool, than karaoke and finally dancing all night. The next day we all headed out to a Fighters game (baseball game). It was interesting getting to see my first Japanese baseball game. (For more on that please read my Blogger).

This weekend was spent going to an Undokai (sports day) at one of my Elementary schools, and than today I went to a friends birthday party. It was great meeting up with my friends in towns near by and eating way too much, playing freebie, throwing water balloons, and enjoying the nice weather.
I also managed to convince myself to study a bit today which was a good thing since I am so far behind right now on that. Yeah I don't think the JLPT will go so well this time. But after this weekend I start to get busy again. Seriously, this summer is going to be busy and fun!!

My plans right now for the next coming weeks are as thus:

1) June 25- Noboribetsu Onsen weekend with friends
2) July 2 - Lion King
3) July 3 - JLPT
4) July 16 - Climb Mt. Fuji
5) July 21 - Akibi English Camp
6) July 23- HEC
7) July 27 - Return from HEC
8) Aug 13 - Head to Wakanai
9) Aug 16 - Return from Wakanai


So yeah the next couple of months seem like they will be very busy and fun.

Hello,

I have recently returned from my Golden Week trip. It was a lot of fun, but also very exhausting.
I don't want to write a super long post about it (though it will still be long) so, I will just write a day by day break down of the Highlights.

April 27- Fly to Hong Kong. Finding our hostel was super fun, it was already dark when we got there and we weren't even sure we were on the right bus. Than when we got to the hostel our rooms were not ready and they had to split up the group into two different rooms. The first room we had was SUPER small, lucky for us the 4 person room was a bit bigger. The worst part about the rooms were that the shower and toilet were one and the same. I really don't like touching other people's water run off from showers, so this was really disgusting for me. However besides that the place was clean, and safe.

April 28 - Our first morning we headed out for Dim Sum brunch right away. I LOVE Dim Sum, as long as there is no fish in it. We ate at this super tacky looking restaurant, but the food was great. :)
After that we wanted to take in the sites, and so headed to one of the tallest buildings in HK. At the top were you can look out over the city they also showed how HK dollars were made. It was interesting. We also checked out a bit of shopping, and walked around the botanical gardens, were we saw monkeys and other animals/plants. After that we just sort of ran around Central, and ended up riding the ferry back to Thim san sui. There we went to the Walk of Stars and watched the Light Show. The light show was very pretty.

April 29 - We took a 25 min. gondola ride up to see the Giant Buddha on Nyong Ping. It was quite a scary ride because it had been raining all morning, and the fog had rolled in. You really couldn't see anything. Looking at the Buddha and the monastery was really cool and gave an insight to their religion. We also took a bus to a fishing village. There we shopped, and took a boat ride to see the famous pink dolphins, but because of the rain they weren't jumping and we ended up seeing none. But the boat ride was nice all the same. It was also cool to see a whole town up on stilts.

April 30 - Me and my friend headed off to HK Disneyland for the day. The park is a lot smaller than Tokyo/Cali. But the ride lines were shorter and they had a lot more characters walking around. Also the stage shows were SUPER fun, and I am pretty sure that me and her annoyed everyone at the park as we sung too all the songs during the stage show "The Golden Mickie's." The parade was also very well done. That night me and the group headed off to check out the nightlife of HK. We went to one of the Highest bars in the World called Ozone, after that we headed off to Lai Kaw Fong. It was CRAZY crowded and everybody was SUPER drunk by the time we got there. So it was a bit intimidating.

May 1 - Today was the culture day. We started the day off with a Chinese Cake making class were we learned how to make two different Chinese cakes. One of which was a wife cake, and the other which was a dumbling like cake. The wife cakes were SUPER delirious even though I messed mine up. After the class we headed to the park to watch some Kung Fu. We also got to take part in learning some Kung fu. Than we went to the History Museum to look at the exhibits of the 1911 Revolution and the Journey of how HK came to be. This was followed up with an hour boat ride on Victoria harbor to take in the sites of HK, and the light show from the harbor. It was REALLY pretty, but by this point my knees were hurting so bad that I couldn't stand for long and therefore spent most of the time inside the boat.

May 2 - Our last day in HK. We went off to the New Territories to do the Heritage walk and to see the famous walled cities. The walled cities were built when the Japanese invaded to help keep them out and you can still see the bullet holes in the walls of the city. The most famous one doesn't allow visitors, but the other one did. It was like being in a tiny labyrinth. The temples and paragons were really interesting to look at too. We also saw a small part of the wetlands.

May 3 - Fly to Bali. Get picked up by the Resort and head to Nusa Dua. Walk around the resort area, get happy hour drinks. Than we went to a Balinese Dinner Theatre. We watched the Kecak dance which tells the story of "a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana," (wikipedia). The music for the piece is created using the actors voices. The way they dance in Bali was very interesting too, it was SUPER intense and the actors barley every blink. The movements were sharp and fluid all at the same time.

May 4 - Our lounge day. We spent the day relaxing, drinking and swimming. I swam in the pool and in the ocean. It was a great day and totally what we needed after HK.

May 5 - Went on a tour of Bali. In the morning we went white water rafting. It was SO much fun and I was surprisingly less scared than I thought I would be of it. It also took 2 hours though so I was pretty tired by the time it finished. Than we headed off to see the rice fields and coffee plantation. At the coffee place we got to try a ton of different coffee one of which is made from the poop of an animal. The animal is feed coffee beans, and when it poops these beans come out whole. Then they make coffee from the beans it poops out. After that we headed to the Royal Temple in the center of the city. It was super beautiful and had a ton of nature surrounding it. This was followed by another temple which is famous for it's sunset. Unfortunately it rained this day and the sunset was clouded over. :( It was still a really beautiful site. Than we got taken to another Balinese dinner theatre. This time we saw the Legong Dance. Which is simply an intricate dance used in rituals.

May 6 - Went off to Bali Safari and Marine Park. Those the Marine park was actually not there, it was being made. At the Safari we got to see many different kinds of animals up closer than would normally be possible. We also rode elephants and held an Orangutan, who was quite heavy but really cute. At night we all got Balinese messages. It was really nice, but for some reason instead of helping my leg it really hurt it and so I couldn't really walk the rest of the night or most of the next day.

May 7- Fly to HK. In the morning though we ate a great breakfast and went shopping.

May 8 - Fly to Sapporo.


So yep that's pretty much what I have been doing lately. See you later. :)

You can view some pictures here, remember to start from page 7 and go to page 1 cause the page uploads the pictures backwards.

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/GOLDEN%20WEEK%202011/

Hello,


So lately there have been quite a bit of aftershocks. I am still OK, but I am very scared. Anytime I feel the ground shaking, even just a bit I cannot help it, I get completely freaked out. Also, I know that any small one I feel means that Tohoku is getting a much bigger one. So, please continue praying and sending money to redcross if you can.


This last weekend I traveled to Utashinai for another Jungle Book rehearsal. The town was very cute, and not as far as I thought it was going to be. This rehearsal was the first one using parts of the set. It was nice to sort of be able to see what we will be working with. On Saturday we rehearsed all day. But before dinner we had a bit of free time, so me and some friends went and checked out the sites a bit. The town had some really nice shines. After sight seeing we went to dinner at this amazing Italian restaurant located up a mountain. The food was delicious, although a bit expensive. We got to eat pizza, pastas, ice cream, and salad. As soon as that was done we headed off to the Onsen(Hot Spring). It wasn't the best onsen I have been to but it was nice and SUPER cheap. It was totally half price day at the onsen so it was kind of full. I think I am finally starting to like Onsens now. Though I still won't go without another foreigner in toe. ;)



Besides that the new work schedule has started. It interesting too work with three different teachers. Two of my classes this year have wheelchair kids in them too, so certain activities that I did last year are not going to work so well this year. I am differently going to have to take into mind the kids in the wheelchairs when planning lessons at those schools. With anybody has suggestions please let me know.



Also Golden week is coming up. Golden week is like Spring break. My original plan was to go to Hong Kong, but because of the earthquakes the flight got cancelled. :( However, after much thinking and checking out prices online, and with travel agents we decided to book another flight to Hong Kong though a different company. However since it was so late in the game, the flights were not cheap. But now instead of just Hong Kong we are also going to Bali. It was actually the same price to go to Hong Kong as it was to go to Hong Kong and Bali. Go figure. Any suggestions on what do to, let me know. So yeah...this vacation is going to be expensive, but it should be super fun!!!


Guess that's all.

Nikki~

Hey guys.

So things as of late have been pretty terrible in Japan. I know most of you have already heard all about it, but Tohoku was hit with a big earthquake, and than after the earthquake a tsunami hit. Since than there have been small tremors everyday and one of the nuclear plants in Fukushima is having serious issues. Because of this everybody has been trying their best to continue on with their day, but you can tell there is this sort of somber sort of attitude over everything.

Japan is really doing a great job trying to keep everything together, expect that they decided not to except America's help out of basically pride issues. The people down in the Tohoku area are being really quite brave though this whole thing, and I am very happy to say that the people I knew down there are alive and doing alright. There is also not much food though, or water down in the area so...its sometimes kind of hard to continue eating/drinking and stuff up here in Hokkaido when about 1 hour on plane ride = no water/limited food. Because of this I decided to send some money though redcross, and I encourage others to do the same. I also sent a package to Second Harvest, a group helping out in Japan.

As of now, the Fukushima plant will not cause problems for Hokkaido, and as of right now I don't have any intentions to leave. Please note that although I am scared, I am alright and in no immediate danger.


So now that the terrible is down...on to the good/bad things. The good thing is that I have been getting invited places!!! This past weekend, I went to an Japanese theater performance. It was really cute, and it was basically a performance to introduce all these old Japanese toys. After the show, everybody got to play around with the toys. It was a tons of fun and really cute. Than after that I joined a couple teachers from Washibetsu JHS, and we had an okonomiyaki party. It was really cool to hang out with them because they were so much more open about things than most of the co-workers I have been out with. It was really nice..we all bitched about work and other things and it was just a ton of fun.

On Sunday a couple other ALT's came down/up and we went to see Tangled in Japanese. It was very interesting. I thought they did a good job of dubbing it and stuff, but the mother just didn't play as well in Japanese. In Japanese it almost came off like she actually did care for Rapunzel.
Which was interesting, and it also made me wonder if the Japanese people get the very western gestures that were used in the movie. After the movie we went ice skating and than back to my house were we made flat bread taco's, ate cheese, crackers, cookies and drank wine; talked and watched movies/shows. It was a wonderful girls night.


The bad news though is that while I am finally getting comfortable, and finally enjoying my life here again...I just found out that something I thought that wasn't going to happen until August, is instead now happening in April. Basically the town in August will get 2 more ALTs, and 1 - 6 grade elementary students will start studying English, instead of just the 5-6 graders. So, now starting in April 4 of my schools will be given to a different ALT, and than in August things might change again. I really don't like all these changes, and was very upset because I didn't get to say goodbye to the schools that I might be leaving. Also, there are also too Japanese people joining as at the schools to be translators, and while I like the idea for future JETs, I don't want them translating for me, and than that makes me feel like a bitch. But, all things must change and I just need to make the best of it, no matter which schools I get. :)

Hey,

So this past week some great things have happened but, because of it I am eating a lot now. I think I will gain back all the weight I worked hard to get off. But, its been so much fun...its almost worth it.

This past weekend (feb.26), I was invited out by some co-workers to go skating and than lunch. It was a ton of fun, and really the first time that my coworkers invited me out, (well, besides Chiemi). Usually I have to ask them, so I was very happy. It was a lot of fun skating around with them, even if I didn't really get to practice.

Than on Wednesday, I went out to dinner with another coworker and his girlfriend. I really enjoyed eating with him but, the GF was not so friendly, I thought. She rubbed me the wrong way, but they have been going out for three years, so maybe just something wasn't right that night or something. Anyways, we had very personal conversations, and they came out easily too. Usually when I talk to a Japanese person its always the same thing, and never very personal, but with him personal like/dislike and even past lovers came out. It was very interesting for me cause it was like the first time for that kind of talk with a male coworker.

This weekend, I was going to go to Niseko and learn how to snowboard, but instead my friend and past JTE was coming back from Canada and wanted to come see me in Noboribetsu. So I canceled the Niseko plan and stayed home. On Saturday I went out to coffee with a new friend I just meet two weeks ago(?). He leaved for 6 years in Cali and has just come back to Japan so, its really easy to talk to him. Than, he left and I was bored so, I made cookies. I had wanted to go skating on Saturday but, I couldn't because the rink was having a hockey meet. I tried to make a new cookie and it turned out really well so, I think I will make it again. I made a apple, raisin spice cookie. SO GOOD!! I have been eating too many cookies this past week too because earlier in the week I had made peanut butter cookies and than I ate like all of them myself. But, it was a very relaxing and kind of fun Saturday.

Today, I went out to Karaoke with my Japanese "family." I like to think of them as my Japanese family anyways. It was a lot of fun. We sang karaoke for 3 hours. It was so cute to watch the 5 year old trying her best to sing, and dance. The son was REALLY pretty good at karaoke too so, I was supised. The son is in 4th grade elementary. So at this karaoke place, hey have this special, its 80yen for 30mins and than it was 780 per person if we wanted to get lunch, and a 2 hour nomihodai (all you can drink). So it was like 1300 yen. This was for the adults, the kids got in for cheaper. Than after eating and drinking too much at Karaoke we went to their house and watched Arashi, played games, talked and of course ate and drank. The mom made hashirice (like beef stew) for us, and it was SO good. She gave me some to take home, and they really liked the cookies that I made.


In the spring/summer, whenever it gets warm I have already invited them to come to my house to have a taco party and sleepover. The mom is already excited about it and so am I. :)

But, anyways now I am SOO full I don't think I could eat anything and I feel like a fatty but, it was so much fun. But, tomorrow I will go out and eat again, I think. I am really going to have to like starve myself the rest of the week to work off all these calories (really, I won't though..don't worry). I am sure I have already gained back a kilo. :(

Hello,

I know that I said I was going to stop this blog because it was just to hard to think of things to write. But, the thing is that it was only hard because I honesty didn't think people wanted to hear about my everyday life. But, than I realized that things I find normal now, aren't normal to everybody. I have also decided to start again because people keep asking me whats up, and how things are going. But, I am also going to start again for myself. I think that part of the reason I get sad sometimes is cause I feel stuck and like I am not doing anything but, I am doing things...even if they are normal.


So, the interesting highlights of the month of February, and a slight caught up.
This month I have been SUPER busy every weekend, except this one I was out and about. It was AMAZING!!! :)

February in Hokkaido is festival month so, I managed to see three different festivals. First was in Mombetsu, a city in northern Hokkaido. I rode on a boat and saw the ice dirfts that come in from Russia. It was really cool, even got to see a couple of seals (like on open ocean water, and not in a tank!!). It was super cool. I took so many pictures of ice.

That same weekend on the way back from Mombetsu we stopped over in Sounkyo for their ice festival. There was even an ice castle to explorer. It was so much fun, and the lights that they lite up the ice with made it even better.


After that weekend there was Yuki Matsuri (snow festival), in Sapporo. I went last year and this year. This year it wasn't as impressive so maybe next year I will look at Ashikawas instead. The cool thing about it this year was that my friend from Colorado, who know works in Kagoshima came up for it. It was great getting to see her after such a long time.

Other than the festivals, I have joined the Hokkaido JET musical. The JETs in Hokkaido do a musical every year for the kids. Its always down in English, with Japanese Narration or one/two character that speak Japanese. Its a great program. I have been doing this musical since about October. This year the musical is the Jungle Book, and I am playing a monkey. Its really helped me to get out of my house and enjoy Hokkaido. Its also helping me with the loneliness thing since I know see other foreigners about twice a month. The only downside is that its not good on my bank book. Hahahah!!

Anyways, I guess that's it for now. Here is to starting my blog up again, I hope I can keep it up.

Also, new photos are still being added to my photobucket account. Check it out!

**Sept. - Dec. 2010 : http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/September%20-%20December%202010/


** Mombetsu ice and Sounkyo: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/Monbetsu%20Drift%20Ice%20and%20Sounkyo%20Ice%20Festival/

Hello,
I cannot believe I have neglected this blog for this long. So much has happened between now and then. I won't be able to type it all up. But, I will give a bit of what has been going on.

First off, I moved to my new school, Seiriyo. The first day there, there was a lot of introductions but, not just from me. In April all the teachers change around, so there was a lot of new teachers at the school besides me. It was nice for a change to not be the only teacher who was like, "I have no idea what is going on." April is also the time in which 1st years become 2nd years, ect. It was nice to know that because of that, I wasn't the only one trying to memorize the first years names. :) However, the other teachers seemed to memorize everybody's names so quickly, and I still cannot get them down. TOO MANY NAMES!

My new school is really fun. The teachers are very relaxed and unlike the last school the kids are also very fun. Though the boys were dangerous from day one. LOL
Best line yet, at this school... "Nikki, Breast...how many?" hahahh I had to really control my composer on that one. After, I convinced the boys that they weren't speaking real English, I busted into laughing. My teacher was like, WTF. But, the girls at this school are super cool. There is a group of girls I hang out with a lot. They made me play basketball, and it was HARD. I forgot how much more energy and running ability younger kids have. O.O I need to get back into shape. The sad news is, that this school is TOO short, and after next week I move on to my next school. :( But, I don't feel ready to leave. I feel like there is still so much for me to improve, and that I want more time with the students and teachers.
But, I have to. So, next week might be a bit hard for me.

Ok, so besides that Golden Week happened. It's like the Japanese version of spring break, in which three holidays fall in place one after the other, creating a week of vacation for the Japanese people, (5 days). During this time, I took a couple days of vacation time and my mom came out for a visit, with her friend. It was nice getting to see my mommy again. So, this is what we did for spring break.

April 30:

I feel out to meet them, in Kobe. It took us a lot of time trying to find each other since they didn't have a cellphone, and apparently my instructions got lost in translation. It took us about 1 1/2 to find each other. But, we eventually did. From there we headed off to our hostel, so that we wouldn't have luggage with us. It took us another long bit of time to find the hostel. The directions were not written all that well, and nobody seemed to know where a shop was that they told us to locate. But, thanks to some nice old gentlemen we found the place.

After we dropped off the luggage we went off in search of adventure. We ended up not getting too lost, as things started to come back to me from my trip there before. We went to China Town, Harbor Land and the earthquake site. After that we headed to meet my friend, Jen. Jen took us to a YUMMY shabu shabu place. Shabu Shabu is pork, that you them heat in a a boiling pot of the stuff that is in Botox. Sounds gross but, it is very YUMMY! There is also veggies, and other things too that you can heat in it. At the end of the meal they gave us tea, and black sesame seed ice cream.

May 1:

Today we headed to Takarazuka, to watch the play, "The Scarlet Primpel." Takarazuka, is an all female theatre troop, so they play both the men and women parts. This show was AMAZING!
I was soo in love with the lead actors. They did a great job, with the costumes and set as always. The lighting was a bit dark in certain parts, but it was likewise amazing. I wish I could put on a show like this one. Everything just really came together. Even my mom, who doesn't speak Japanese enjoyed the show a lot.

After the show we went off to Kyoto. We found our hostel right away. But, the hostel guy had lost our reservation. Luckily, he had rooms available, and was really sweet the whole trip.
The hostel wasn't in the greatest condition but, I would stay there again just cause he was so nice. After we got rid of our bags we went off for adventure. We headed to Kyoto Tower and started looking around the stores for things to buy, then we walked around a bit just enjoying the warm weather and beautiful nature of Kyoto. After a while, we stopped off to eat in a tiny hole in the wall restaurant.

May 2:

Today, we head off to Arashiyama. In Arashiyama there is a amazing bamboo forest. We spent a couple hours just walking around it and taking in the sites. While in there we got to eat fried bamboo, and talk to a local guy who had made these amazing postcards. After that, and some complications we headed off in search of the monkey park. We found the park, and had a great time looking at all the monkeys. The monkeys in this park are NOT caged in. They just wonder around you, and you can take photos and such but, they had rules about not messing with the monkeys. There was some very cute baby monkeys too. You could feed the monkeys as well but, only if you were in a cage so that they couldn't mall you for more food. It was a bit nerve wracking to be so close to the monkeys but, also a lot of fun. After that, we had Sakura flavor ice cream and then headed to sanjo for some late night shopping in the covered mall. It was SO much fun being back in Sanjo.

May 3:

Today, we did our temple visits. First, we headed to Ginkakuji (the golden pavilion). My friend was TOALLY right, its pretty but, its quite boring and not really worth it. But, I think my mom and her friend really enjoyed this temple. Then we went to Nijo castle. This castle was AMAZING. They let you walk around in it a bit, and they tell you on signs what the rooms were used for. It was really cool to walk around an ancient Japanese castle. The area around the castle was also very pretty, it was just filled with flowers, and trees.
After that we headed off to Kyomizu temple, and Yasaka shrine. Kyomizu was amazing as always. I still believe that it is my favorite temple, in Japan. If you ever come to Kyoto, you have to see that temple. :)

At night time, I ditched my mom and went to sing Karaoke with some of my friends for KGU (kansai Gaidai). It was great seeing them again. We had a lot of fun singing Karaoke and enjoying the short time we had together.

May 4:

We headed off to Osaka, for our last day in the Kansai area. We went to Osaka castle first.
There was HUGE festival going on, in the castle grounds. It was called "The Mecha Happy Festival." It was a dance festival. The dancing was a mix of traditional and modern Japaense dancing. It was really fun to watch while, my mom and her friend went up to the top of Osaka Castle. After that we just wondered the castle grounds a bit, and then went off in search of ame mura, and den den town. However, we never made it to den den town because they moved my favorite store on me and I had the HARDEST time finding it. I even asked a bunch of people for directions. But, I found it and now have another outfit from H.Naoto! HUZZAH. This one is completely different from my last look but, I think its more the me of now. Its from the gouk collection, so its all made from kimono fabrics and has hand painted details on it.

After that we went to the hostel, in which we got lost...again. :(

May 5:

We headed off to Hokkaido. The plane ride went smoothly, and no complications. HUZZAH!
Today, we went to Otaru and Sapporo. It was my first time in Otaru, and it was a very pretty little town. They have a great shopping area, and something about it remembered me of Estes. There is a huge store there just filled with music boxes off all shapes and sizes. I ended up buying a tiny one, of the stream clock that is famous in Otaru. In Otaru there is a clock run off of steam and is one of the prides of the town. The other famous thing in Otaru is the Otaru Canal.

In Sapporo, we went to Odori park and the covered shopping area. Odori was starting to get in all of its flowers, I bet it looks REALLY pretty right now.

May 6:

Today we went to the Onsen area, in my town. We hiked around Jigokudani (hell valley), Oyuma lake (?), which is a carter filled with boiling hot spring water. While there we walked around in the natural foot bath. After that I noticed I had werid bug bits on my ankles, legs and back. They itched so BAD but, they differently weren't from a mosquito.

May 7:

Today was a lazy day. We went around my town a bit, and I took them to the ocean. We also ate lunch with the people from my BOE. The place they took us too had amazing food. :) Like always....they always, take us to nice places. We also went to the grocery store. My mom, and her friend were surprised at how expensive the fruits and veggies were.

May 8:

Today, the cruise ship came in so Muroran was having little Japanese cultures things all day. So, we went down and pretended we were on the cruise ship too. They had thinks like Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy, kite making, ikebana, and origami. It sounded interesting and then turned out to be kind of boring. I kind of feel bad for the people on the cruise ship if this is indeed there only stop in Japan. People keep asking where the survivor shops were, and the places to visit in Muroran on the guide sheet were like Morue ( a shopping mall), and an eye glasses store. But, they did have some good things like a taiko performance, and Japanese traditional dancing. Also, they had a pretty good flee market filled with Japanese stuff.

After running around to the different events for the ship, we ate soup curry with some of my English teachers. Then we came back home, opened up a bottle of wine and ate some food.


May 9:

Today we went to Lake Toya, with my friend Alyson. We hiked around a bit, and enjoyed the nice weather. The scenery in Toya is just breathtaking. Toya is basically an active volcano though. The last eruption was in 2000 or 2001 ( I don't remember). We also, went into a bear park there since my mom loves bears. It was quite sad but, I can say I have now been nose to nose with a bear, even if it was though glass.

We also, hiked up to see carters, made from the volcano. They were still very active and from that site you could see cookie factory that had been diminished in the last eruption.


May 10:

Today, was there last day in Japan so I took them to Jidaimura (edo wonderland). It was fun, seeing the ninja show again, and watching all the other shows too. I think, they enjoyed the time there as well even if, everything was in Japanese. Then we went back to the onsen area for last minute gift buying and then headed back down to have dinner with Erika. It was a fun filled day.



So, anyways I think I shall end it there. It was a great trip with my mom and her friend. I really loved seeing them. Though now I kind of feel like my house is too empty again. So, somebody else should come visit me, OK??

here is the link to photos: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/ashitara/Golden%20Week/?start=all

Love you all,

Nikki~

ps. The sakura, has started to bloom. They should be really pretty on Sunday, so I am going to go take pictures of them. :) They aren't all bloomed yet but, my co-worker said that by Tuesday, it will be amazing.

Hey,

Since last time, I went to my first graduation ceremony. It was really formal but, very much the same as all graduations. It was long, and there was a lot of speeches made. Some by teachers, and some by students. There was also diplomas given out and of course the school song was sung. The brass band also played a bit. What was different about it all, was that each year also sang a couple songs, making it seem more like a choir concert. There was also, a TON of bowing. I had to bow once per each student but most of the other teachers had to bow more then that. It was a little crazy. In the end, everybody goes outside and forms a line that the third years then pass down, as we all say goodbye. That was my favorite part. The girls and boys were all very sad to be leaving behind junior high school. I think this is cause everybody ends up going to different high schools so its truly like the end. It's possible that the person you sat next to for 3 years, you won't ever see again. I think I would cry too.

But, the day before this ceremony there was a fun one put on by the 1st and 2nd year students. Each grade came up with a fun idea to show the 3rd year students and then the 3rd years wrote a speech to give encouragement to their underclassmen. I think the 2nd years had a wonderful idea, for their presentation. They put on a quiz by showing pictures from the 3rd year student's field trips starting in 1st year and going though 2nd year. They cropped them down and then had 3 options to chose from for the answer. If you got it wrong, you had to sit down. Everybody had a fun time remembering their years as junior high school students. There was also a presentation done by the 3rd homeroom teachers which included pictures of themselves from junior high days. So, this ceremony was a lot of fun and I differently liked it better then the graduation one.


Now that, that has been updated. Today was my last day at Horobetsu Junior High School. I really don't want to leave this school because I really like all the teachers there. The kids at this school, I didn't really get to know and nobody really seemed to want to get to know me. This time, there was no crying kids and nobody really seemed to care I was leaving. But, I will still really miss this school.

Today, was the closing ceremony for the school year, as well as the goodbye to teachers that are going to another school ceremony. Both ceremonies were very formal so, I had to wear my suit today. I really don't like wearing my suit and most of the other teachers don't like to either. It was very funny to see everybody in suits for the ceremony but, the minute we all got back to the teachers room almost everybody's suit jacket came off. hahah-- Most teachers in Japan wear track suits, so some of the teachers looked really out of place.

For the closing ceremony, they just sung the school song, and then a student said some stuff about the going on to the next year, and how great this last one was. The principal also, did some speaking about being a better school next year and such things like that. They also, presented the two class head representatives with certificates for doing a good job this year. After that they bowed and it was over.

For the teachers ceremony, each teacher that was leaving got to give a speech. Then, the student council gave flowers to the teachers that were leaving. Some kids were crying and it was very emotional. After that, in the teachers room, the teachers gave a short speech to the other teachers.
I also, gave a short speech in the teachers room.

So, now it is spring break. I have an enkai to go to tonight but, then that is it for Horobetsu JHS. I don't want to go though, I really like the teachers room at this school. Though, this will all change in the next year because 9 teachers are going elsewhere. In other words the vibe is going to be completely thrown off. I think, I will miss my JTE at this school too because, he understood a lot of slang and American humor which was SUPER nice. I didn't feel like I had to stick to textbook English, or speak slow with him. That was a really nice change so, I will differently miss that. It was just really relaxing to be able to say things like, this suxs or was she hot? without my teacher going O.o??

Anyways, I guess that is all for now. :)

Nikki~

Hey all,
Happy St. Paddy's day!! I wore green today and tried to explain how cool of a holiday it is but, I am not sure they really got it. Next year, I will throw a st. paddy's day party. This year, I wanted to but I am injured and so I couldn't. I did however, make Irish stew (with Japanese beer) but, it turned out really tasty anyways!! :o)

So, recently I celebrated Hinamatsuri. It basically is translated to Princess Festival. To read more click this nice wikipedia link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri . Don't you just love wikipedia, it's got like everything. hahah- It was really fun to celebrate. I went to my Japanese teachers house and she had put up the whole doll display. Then, she dressed me and the other alt in kimono and we took pictures. I liked the way kimono made me feel. After that, we changed back into regular clothes and she taught us how to make makisushi and inari sushi. It was fun to make but, me and the other alt really didn't do such a good job of it. The inari was fine but, our makisushi's didn't look so good. They tasted great though. :) That is what counts right? After that we went to the onsen (hot spring), then came back and ate dinner and chatted. It was a really relaxing night.

Besides that, about 2 weeks ago my knees gave out, and started to swell. They haven't returned yet to a healed state but, I am hoping soon they will be ok. It really bits though cause this month is the last month the ice rink close by is open. I am going to miss the closeness of the rink. After this, it looks like I will have to go to Sapporo until June and then, I can go to Tomokomai again. So for three months I will have to head into Sapporo to get some skating in. Which means, I won't be able to go every weekend..most likely every other weekend or sometimes maybe only once a month. I don't know yet. Ok, enough about skating.

I have know however, experienced the Japanese hospitals. I went to one first, and they said I had water on my knee so they took it out. This however made things hurt worse, and the pain slowly got worse and worse. So, then I went to a different hospital they took x-rays and an MRI. At the x-ray place they didn't give me a lead vest. I tried asking for one but, they didn't seem to understand. They keep telling me it would be ok. I had heard about this from other people but, I never thought it was true...till now. Also, at hospitals instead of being in a room by yourself with the doctor, there is a curtained off area, in which people are waiting outside and can hear everything you tell the doctor.

Today, I went to an acupuncture doctor/alt. medicine doctor, because the other doctor couldn't figure out why it was hurting since the MRI and X-ray turned out fine. This doctor took a look at my knees....in the sitting room. Then told me what he thought and rolled up my pants and treated a bit of it in the lobby. Where all the other people there could hear. In fact the lady next to us was actively listing, nodding and commenting about it. I was a little like WTF.
She was nice though..so, I guess it was ok. Then I was issued into a room and placed on this bed that was like a ball massage machine. It felt really nice but, the linens were not changed from the other people. This just seems unsanitary but, I guess it really isn't cause its not like we had our clothes off or something. It was just strange. Then, I was taken into another little curtain and got electric treatment and typing and come hand massage and other such things, like this suction cup thing. While he was doing the suction cup thing all I could think of was, "I just sucked one year of your life." Points for people who get that one.
I did however, feel better when I came out. I am going back again next week.

Right now I have these little pieces of type with a gold ball on them, I don't really know what they are but, when he put them on my swelling went down in about 10 mins and hasn't really come back as much as before. Also, from the suction cup thingy it looks like somebody beat me black and blue, like I got in a gang fight. Then, he typed my hips and my knees. The type on my back kind of pinches my skin but, supposedly it will make it better. He also gave me some cream stuff that makes my body feel light..don't ask how, I have no idea. However, I feel better so I guess its a good thing I went. Also, this time he said I didn't need the needles so HUZZAH! But, who knows maybe next time I will need them. He was a really nice doctor too, even if it felt like I had no privacy.

So, that is what has been up this month. Nothing too exciting. I am just waiting for my knee to heal and then I can go back to exercising and hanging out with people again. Oh, and it's snowing a lot again....and here I thought Winter was done.