Mysteries

So the biggest mystery in my life in Japan is why I am gaining weight and why I am so tired during work. I think the two go hand in hand. The schedule is tiring and teaching in general takes a lot out of me but I think it might have something to do with the school lunch. After kindergarten I come home and am absolutely exhausted. The kids wear me out, but I also feel like the food I'm eating is not the balance I need or am used to. I've tried cutting down on how much kindergarten food I eat, but then I just crave more food and snack all afternoon. Somehow I cannot justify coming home and eating a second lunch?? I'm definitely trying to eat balanced meals and exercising outside of work but somehow I've still gotten a freshman 15!!. Every time I talk to my mom we discuss what could possibly make me gain weight and make my hormone balance broken...still after almost 6 months. I guess as much as humans can easily relocate and adapt to different surroundings our bodies still have a difficult time adjusting. Even though mentally you don't feel the stress of all the changes the body does and reacts with anger. And right now mine still hates me!!

Take a look at what I've been eating for lunch the last while. We usually have a soup, a vegetable, cold salad and some fried meat/fish then I bring brown rice. Maybe it doesn't look to appetizing, but its not so bad. My favorite days are when we get fruit with lunch. Lately though, I am just sick of eating cafeteria made food. Coming from a place where we are given so many choices it is hard to have to eat this lunch every work day. Somedays, I just want a sandwich and carrot sticks so bad!!

I remember the first school lunch I ate at kindergarten. I am pretty sure all my manners were absolutely wrong. I can recall the students correcting me on how I ate and everything I did wrong during that meal. I swear I almost cried from the torture of being corrected by young children. They sure made me feel different that day! haha. Lunch has gotten better since then and I am enjoying the kids more and more as we can communicate a little better. I am starting to really see inside the complex character of a Japanese child. Below I have taken a video of the ending of lunch when we say thank you for the delicious food. I was trying to be discrete so that is why the aim is a little off!

As for the mystery of weight gain, I am unsure. Is it the food? Is it stress? or possibly from drinking too much?? If you have a chance please give your input on the topic.

TOGA and Tequila Time

This weekend was full of fun surprises and beautiful things. For starters all over the place are these really pretty bright flowers. I have no idea the name! I took a few pictures because I would like to paint a picture of them if I can find the time.

As for weekend events it was pretty awesome, busy but yet relaxing. Friday night Lesley had a Toga party for chatroom that Wilfred and I planned for. Yoshi, Chikako, Wilfred and I did a small skit that I wrote. Then on Saturday night we rode the trains 4 hours to get to Ustunomiya for an all night electronic dance party. Getting there was half the fun! Here we are in the train where we enjoyed some drinks, games and Tequila Time!!

Arrive in Ustunomiya, Rebecca is stoked and Chris gets dolled up with shiny eyeliner!! The night was super awesome, the club was small but the dj played some pretty rad tunes and there was a good vibe. I practiced a little Japanese on some the people there which is always interesting. I usually only get as far as finding out their age! haha Alas the car ride home from Fukishima. It was a long and bumpy ride that my stomach did not really agree with. The rest of my weekend was spent relaxing because I was so tired from being up all night. I rode my bike to the mountain, picked some wildflowers to decorate my apt, did the onsen and on Monday night I cooked Greek food for oisha san my doctor friend! mmmm delicious!

Climbing Mountains and "Grub Crawling"

Saturday I was able to go with my student Norihiko and his work's annual hiking trip. The mountain we hiked was just outside Nagai and it took all day. Three hours climb up, then we prepared a delicious lunch with all the mountain vegetables picked on the way up, miso soup, and other assortments of fresh vegetables. For a veggie lover I was in heaven. Not to mention the people Norihiko works with were super chill, friendly and didn't seem to mind having gaijin around. They included Wilfred and I in all the conversations and to my surprise I was able to comprehend a lot of what went on. Participating in physical activity really helps language learning because the conversations do not stretch too far and many gestures are used naturally. It was a great experience and good for learning Japanese! Though I still need a lot of practice but I feel this weekend I was able to get out there a little more and be with Japanese people more than usual. Here we are, Wilfred and I happy teachers enjoying a nice hike, weather and beautiful scenery.

Norihiko was a great tempura cook, one of my favorite dishes in Japan!! Freshly picked mountain vegetables that we just peeled taste even better after a three hour climb. I guess the fresh air and exercise make you feel like you deserve the fried food! haha
Here I am at the top of the mountain. Just a ten minute hike further up from the hut we ate lunch at. Just behind those mountains through the mist you can see part of Nagai surrounding countryside. It sure is a beautiful area when everything is nice a green!

To end the day I met with a gaijin friend, Jack who lives in a small town nearby called Oguni. It is quite a bit smaller that Nagai so we have a lot to talk about considering out situations. He has a car and drove up for the evening to get out of town. We ended up randomly, how I don't know participating in our own made up Grub crawl. Like a pub crawl but focusing on eating at different locations. I don't normally frequent a lot of restaurants here so it was good to check out some new places. The night included everything from Japanese food, pizza, dessert and random drinks. The best part of all was trying to find a dessert place because about that time it was past 8 pm and apparently even on a Saturday night places close quite early here. We had a hilarious time walking into a place and asking in poor Japanese if they served apple pie or dezato. Probably the question seemed awkward but it was so funny to us. I accidentally busted out my nervous laugh and left Jack to deal with the Gomenasai's and mata kondo's, sorry we'll see you again! I think we went into 9 different places, then ending at my favorite drink spot Paradise where Rebecca met us. I was glad to have someone to explore Nagai with who doesn't know the area or speak a ton of Japanese. Someone who didn't order for me or tell me where to go or to mind my manners. Just the way I want to get to know my city, mutually, in a fun relaxed kind of way where mistakes don't matter.

Sunday I went for coffee with Wilfred's student and then Rebecca and I cooked a delicious fish supper together. Kudos for a good weekend spent with fine people and eating delicious foods. Finally what I expected my experience to be like in Japan...hmm only took 5 months to get to this point.

Country Life Living

Recently, I have found myself back to the same inner conflict of living in the countryside of Japan. Is it for me?? These thoughts come every so often living here in a small town and I dream of the hustle of city life . I think about my Japan experience and wonder would I feel better in a city? Dancing, clubs, easy access to shopping, public transportation, coffee shops, Japanese lessons...PEOPLE, maybe even a better chance of meeting more friends who speak English. These thoughts of a more convenient Japan life usually come after a trip away from Nagai. So after an amazing time with Mandy in Tokyo last weekend I wonder if the country is where I am supposed to be. It must be or how else did I get here? Still it is a challenge therefore, I find myself on the internet reading up about country life living trying to seek out advice or just understand what other foreigners are up to in countryside Japan. Today I came across something really interesting about rice farming in Japan and living the slow life. The article and news clip hit home in many ways. One because I am living in a rural area with rice fields all over, two: my boss is a rice farmer, three: the story compares city life and rural life which I often do myself and alas, the story connects to an idea that I have about someday living off the land.

Check out this link to read up on this topic and watch out the video as well!
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/11/japan_the_slow.html#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaCyPHTLY_o

Finding this is a funny coincidence because just yesterday in the car, I was comparing the farm life of Japanese people to the farm life at home in Saskatchewan. It just seems that there are so many rice fields out there but I don't really know anything about who or how it gets done. I asked my friend Robin a concerning question about rice farming: is it losing to the big city and eventually die out kind of like farming is at home?

Arm Tickeling Frenchie!

I don't know how but for some reason my time in Nagai can be ever so busy. I should really try to relax more during the week and rest my mind but that is NO FUN!! Usually events and things catch me by surprise and last week definitely was one of those times. We started off the week with a kindergarten trip to the next town for a picnic and hike. I really enjoyed this but was pretty exhausted after the 5 hours spent outdoors with the oh so cute kids then off to teach all evening. As well, there was a continuation of a festival going on all week with events in the park, and I went out socializing after work twice. Good night sleeps are important for my job and I really should avoid going out but sometimes all the slow talking or no talking at work requires a little gaijin conversing when the day is done. You know just to keep you sane!
For this past week Nagai had a special visitor from France. I have recently since moving to Japan joined couch surfing to find cheaper/free accommodations when travelling about Japan. In order to get free "couches" to sleep on I need to offer mine in return. So on Wednesday night, during Rebecca and my wine and cheese night we discovered a lone traveller from Russia seeking a couch. She agreed to reply on her account to invite him at her place and I'd stay too. We thought this was best considering he was a guy and she was a girl. So Thursday night excitedly we all met for drinks at Paradise (a great Thursday night bar). Turns out the backpacker wasn't Russian but French. To my excitement I had someone to speak francais with! I was super happy because compared to the Japanese language, I know and can understand a lot more French! The night was also special because I met Julie on the street and invited her for drinks. She is a teacher from Yamagata city who comes out to Nagai once a month.

Four foreigners in a tiny bar in Nagai sure is unique and suprising!After many drinks and a combination of French, English and Japanese conversation we ventured home inebriated and tired. After a jaunt through the park and some bush hopping we made it to Rebecca's for a good nights sleep. Or so I thought. Three hours later I awoke out of my stupor to feel the Frenchman tickling my arm! It took me a second to realize where I was and what I was feeling and from whom....in which I rolled over closer to Rebecca. In Japan if you have guests everyone just finds a spot for a futon and sleeps on the floor. Its cozy, but in this case too cozy. At 4am, I had to leave after feeling the tickling a few more times. I just couldn't sleep and by this time the sun was up. On my bike home I took at picture of the sunrise. It was peaceful and settling, but not enough for me to fall asleep. I ended up receiving a message from Anne and bantered back and forth over cell phone email with her about a possible visit to Japan. Let's just say that a 3 hour night sleep makes for a really long 11hour workday! Unfortunately Anne didn't book the ticket but either way it was good to catch up!
In the end this experience made me realize a place doesn't need to be big in order for great things to happen. Rebecca and I, but mostly her spent the rest of the weekend entertaining this guy until finally Monday night kicking him out of Nagai. He was lucky to come on a festival weekend. This week of suprises reminded me how much fun I can have here but also that I need to limit it during the work week because by the end of it I am way too exhausted and everything about Japan really gets me down. One big struggle here is the language. I think a lot about if I were in a place that spoke french life would be easier. Many times when I think of Japanese words or phrases the French comes first. I guess this is just how your brain works. I wish so much I could speak as much Japanese as I can French. However, after this frenchie's visit no matter the language barrier I much more prefer the temperament of Japanese men over a French man's forwardness! Cultural differences never get boring!

Golden Week

Today it is rainging so a great time to update the blog. This morning I enjoyed a tea ceremony and Festival in Nagai but now I am bored at home hiding from the rain. I know I am always way behind in posting these. But here is an update of what Becky, Chelsea and I got up to in Yamagata during the Golden week festivities! I had a good amount of vacation time so we were able to explore many different parts of Nagai and Yamagata and enjoy the company of many of my Japanese students, coworkers and friends. Having the gals hang around in Nagai with me was super fun, we rented a car (yay I got to drive in Japan) and biked a lot. The car gave me a great sense of freedom and while biking we we able to enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery Nagai has to offer.
My favorite day we had was on Saturday. In the morning we visited my Boss, Tomohide's temple. He is a monk and it was the first time I had seen the inside of his Temple. It was convenient because then they invited us over for a yaki-soba and tempura dinner. mmmm...delicious is all I have to say. Afterwards we met up with Rebecca and went for a fresh soba lunch then headed to the mountain by bike to visit Yuji's family's toy factory. They make traditional Japanses Kendama toys. It is a pretty tricky toy but definitely fun to try even though I am not very good at it. Becky picked it up quite fast and became a master of Kendama!

Yuji's grandmother hard at work. She was super sweet and made a pink Kendama for Becky to buy because they didn't have any ready. Pink and light blue are new colours for the business.

As you can see I have a lot of practice to do! Here we are with Yoshi and Chikako after a very intensive night of drinking at Waraji, a pretty sweet izakaya in town. Chelsea was a super challenger and ate raw squid and octopus! SCARY!

Iyumi's wedding ceremony. We were late and missed most of the ceremony because I got lost driving in Yonezawa, but we still enjoyed seeing her dressed so beaulifully in traditional Japanese wedding gown. We learned that most Japanese brides wear three wedding dresses in the day. Japanese style, western style both white and then one other dress with colour.

The second major highlight of the week had to be was a re-enactment battle scene from Japan's Feudal era in Yonezawa city. Apparantly something like 150,000 people went to watch the festival that day. It was crazy busy driving in the city, but well worth it!

Friends in Tokyo

The arrival of Chelsea and Becky was definitely one up there on the excitement meter for me here in Japan! Two weekends ago, I travelled by night bus down to Tokyo to meet them. At 6 am we met on an obscure bridge and headed to Tsukiji Fish Market to check out the fish auction that goes on everyday in Tokyo. Apparantly the location of the market may be changing so we were lucky to visit on this trip. It was pretty gross, but interesting to say the least. The whole Saturday was full of many suprises, adventures and a lot of catching up. We went to chat and coffee at Starbucks after the fish market and accoriding to Becky and Chelsea, they listened and I did all the talking!

Saturday evening we had dinner and drinks in the hotel and headed to ageHA club to see Ferry Corsten play! Here we are on our way out of the hotel and below is us getting the train tickets to the club. Notice I have the concerts tickets and a Chu-hi in my hand...gotta love the drinking anywhere laws in Japan! I was super stoked for the evening and was not dissappointed at all with the club, music or Ferry's dj set! Heck at the end, after dancing and jumping almost at the front for 3 hours, he even reached into the crowd and I touched his hand!

The next few days in Tokyo we spent touring around different areas, the highlight being Kamakura to see the Amida Buddha. Apparantly I have a new fascination with giant Buddha's. We also made a day trip to Tokyo Disneyland where dreams come true. We ran around and felt like kids again. That evening we eneded the magical day with a Cirque de Soleil performace. This is one reason why I love visiting Tokyo so much. You don't have to go very far to find something amazing to do. I have had a lot of opportunities to experience things I wouldn't get to at home in Regina. Here we are in Kamakura. I like how the picture just shows us in the corner as if we aren't the focal point of the shot, when actually Becky missed when setting it up. I like it better than the revised picture we took next where we are smack dab in the middle. This one has more character.

Here I am, obasan (grandmother) in a robe from our hotel room. Our Tokyo trip came to a close Tuesday morning when we left for Yamagata the next chapter in Becky and Chelsea's trip to Japan.