Kelly in Japan

February rocks

// February 3rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

February is already better than January.

Kelly Picking Strawberries

On Sunday, I went strawberry picking with my onsen girls, Ashley and Andrea. We wanted to take the boys but didn’t have enough seats in the car. The boys said they’d live, so it was just the three of us beautiful ladies in the strawberry greenhouse! Of course, the worst part is that I forgot my camera, but Ashley remembered hers (see pic). We got all-you-can-eat strawberries for thirty minutes, for 1500 yen. For those of you who think that isn’t such a good deal, consider the following: how expensive fruit is in Japan (you have no idea) and the amount of strawberries you can actually eat in thirty minutes (any more would make you sick). They gave us condensed milk to dip our strawberries in, but we clever things brought chocolate syrup in our purses and proceeded to continue with the dipping delight long after the condensed milk was gone. Just pluck, dip, and eat. SO DELICIOUS!

It was a really beautiful day, so after strawberries we decided to go down to Lake Tanuki to take pictures of Mount Fuji reflected in the water. We made it down to the first photo site and started taking pictures of ourselves against the backdrop of Mount Fuji (didn’t make it to the reflection place). Instantly, and I kid you not, we were accosted by five or six different photographers, each carrying at least one Nikon with huge, intimidating lenses and asking to take our picture. So we posed for pictures for awhile. Then we decided we felt silly enough and that it was time to leave. Ashley asked me to take one more of her, with her camera. As soon as she went back to the posing spot, we were accosted by three or four more photographers. This went on for a ridiculously long time. I guess the sight of three gaijin girls plus a crystal clear view of Mount Fuji was more than the poor photogs could handle. Ah, well. I guess I can relate. If anybody finds us on Google, please let me know. I’d like a high-res version, since I forgot my own camera.

Girls with Mount Fuji

Today is Setsubun. I was told to throw beans out of the house and yell, “Oni wa soto!” (this scares away the demons) and “Fuku wa uchi!” (good luck/gods inside). I went to the store but they didn’t appear to have any special beans for Setsubun. I do have some red beans I bought awhile back. I think I will throw some out the window before bed, just in case.

I got my first Japanese haircut today. Not my first haircut in Japan, mind you, but my first haircut where I didn’t try to make the poor Japanese stylists do something Western. I just plopped down in the seat, gestured in the general direction of a few cuts I’d picked from a magazine, and said, “Nan de mo ii” (anything is fine). The girl was awesome and we had a funny conversation in my terrible Japanese and her worse English. And I ended up with a pretty decent cut - better than last time, for sure. So I’ve decided that “Nan de mo ii” is the way to go.

We are going to Yuki Matsuri (snow festival) in Hokkaido this weekend, so I’ve got to make sure the cameras are cleaned off and charged. But now Kory is opening and closing doors in the bedroom, so I think it’s time for sleep.

Better go get those beans.

I Like To Be in A-me-ri-ca

// December 12th, 2008 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Tomorrow, I will be heading back to the States for 10 daysish. My friend Anne is getting married, so even though we had not planned to make a return trip during our stay in Japan, it looks like I’ll be going after all. Kory is staying here with Caspian. I will visit Abilene to see my family for a few days before heading off to Nashville for the wedding. So all of you folks in Houston - I’m sorry and I hope to see you the next time!

It’s gotten really cold here lately. It’s hard to dry clothes since the water takes longer to evaporate. Or maybe it just feels that way when I put on a sweater. Is it still wet? Or is the fabric just really that cold? No snow yet, though.

Last weekend I went with two other ALTs in my area, Ashley and Andrea, to our local onsen. We have become de facto onsen buddies and it is always a treat to get to go and spend the day relaxing. This last weekend was really cold, so the hot water felt amazing! The outdoor section was especially awesome because the water was hot but the air was cold. I fell asleep three separate times (not in the water, thankfully) and was only awoken by loud noises and/or people nudging me.

This weekend was also the Fuji-area earthquake drill. Andrea had told us that the earthquake drill is really loud and scary, so we should be prepared. So we woke up early on Sunday, Caspi in hand, ready for the scary earthquake drill. They made a bunch of announcements over the loudspeaker first, complete with random noises in between, so that we weren’t sure when the earthquake drill actually started. Finally we decided that the noise was indeed the earthquake drill, so we opened the door and put our heads under the desk. However, I do have to say that if an earthquake happens in our sleep, we will probably die because the earthquake alarm is not loud in our apartment and we are both pretty heavy sleepers. I guess when the house starts shaking we can put our heads under the desk.

We had our traditional Bay Christmas last night. Kory cooked some amazing scallops with mushroom sauce, garlic brocolli mashed potatoes, lemon asparagus, garlic bread, and caesar salad. This feat was all the more amazing because we only have one burner, a toaster oven, and a microwave, all three of which cannot be turned on at the same time or the breaker trips. So cooking took awhile, but when it was done it was delicious.

Delicious is my new favorite word. People here say it a lot. Oishii. Oishii. Mmm. Oishii.

I’ve been in high spirits ever since Ashley and I discovered Starbucks in my city. You do have to take a train to get to the main train station, and then the bus from that station to the Starbucks shopping center only runs once an hour. But still. It’s better than going all the way to Shizuoka. I also found another Pier One-type store and a good sushi place not too far away.

After I come back from America, Kory, Caspi, and I will head to Nagano for Christmas. We booked a room at a ryokan that allows pets! And even better, it’s owned by a Japanese woman and her daughter who married a Westerner. So he speaks English, and according to the reviews, he’s really cool about telling you the cool places to visit in their little hot-spring town. So I’m really looking forward to that.

My last day of school for 2008 was today. I had my last English Club yesterday. It was a cross between Thanksgiving (they made trace-your-hand turkeys and wrote things they were thankful for on each finger) and Christmas (I gave them each a little pencil or other small present from America). And today my English Club ichinensei (first-year) students performed the dance from High School Musical for me. They are doing it for their Winter Festival, and I’ve been helping them practice. I won’t get to see the real thing since I’ll be gone. Today I also went to Ikebana (flower arranging) Club as usual and made a Christmas wreath. Unfortunately, Kory doesn’t get to enjoy it, as it will be displayed in the school hall for the Ikebana Club’s contribution to the Winter Festival. But it was fun to make.

Tonight we went back to Little Panda, the little Chinese food shop we visited when we first arrived. We aren’t sure what the real name is, but there’s a picture of a panda out front and so we named it after our favorite Chinese establishment in Abilene. Anyway, we haven’t been back since we arrived in Japan because we kept catching it when it was closed. Tonight, I was amazed at how much we’ve learned. When we first got here, I could barely read the menu (and Kory couldn’t read it at all). But tonight we could read nearly everything - all kana and even a few kanji. I never feel like I’m making progress in Japanese because there’s always so much more that I don’t understand, but I guess we are learning after all.

Well, I’ll see some of you in a few days. To those of you I don’t see, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!