Gaijin

The joy of teaching...

2008-06-19T12:18:00.002+09:00

Hmm... what would be a fun career? I know, how about primary teaching?? You get to play with kids and read kids books all day!! Right?

Well, yeah, right at times I guess. But most of the time I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I have 21 angels in my Prep class, but fortunately there are usually at least 1 or 2 away. I can't believe how much time I spend on classroom management, tying shoelaces, saying "sit down! I said sit down! ... For the 17th time, HyperGirl, sit down!!!" I have to teach things like sharing, taking turns, not lying, respecting other people's property and person and other life skills far more than I teach numbers and letters. It is so exhausting! Every now and then I have 5 mins where the whole class is working well or paying attention, and I just relish those moments... they are so few and far between. We make it to 60 secs a little more often.

This past week, I've had to deal with kids using their glue sticks to smear glue on other people's chairs (I had to laugh later, but boy was I furious at the time!), boys revealing themselves during line up time (obviously in Prep... I was thinking, Dude, you're supposed to dack other people, not yourself!!!), kids stealing each others lunch and lying about it, kids crying... because they haven't finished their work, 'cuz they smacked themself in the nose with their own lunchbox, 'cuz someone else smacked them with a lunchbox or something, 'cuz they couldn't sit next to their best friend, 'cuz they didn't win or get to go first, 'cuz "I dunno, I forgotted why I'm sad! Wah!!!" and so much more.

Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. I have been told it is a tough class to manage, but I also know that classroom management is my biggest weakness... bad combination. At times I'll have a good hour or two, and then I feel like I'll survive. And, there are only 5 more kid days and 1 curriculum day until holidays!!!!! Wohoo!!!! Then I have 2 whole weeks to sleep, organise the classroom and catch up on a little work - yay!! :-D

Suspense just kills me!

2007-09-27T16:08:00.000+09:00

What is it that makes bad things so bad? Isn't it mostly the anticipation? Like when you give blood - you feel the anxiety rising, so tight inside, thinking "What if the nurse is not properly trained and she pokes the needle where it's not meant to go? What if my veins burst or some other terrible thing, and blood goes everywhere? What if...?" You've been there before, and you know the pain of the prick will be so momentary, and there is a 99.999% chance that everything will be fine, and yet you toture yourself for so long about something you know will be okay!
Why???

I know that I only have to get through five minutes at a time, and that even if it's a bad 5min, I'll survive, it will be over and I'll forget about it. No matter what happens to me, I know I'll be okay, so why do I continue to worry? Why do I drag out the unpleasant and make it so much worse than it has to be?

Emotions are so irrational, and I get so frustrated with myself when I don't control them! I feel so feeble and weak! But maybe I'm just human...

Just chilling

2007-07-04T21:52:00.001+09:00

So long since I've blogged! Sorry, peops, just been quite busy and tired. Can you believe it - I am now half way to becoming a teacher!!!! I survived my first semester, and am thoroughly enjoying my mid-year break.

Everybody asks, "So, do you still want to be a teacher now that your 4 week placement is over?" I'm happy to answer yes! It was a pretty gruelling semester. I don't like working full time. Haven't done it for years. So to go to an overload course really took it out of me. I didn't do anywhere near as much as I would have liked, but I passed and learnt STACKS, so that's good. My placement was great - I had a fantastic mentor teacher who has been in the job for years, so I learnt heaps from her. The little preps were gorgeous too, and I was quite sad to say goodbye - will visit again next term just 'cuz I miss them already. Not quite sure how I will cope with my first year of teaching - I may just die, but I reckon I'll probably die happy and enjoying my job, so it's all good! ;-)

I have now had 5 blissful days off, in which I have been surprisingly productive. Been shopping, socialising, and cleaning the mountains of crap out of my room. Read half a book and watched little telly too. Oh yeah, I started a 7 week German class, which I am really enjoying. I liked Japanese, but I just love the fact that I can actually read German, which makes it so much easier and more fun.

I don't think my brain has quite recovered from my tough semester... while having lunch with my old uni friends today, I made the intelligent statement that "No matter what, 1 + 1 always equals 1!" Doh! Wendy suggested kinder may be more appropriate for me than primary teaching! (Happy Amy? Whole world gets to laugh at my stupidity now! Giggle!)

A day in the life of a student teacher

2007-07-04T21:34:00.000+09:00

6:30 - rise and ready
7:15 - leave for the 45 min drive to school, through some stunning countryside, glorious sunrises, with indescribably beautiful skies
8:00 - last minute preparations (photocopying, laminating, etc, etc)
8:45 - pre-school yard duty (on Tuesdays. Thursdays do 2nd half of lunch and after school)
9:00 - teaching begins (roll, take home book changes, fine motor activities, guided writing, writing rotations, literacy session and rotations)
11:00 - recess (first half - yard duty, 2nd half - loo, eat, set up for next session)
11:30 - teaching again (maths whole class and rotations)
12:30 - kids eat lunch in classroom, while I listen to selected students reading to assess improvement and needs
12:40 - yard duty
12:55 - eat lunch, set up for afternoon teaching
1:15 - teaching again - integrated studies or rotations (science/PE/art/LOTE) depending on day
2:15 - time release - students are taught by another teacher so that I can do assessments on individual students and prepare for other lessons
3:10 - end of day routines with students
3:20 - dismiss students and wait with them until all are collected by students. Back to the classroom to clean up, put away today's resources and organise tomorrow's resources.
Some time between 4:15 and 5:15 - sign out and leave for the day. Drive home with beautiful sunsets or cosy rain and stormy skies.
Some time between 5:00 and 6:00 - arrive home and eat dinner that was prepared by my wonderful mother. Sit in front of the heater or telly and do daily review and more lesson preparations. Finding it hard to think by this stage, so not very productive.
Some time between 9:30 and 10:30 - crawl into bed.

Why me?

2007-05-13T17:34:00.000+09:00

"This kind of thinking poses hidden dangers. If we think of suffering as something unnatural, something that we should not be experiencing, then it's not much of a leap to begin to look for someone to blame for our suffering. If I am unhappy, then I must be the victim of someone or something - an idea that's all too common in the West. The victimiser may be the government, the educational system, abusive parents, a dysfunctional family, the other gender, or our uncaring mate. Or we may turn blame inward: there is something wrong with me, I am the victim of disease, of defective genes perhaps. But the risk of continuing to focus on assigning blame and maintaining a victim stance, is the perpetuation of our suffering - with persistent feelings of anger, frustration and resentment."

~ The Dalai Lama

Politics and budgets

2007-05-11T19:24:00.000+09:00

I have never really been that interested in politics, but I have viewed the Mr Costello's budget through new eyes this year... teacher eyes.

There are some interesting things in the proposed budget. At first glance they seemed kinda cool, but reading a little further had me wondering how cool they really were? I mean, I know nothing about politics, so can't really pass judgement, but I have to wonder...

Why are they supplying funding for the top teachers to be paid to do extra training in the summer holidays? Isn't it the worst teachers who need training the most?? And why do schools have to comply with new performance measures (such as performance pay) that have been voted against by the majority in order to receive funding? If these performance measures couldn't get support at the education ministers' meeting, then perhaps they need to be reviewed and refined before being forced on schools? And is performance pay really fair - can teachers in lower socio-economic areas really achieve top results when they are lacking all the supports that teachers in better areas receive? And will it really improve the education industry, or will it put a damper on the supportive, sharing environment that currently exists, and instead create competition among teachers?

Anyway, just wondering...

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-05-04T16:34:00.000+09:00

Hooray! It's my birthday!! I wasn't really that excited, cuz it's not a special birthday, and I'm starting to get too old to care. But then I had the coolest thing happen.... I found my birthday twin!!!

Let me tell you how it happened... I was working on an assignment with Sharon, from my tribe. When I say working with, I mean working with over the internet and phone. At one point just before lunch, she asked if I would be on the internet for a while longer, and I said I was about to go out for lunch with my mum, cuz it's my birthday, but I would be back after that. She said, "Really?? It's my birthday too!!" And I was like, "How cool!! How old are you?" "26 today," she replied. "No way!!" I cried, "me too!!"

And that, my friends, is how I found my birthday twin. I've been sitting with her in class all this time, and yet never knew until the very important day itself. What a happy thing!

Sharing

2007-04-17T16:00:00.000+09:00

One of the things I love about the teaching profession is all the sharing! You know how in some companies or industries, people like to hold stuff close to their chest, because information is power. Well, not in the teaching industry! (Or, not much, anyway.) Everybody I meet is just so eager to help me out, give me resources and information, give me their email address so I can email any questions I may have relating to their particular specialty! Even many resources do not have the same copyright restrictions - many things are handed to us, with advice not to write on it so we can copy and distribute or use!

Aren't teachers a nice, generous bunch!?!

Spending my hols this week in professional development classes, which are proving to be excellent! I've learnt some really great, practical stuff, and been given links to a couple of good resources which I will actually use! How exciting!

My gorgeous nephew

2007-04-14T18:25:00.000+09:00

Friends Leaving

2007-04-14T17:48:00.000+09:00

Had a farewell for Al today. A bunch of us went 10 pin bowling, then out for coffee and cake. Was a great afternoon! We had 2 lanes - one for the un-co girls and one for the competitive boys.

4 'girls' were bowling, and we had so much fun! We bowled a different way each time - two handed, opposite handed, backwards through the legs, standing on one leg, both legs and one hand on the floor, eyes closed, etc, etc. Auntie Pat (who is a grandma) was a great sport, and got into it as well, not only performing every weird stunt we prescribed, but winning both games too! She even did the last one - lying on your stomach and shoving the ball down the alley, managing to get 9 pins down! Giggle! So wish I had a camera with me!

The boys seemed to have fun too, and Al won one of the games, so that was good, seeing as it was his party.

After the party, I ran home to chat to Kelly over in the States. She was going to call me, but the line was so bad I couldn't really hear her each time, so I said I'd call her and hung up, but then I couldn't find her number!!! (It was 25min away in Mitchell Park!) Was a bit stressful, calling around trying to find someone who had it, but in the end got to chat to her. Was so good to hear her voice again. Wish I could go see her though, and see what her life is like.

Wellbeing

2007-04-14T11:54:00.000+09:00

I moved back to Mitchell Park last Tuesday, for another 5 weeks. Having been at home for a while now, it has been ages since I've done a proper grocery shop, so on Wed after work, I headed out to the supermarket... it was SO much fun! I did a huge big shop, and 'cuz I'm working this week, I bought some extra special things that I wouldn't normally buy.

I went home and unloaded all my groceries onto the kitchen bench, and as I looked at it all, I was suddenly struck with such an overwhelming sense of wellbeing and good fortune! Food makes me so happy! May I never take it for granted!

Happy Birthday Anna!!!

2007-04-01T14:37:00.000+09:00

Well, Friday night was Anna's birthday - we're the same age again, at least for the next month. Daniel was taking her out for tea, and had organised a bunch of people to surprise her at the restaurant - good fun!! Since it was a surprise, we all just pretended we forgot about her birthday... hope you weren't too cut about not getting any birthday text messages or phone calls, Anna! There was an interesting mix of people there, but we all got along fine - it was good to catch up with her mum, Pam, again - haven't seen her in AGES!

Anna looked gorgeous, and of course Manny was as adorable as ever! (I remembered not only to take my camera, but to put batteries in it as well, but left it in the car...)

Hope you had a great birthday, Anna, and that it is a fabulous year for you! xxoo

Rainy days and Mondays

2007-03-27T13:54:00.000+09:00

Well, I love rainy days, but Mondays do always get me down.

It is my 'big' day - 8:30 to 5:30, full of intense, confusing theoretical classes. I try not to stress out, 'cuz I know that 1- there is more to learn than I could EVER learn, and I just have to get the basics, and 2- everyone else is just as confused and ragged as me by the end of the day! So funny to see us all drag ourselves out of the last class!

So much stuff seems so intense and complex on Mondays. I always end up thinking, "Do I really want to be a teacher??" But once we start actually using it on Thursdays in school, you see how much simpler it really is. And while it is important to learn the different theories of education, once you've studied them, they just become a way of thinking, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. (Except in interviews, where apparently we are supposed to name drop names such as Piaget, Vygotski and Clay with ease!)

If anyone has any doubts about how someone can be a teacher after just one year of teacher training, they should come along on a Monday and check it out - they really pack stuff in!!

But today is Tuesday. I have survived another Monday, so I know I can make it through the rest of the week. I like Tuesdays - fun PE classes, and only 2 hrs in a classroom. Finished writing up a unit plan for Health in class today, and it was SO very satisfying to see how I and my partner had taken one little sentence in the standards, and turned it into a 3-week unit plan, complete with activities and assessments, all flowing together and building on each other. It was for preps on emotions, and I used some of the stuff we talked about from your emotion books Kel!

I also have a new toy which will make things easier... a laptop!! Yay!! Was a bit of a hassle swapping between uni computers, Dad's and Adam's, depending on availability, and troublesome trying to keep track of where everything was saved etc. I was hesitant to buy one before, 'cuz I would have such substantial debt with just my fees, but since they are so much more manageable, I decided to go ahead! :-) I had to use it to blog first, but I am about to shut myself in my room, and start tapping away at one of my 2,000 word assignments due next week. How fun! :-)

I'm a teacher now!!

2007-03-24T20:34:00.000+09:00

Honest, I am!! The preps said so!

I had my second day at school on Thurs, and taught my first lesson. (Maths, of course!) I really enjoyed it - wasn't nearly as scary as I thought! I obviously passed, 'cuz later I heard one of the littlies saying to another... "Miss Brice is a teacher now!" Giggle! That was easy! Just have to convince the uni to give me the certificate now...

The biggest thing I need to practice is my teacher voice. I keep on asking in this nice, quiet voice, "Could you please sit down now?" etc, and wonder why nothing happens. Then my mentor teacher calls out across the room - "Amy, sit down!", and the response is immediate! LOL! I'll get there!

And if you're wondering about my new heading, I've decided to share some of the cute stuff kids say or do with you all. This week at recess, I had a kid ask me if I was Mrs Brice (they have trouble with my name). I replied that no, my mum was Mrs Brice, and I was Miss Brice. She looked up at me, rather surprised, and asked, "Do you have a mum, Miss Brice??" Giggle... no, dear, don't you know teachers are grown in test tubes in the staff room?!?

WOOHOO!!!

2007-03-20T11:54:00.000+09:00

Received the most excellentest news yesterday!!! My course is supposed to cost $16,000 this year... bit of an ouchie. But yesterday they announced that because of low enrolments, they have surplus government funding available, so all 40 in our course (minus the international students) can get a Commonwealth Sponsored place, making our debt just... $5,000!!!! We all cheered as they announced it, but they continued... because it is a HECS-HELP position, we get a 20% discount if we pay up front, making it just $4,000!!!!! WOOHOO!!

Adele threw up her hand asking if we got a free set of steak knives with this! Giggle! They responded, No, but now you can all afford to buy your own steak knives!

It is such a huge blessing, for myself and so many others. I can now afford my fees still have a little left for living expenses, so I don't have to stress about trying to combine work with study this year. I've heard others saying the same, one even saying he was thinking about dropping out b/c he couldn't manage the workload (pretty intense course) as well as work. A couple others are buying houses this year, and now have a lot more available for a deposit. We are all so happy and smiley today at uni!!

I love the Australian government!!!!

My first day of school!

2007-03-20T11:41:00.000+09:00

I went back to my first day of prep last Thursday! Was quite different this time however! I got to use the staff toilets, boss people around (and they actually listen), and my name was different... I was doing one activity with some kids where we had to write our names at the top of the page... I started writing H..e..a.. when one of the kids looked over curiously and I suddenly remembered... bugger... scribble, scribble, M..i..s..s...B...

I have suddenly become aware of my height all over again... at lunch time (I was on yard duty!), a Grade 3 girl stared up at me, "Wow, you're tall... you must seem so high up to the preps!"

It was a fun day, and the kids were so cute! Some of them are so tiny, you wonder if they are really old enough for school. It was good to see the stuff I've been learning in classes actually working together in a classroom - the theory all starts to make more sense when you're seeing the practical. Was slightly overwhelming, too, though... it will be kinda scary to have to try to manage a whole class, and keep all the groups straight and moving around to their appropriate stations, and answering their questions and monitoring behaviour, and remembering what each is doing next, all without referring back to any notes, 'cuz there simply isn't time. But I'm sure it gets easier once you've done it a few times.

This week I'm planning the numeracy activities for next Thursday... kinda tricky, 'cuz Preps really don't know much!! But it will be good experience. I'm in a little school about 50min drive from home (parent's home, that is) every Thursday for 10 weeks, then I'll have 4 weeks full time at the end of the semester. Should be fun!

And the career counsellor says...

2007-02-24T16:36:00.000+09:00

"Why aren't you doing Primary Teaching??"

So, that's what I'm doing!! I had a week temping last week, and while doing that, ran around organising my enrolment in a Graduate Diploma of Education (Primary)! (Busy week!) I missed the first week, which was kinda O-week, and a unit on 'Tribe TLC', but I'll catch up on that in my own time - 'tis interesting stuff, and you will read about it!

I'm back at my old uni - the amazing, wonderful University of Ballarat (no sarcasm there, honest!) for this year, and next year I'll hopefully be employed somewhere as a teacher! Scary stuff! Although it is just one year, it isn't govt funded, so it costs as much as a normal 3 yr degree - ouch! But I'll be back out in the working world again soon, earning it all back!

I know it seems rash and crazy, especially for those of you who heard a week ago that I was enrolled in a childcare course, planning to go to Germany as a nanny next year, but it really feels right. Everything else has been something to do while I figure out what to do next, but this actually seems like a career choice to me. The psychologist was a great one (his fees tell you that!), and after all the test analysis and talking to me, he felt quite clearly it was the thing to do. It was also what I wanted to do as a kid, and, funnily enough, if I was less intelligent, I would have gotten here years ago, b/c it was actually one of my uni choices, just after commerce and accounting, and unfortunately I was smart enough to get into that so I didn't do the teaching thing. But maybe its for the best - I don't know that I had the confidence to survive rounds back when I was 17.

Anyway, it is a 1.25 load, with a day a week in schools all year, plus a four-wk block at the end of each semester, so I'll keep nice and busy. And altho I'm nervous and apprehensive, I'm really excited - I think it'll be a great, challenging, inspiring course!

The stickability of detergent

2007-02-05T09:31:00.000+09:00

Well, I’ve moved on again! I quit my job last week, just shy of 3 months in. I didn’t trust the management, and didn’t like the way they treated my co-worker, who was fired recently. So I quit. My supervisor also walked out a few days after I handed in my resignation, so I reckon they’ll be having fun in the office today!!

It was a difficult decision, and created a lot of mixed feelings. I was SO happy to be out, and am excited about once again being free to do anything! But at the same time, I felt a little depressed as I left on Friday arvo. I was determined to become a normal, stable person for a while… get a normal, full-time job, and stay in one place for more than a year or two. Because I was working for a mortgage broker, I was even house-hunting! But then it didn’t work out, so I’m a little disillusioned with the whole ‘being normal’ thing.

To celebrate my new freedom and counteract the blah-feeling, I had the most fantastical weekend! Friday night I tried my hand at lawn bowls with 17 other young enthusiastic, slightly uncoordinated people. Didn’t totally embarrass myself, and found it to be surprisingly fun! Saturday was filled with a jog around the empty lake (ran 3.5 of the 6kms – my best effort to date!), mini-golfing (did totally embarrass myself there, but still had fun!) and cards night at Gellerts (where I managed to hold my spot as Warlord for several rounds!). On Sunday, I went to church and looked after 8 adorable kids in crèche, then headed out to Lake St George in the arvo – it actually still has water in it! My swimmers were far away at my parents, so I was going to sit lady-likely on the shore, but it was so hot, and some friends brought kyaks!, so I just had to swim and kyak in my dress. (Managed to make a fool of myself there too – I just kept paddling around in circles, but gee it was fun!) To top it all off, The Biggest Loser returned to channel 10 on Sunday night!

How’s that for a fantasmagorical weekend?!

As for what next… well, you’ll have to stay tuned…

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-03T18:14:00.000+09:00

Guess where I spent New Year's? (The pic might give you a clue!)

That's right... Sydney!!

On Friday, Anna and I were discussing what to do to usher in the new year. Kinda stuffing around, Anna suggested Sydney! I've always enjoyed watching the fireworks off the Sydney Harbor Bridge, so we thought, hey, why not?! Neither of us had been to Sydney before. We jumped on the internet, found affordable tickets, and started getting excited!

On Sunday night around 7:15, our plane took off! I hadn't been on a big plane for about 4 months, and it was only Anna's second time, so we were hugely excited! In Sydney, we met up with Maxi at the airport and travelled in to the crowded city.

We jostled our way through the crowds, and found a great spot really close to the bridge. It was spectacular to watch the fireworks almost overhead! (I have to admit, though, you certainly do have a better view on the TV, but the atmosphere and crowds were heaps of fun.)

We had to be back at the airport before 6am, so we used our few hours to go sightseeing around a couple major tourist attractions. We walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge (ok, not the whole way across - we were wearing heels!), which was SO beautiful! It provided such a great view of the city lights. We rested with early morning coffee and smoothies, took a boat ride across the harbor, and of course, got our pic taken on the steps of the Sydney Opera House! (Unfortuately that pic didn't come out, but we did get there, honest!)

We had a great breakfast on the 80min flight back to Melbourne. I was sleepy, but it was so unreal - I felt like I had a whole little holiday in just one night!

The Recovery
Well, I drove back to Ballarat, slurping my V, and obviously feeling a little weary. I had to move to a house-sitting job that day, so decided just to try staying awake all day, and having a good night's sleep that night.

About 4pm, I just couldn't hack it any longer. I lay down and fell fast asleep in a flash. After a solid sleep I woke up with a jolt at 5:50 - I couldn't believe it - it has been forever since I've slept for so long!! I felt SO good! I got up and leisurely got ready for work. Because I ate breakfast so early, I even packed morning tea as well as lunch.

As I drove to work, I noticed that there was not a lot of traffic around... hey, 2nd of Jan, I figured most people would be a little late. When I got to work, no one was there yet. Fair enough, I was about 5 min early. I pulled out my phone to confirm the time - yep, 8:40pm..... WHAT??? PM???

I was so darn confused and out of it! I called mum, but she wasn't answering, so I called Ruth. I was stuttering and stumbling over my words, asking about the day and time. As Ruth assured me that it was 8:40pm, Monday 1st Jan, the clues started to add up... I had only had 1 1/2 hrs sleep, not 14 1/2!!

You have to laugh! Ruth and I were in hysterics - I just couldn't believe that I was showered, breakfasted and at work at that time of night! Ah well, made for an interesting start to the year!

Craziness

2006-11-15T18:05:00.000+09:00

Get this - it SNOWED today!! In mid November!!! And this, after we had record high temperatures in October! I was so excited - I couldn't find my camera, so I got Andrew to take a pic to email to me. The flakes were so huge, and falling really thickly out on the farm - it was beautiful!! The rest of the day, hail and rain fell and sounded so beautiful. I kept jumping up from my desk to go look out the window!

Oh yeah, I have a job at long last. I am in my second week in the credit department at Mortgage National, and so far it has been good fun. But it has a craziness of its own - with faxes and emails arriving requesting (or demanding!) such 'n' such be done by 2pm or something. Keeps me on my toes, trying to balance all the incoming demands, while still trying to understand everything, and pretending to know what I'm talking about! My workmates are absolutely fantastic people though - good fun and SO helpful!

I really enjoyed my 2 months off, but it is good to be back at work again, too. And I'm really looking forward to pay day on Friday!! ;)

The farming life for me

2006-11-12T20:00:00.000+09:00

Or not? I am not really a farm girl, and yet I find myself living on a small farm just outside Ballarat. (For 3 months, with some friends, while the owner is visiting her homeland, Scotland.)

Last night, my quiet night in front of the telly did not quite eventuate... I got home and went out to take the dogs for a jog (yep, a jog! albeit a very slow one) and to check on the cows. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring evening, and little Bella (who comes up to about my ankle!) was so cute jumping over tufts of grass! I felt all happy and peaceful until...

I saw the little brown cow, with something weird coming out her rear end... no, it wasn't poo! This was her first time being pregnant, and the owner had warned us that she would be the one that might have troubles. Freaking out a little, I RAN back to the house (even tho I was stuffed from my jog) to alert the neighbour.

Graham and Trevor rounded up the cows into a small paddock near the house, then proceeded to try cornering the little brown one in a tiny fenced in area. It just about broke my heart watching. They were chasing her around, waving bits of plastic piping, trying to scare her into the little area. The poor thing, full-term, with little hooves hanging out her rear, was so scared and determined not to be cornered that she jumped over one fence and through another!

They finally cornered her, but even with their ropes, they couldn't get the little calf out. They said the calf wasn't going to make it, but with the vet's help, the cow itself would be fine. We were expecting the vet to have to do surgery to get the calf out, but instead she used, get this, a JACK!! Not a normal car jack of course, but a special cow birthing one. Very funky!

So I watched my first cow birth. A little dead calf being hauled out the back of a poor scared little cow. But the cow seems alright today, and the experience was worth having. Don't think I'm really suited to be a farmer though... I get too sad around animals!

And, sorry, I didn't take pics - seemed rude and inconsiderate to the poor cow.

Only 2 more calves to be born - hopefully they'll both come easily, and in hours when I'm actually up and at home so I can see a normal birth! Maybe I could take pics of that!

Scott Benjamin

2006-10-17T16:42:00.000+09:00

Little Scottie (before getting his hair washed!)

He's here!! Yesterday I finally got to meet little Scottie! He is oh so cute! Of course, you expect me to say that, so I've attached evidence, so you can decide for yourselves.

Tired but happy family

Happy Auntie Vi

He was born on the 16th Oct, 2006 at 4:08pm, weighing 3.8kg (8lbs 5oz) and measuring 51cm. Although it was just about his due date, he was not keen on coming, and all the staff got a little stressed when he got stressed near the end, but they got him out, and both he and Ruth are all good now.

Super sleuth on the prowl

2006-08-30T15:45:00.000+09:00

On the 23rd August, Ace Detective Heza Buraisu-san began her assignment monitoring a flight from Nagoya to Kuala Lumpur:

08:40 - A.D. Heza arrived at the Nagoya International airport, and lined up to check into her assigned flight. 20 min early, so she could monitor passengers as they arrived.
But just ahead of her, she noticed two shady looking characters had already arrived!! Terror Suspect 1 (TS1) was about 175cm, and of thin build, with dark hair and a small mo. Terror Suspect 2 (TS2) was shorter, a little chubby, and blonde. They were speaking a funny language, and so A.D. Heza knew that something was a bit strange.... these two would be worth keeping an eye on...

08:55 - with a small line already forming, and the checkout counter due to open in just 5 minutes, an announcement was made that due to complications (the system was down) check in would be delayed!! *Gasp* Could this be the work of terrorists??

09:20 - check-in begins manually. Ground staff appear stressed, and relax a little with certain checks as they try to process waiting passengers as fast as possible. Hmm, not good for security, but great for A.D. Heza's overweight suitcase, which slides through without the blink of an eyelid.

10:00 - passengers are weaving through the lengthy security check line. A.D. Heza keeps an eye on TS1 and TS2, a tricky thing, as they keep separating and re-meeting... strange behaviour indeed! TS1 is particularly intent on prolonging goodbyes with a teary family... could it be he knows it is his last goodbye?

11:00 - boarding the plane, A.D. Heza finds her seat the opposite side of the plane and a few seats forward from the terror suspects. However, the seat beside her is empty, which should make discreet monitoring a little easier. Ripped off! If it was my last ever flight, I'd demand my boss fork out for first class!! Maybe there are no plans of disaster for this flight after all...

11:05 - A.D. Heza holds her breath for take-off (a long-standing family tradition)

11:15 - TS2 has the window seat, and seems to be loving the view... his nose is glued to the window. Unfortunately, the view of TS1 is blocked by a tall, unusually large-headed man in the centre aisle.

11:45 - a yummy lunch is served. TS1 & 2 are unobtrusively eating their meal.

13:45 - A.D. Heza flicks her head around, breathing a sigh of relief when she notices terror suspects still quietly in their seats - she got engrossed in a movie and forgot to monitor the suspects!! If anything had happened in this time frame, her supervisor would have had her head for sure! (Assuming he could find it amid the wreckage.)

14:53 - doing a random check, A.D. Heza catches the eye of TS2!! He eyes her suspiciously:15 then gives a knowing nod! Oh no! Is her cover blown??

16:15 - TS1 rises to go to the bathroom... or is it for a more sinister reason??

16:23 - TS1 returns to his seat... either there was a line, or...

16:33 - nothing blown up yet, so obviously it was just a call of nature.

16:47 - A.D. Heza decides to check out the Master Instruction Manual for any possible guidelines for future actions. Guidelines:

Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. (Odd! I'm only just on my way back there!! Should I be leaving already??) I will cause you to become the father (??) of a great nation. I will bless you (yay!) and make you famous (no thanks!), and I will make you a blessing to others (cool!).*

Hmm... strange instructions... oh, wait, they're addressed to A.L. Abraham!

17:00 - just when A.D. Heza thought she was about to perish, yummy chicken rolls were handed out - thank goodness!!

17:11 - all is quiet as TS2 takes a nap, and TS1 is still out of vision due to Big Head.

18:25 - as the plane touches down, A.D. Heza holds her breath (family tradition, remember?), then lets out a big sigh of relief... another mission over without any casualties!

18:31 - TS1 & 2 (who are no longer actually terror suspects) disembark. As they pass by, they give A.D. Heza a knowing smile... as if to say, you escaped without harm this time, but you may not be so lucky next time! Maybe they were terror suspects after all!! (Or, maybe they were innocent passengers, who were saying with their smile... yeah, we know you were checking us out!)

18:50 - A.D. Heza thankfully finds a bookstore in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, so that she can have something to do on the next flight besides freaking out all the other passengers with her weird behaviour!

Yeah, so I'm weird... but seriously, travelling for hours by yourself, unable to sleep on planes, you have to have something to amuse yourself! And the whole searching for terror suspects kept me so entertained!! (I spared you the details of all the other TSs...)

So, I'm back. Doing nothing. Took me a few days to celebrate birthdays with my sister (25th) and mum (26th), unpack and all that good stuff. Next week, I'm going up to Broken Hill to visit dearest Tab, who I haven't seen in like, a year and a half, so I'm looking forward to that!! And the week after, I guess I'll get my bum into gear and get serious about getting a job.

Anyway, I'll keep ya'll posted if anything exciting happens!! :)

*Genesis 12:1,2

The End

2006-08-20T12:38:00.000+09:00

And who would have thought it would be so hard?

I thought I was coming to Japan for an extended holiday. You know how you feel at the end of a holiday - kinda blue about leaving, but it's no big deal. That's what I thought it would be like, maybe just to a little bigger degree. But it turns out I'm leaving a home, not a vacation spot.

People asked if it was hard when leaving Australia, but it wasn't so bad, 'cuz I was about to go on a big, cool vacation, and I knew I was coming back. Now, everyone asks if I'm excited about going back to Australia, but I'm too busy being sad about leaving Japan, 'cuz I'm leaving a home, and I don't know that I'll ever be back.

I have approximately 5 hours left in Sasebo. With, of course, packing, cleaning, errands, etc enough to last at least 15. So, signing out for now - catch you in 4 days when I'm back in the land down under.

Wah! I hate goodbyes!

The pics

2006-08-15T21:59:00.000+09:00

Yumiko and Hiroko next to a Kakiemon platter

Me in the gorgeous garden outside Genemon Pottery

A bit of the beautiful Mount Kurokami (sorry, my pic doesn't do it justice!)

The women in the kitchen doing their stuff
And the delicious barbeque
fireworks after dinner
from left: Masafumi-san, Fumika-chan, Kayoko-san, Okaasan (mum)

Me with the family! :)

Cramming in the fun

2006-08-14T23:12:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm cramming in as much fun as I can before I leave! I had just one day off this weekend, and I again spent it with Hiroko and Yumiko. They took me driving to Arita, famous for it's pottery, where they gave me a guided tour of the most famous names in pottery. Of the three names I remember, Kakiemon, Genemon and Imaemon, I liked the second the best - beautiful blues. And for a mere one month's salary, I could have picked up a gorgeous dish! We did go to some cheaper places too. And being the generous hosts they are, they refused to let me pay for my coffee and cake, and bought me a present to boot! A pair of ceramic wine glasses - very beautiful! They said it was a wedding present for when I get married!! LOL!! That's my second wedding present now!!

We toodled up to Kurokami Yama (Black hair mountain), which was stunningly beautiful. It was cool to see as well, because I catch the Kurokami bus home all the time! (obviously, getting off well before Kurokami!)

After, we headed back to Hiroko's place for a barbeque dinner. It is Obon season right now (a time to remember the dead - a big family gathering time), so I got to meet Hiroko's family! It was so much fun!! Lots of Japanese was spoken, which I loved listening to... it's a beautiful language, I reckon, and I could pick up words here and there, which was fun. But English was certainly spoken too. Hiroko's poor 13 year old neice was told to "Sit next to the Australian and practice the English you're learning at school!!" Poor kid!! She did well though, especially since I think she's only been learning for a matter of months!

The barbeque was yummy as!! I got to help a little with the preparations, and made my first onigiri (rice ball) - yay Heather! So now I know how to make them for you all when I get back! After stuffing ourselves with food and iced tea, we lit some fireworks / sparklers, and had fun playing in the backyard.

Was heaps of fun to hang out with a gorgeous Japanese family in their home! Fun way to spend my last day off! Anyway, gotta go to bed, cuz I'm going to the beach on the island of Hirado tomorrow morning before work... isogashii (busy), so will upload pics later.

I cried

2006-08-10T22:08:00.000+09:00

Sad day today... I taught my favourite kids class for the last time ever. A group of 6 girls, aged 10 to 12. They are my favourite students at Nova (of any age, kids or adults) - they are so cute, and so much fun!

After class, I told them I was leaving (they understood in English! they're getting so good!!), and took their photos. As they were leaving the room, they were digging in their bags, pulling out rulers and pencils to give me as goodbye presents! One girl took off and gave me her necklace!

I hugged them all goodbye, then went into the staffroom and started to cry. I only had a few minutes to compose myself and get ready for my next class. But I feel all heavy and sad! :( I am really leaving soon!

Poll

2006-08-04T23:12:00.000+09:00

What should Heather do after August 24th?

a) bum around for 5 months then return to Japan in January;
b) get a job as a check-out chic;
c) join the airforce as a fighter pilot;
d) get a 'real' job (please specify); or
e) other (again, please specify).

All recommendations welcome. Best idea will receive a *special* prize.

Disclaimer:
~ all submissions are strictly non-confidential
~ prize is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and there is no guarantee recipient will like it.

More fun in the sun!

2006-08-01T21:56:00.000+09:00

Eating on the rooftop Part of the view, with the moon dipping behind some buildings

Well, the fun didn't end with the baseball on Sunday night. In the evening, we had the Nova farewell dinner for myself, Brendan, Trevor and Chizuru. We went to a beer garden for an all you can eat Korean BBQ - very awesome! It was the perfect summer night - the humidity was down, and we were sitting up on top of an 11-storey building, looking out over the city lights. There were 12 of us altogether - a great group of people. After tea, of course we had to go out for karaoke. It was a very late night, but SUCH a fun one!! We inadvertently terrorised one stranger in the karaoke bar with our boisterous singing, but a few came and joined our group! Fun, fun!

Mike and Brendan let it rip (left), and on the right, (from right) half of me, Rob (Trev's visitor), and Sarah sing along with a friendly stranger.

On Monday, I went with Hiroko, her mum and Yumiko to a beautiful river about 40 min drive away. We set up our picnic spot, where they fed me yummy-as sushi and green tea, then Hiroko and I set off for our swim. The river was very small and rocky, and we had to wade, stumble and slip our way up-stream to where it deepened. The scenery there was even more gorgeous!! (Unfortunately I couldn't get my camera there, cuz I would have smashed and drenched it on the way.) We spent ages floating in our floaty ring thingies, drifting down the river (and occassionally doing a little white-water ring-thinging!) then making our way back up again.

The water was cold and the sun was hot, the scenery was breath-taking and we were far from noises of civilisation. Utterly peaceful. Hiroko commented that when she came here, all the stress of work just melted away. At that point, I suddenly realised that my mind had been totally still and at peace - surreal!

We had tea at a little Japanese restaurant... a yummy bento - sashimi (raw fish), miso (salty seaweed and tofu soup), rice, pickles and tempura (battered, deep-fried stuff) - it was SO good! I got home around 7:30pm, thoroughly exhausted but relaxed from my weekend of socialising and sun!

Yukata & Baseball

2006-07-30T16:20:00.000+09:00

Last Wednesday in my lunch break, I ran out and bought a yukata (summer kimono) to wear to the Summer Seaside Festival next weekend. I practiced tying the obi on myself, then made Martina be my model while I practiced some more. Doesn't she look cute?

As for the baseball, well, I was really hoping to get to a live Sumo match, but was unable to, so thought I'd check out a baseball game instead. (VERY popular here.) Wanted to go down to the Fukuoka Dome. But after church today, Toshi was asking around to see who was interested in checking out a baseball game at the university oval. Said he got some tickets from a friend (but not whether he paid his friend?), so wouldn't take money for them. So 5 of us went down and watched the Softbank Hawks vs the Tigers. Yay! So much fun! We were cheering for the Hawks, the most popular team in this area, but they weren't doing very well.

It wasn't enough for Toshi to just give us tickets to the game. The perfect Japanese host, he disappeared part way through the game, and walked in the sweltering heat to the supermarket to buy us all icecreams and chips!

Since it was unplanned, I didn't have my sunnies, parasol (I'm a little pink!), or, sad to say, my camera, so I can't share any pics. The atmosphere was good, with the usual noise maker thingies, lots of chants and songs, etc. After the 6th inning, a bunch of people let these balloons go flying up into the air... very pretty! I've heard in Fukuoka, its even more spectacular! The Tigers even had a small brass band sitting in their stand, belting out an upbeat song after each good inning! So much fun!

My bad!

2006-07-18T21:39:00.000+09:00

At about 9:57 this morning, I was standing in my PJs trying to decide what I should do before work, when my phone started ringing... "Hmm, maybe work want me to come in early or something... no one ever rings me at this time of day!" I thought.

I anwered, to hear Natsuko asking, "Uh, Heather, are you coming in?"

DOH!! It all came back in a flash! I had agreed to swap with Brendan and work early today!! And being a dumb bumb, had not written it in my diary! DOH! DOH! DOH!

In 23 or so minutes, I managed to shower, dress, eat breakfast and make it down to the bus stop (that's gotta just about be a record for me!), so I made it there in time for the second lesson.

There was only one student in the 10am lesson, so she did a lesson over the company intranet with an instructor somewhere else in Japan who had a free, so that worked out okay. But my pay will be docked a reasonable amount of course, and it will go on my Nova record that I missed a lesson without notification. :( I totally deserve it, but I wish I'd managed to keep my good record until after I'd got a reference letter from them!! ;)

On the plus side, it was nice to have a short day today!! :)

Miki in a bag!

2006-07-10T12:02:00.000+09:00

What do you do with your friends who are too tired to walk? Little Miki is, like most Japanese women, tiny, light and flexible, so the solution is obvious... pop her into a backpack and carry her!

Ain't she just too cute for words!!

Zipping her up... feet didn't quite fit

Trevor (above) and Brendan (below) both have a turn at carrying her around!

Yes, it's true!

2006-07-06T22:51:00.000+09:00

You may have heard a rumour, and yes, it is true - I am moving back to Australia! I am coming back around the 24th of August, just in time for Ruth's and Mum's birthdays.

I made the decision on Monday, and handed in my resignation on Tuesday. Although I absolutely LOVE living here, and will miss it so much, I just feel like it is time to come home. Besides the hugest factor (Ruth being pregnant!), it has been a long time since I've been able to spend quality time with my family, hang out with old friends, go shopping in stores where shoes are big enough and pants are long enough, and stuff like that.

I am SO excited about coming back and feel like it is the right decision, but at the same time, I feel so sad about leaving. I wish that Ballarat was as close as Pusan, Korea (5 hrs by bus and ferry), so I could stay here but come home for a long weekend every month. Who knows, maybe I'll come back one day. If anyone is looking for a year-long time out/fun adventure, I highly recommend this teaching in Japan thing - seriously, it's awesome!

Not sure exactly what I'll be doing when I get back. After such a cushy, fun job here, I'm a little worried about finding a 'real' job again! But I'm sure there's something good waiting out there! And I'll be moving back to Ballarat, in with Mum and Dad again, at least for the time being.

See ya'll in 49 days or so! (Not that I'm counting...)

Balcony Bonfire

2006-07-03T00:05:00.000+09:00

It's Sunday evening... Martina and I are engaging in our usual evening activities... watching movies, eating and playing solitaire.

Martina looks over and comments: "We waste SO much time playing with those cards! Since we got them, we never do anything constructive like study Japanese or paint our nails... I wanna burn them!"

My head jerks up. "Can we???" I ask, full of enthusiasm as I pick up her cigarette lighter.

"Outside, outside!" she cries. "Do you want to set off the fire alarm??"

So the movie is paused, and out to the balcony we trot, armed with our well-worn pack of cute-as-a-button Winnie-the-Pooh cards and the fruit bowl. Martina stokes the fire, while I roast my mini marshmellows, and we watch the evil time-wasters slowly burn.

What a fun way to spend the equivalent of 2 games of solitaire!

Lunch Club

2006-06-24T22:04:00.000+09:00

So, after rent etc, my biggest expense is food. (I have this terrible habit of eating several times a day - so expensive! I should try to kick the habit one of these days!) I used to buy my lunch every day, and this adds up after a while. So, Katie and I started something new...

lunch club!!!

We take turns buying bread and sandwich fillings, and coffee and snacks, and eat at the office each day instead of going out! It is much cheaper! So, this week, one of the things I spent my saved money on was a parasol! Isn't it pretty? I can blend in with all the Japanese women this summer! They are paranoid about the sun.

And we're through!

2006-06-23T06:04:00.000+09:00

Yay Aussies!! We've made it through to the next round!!

I was going to get up at 3am to walk into town (no buses at that hour!) to watch the 3rd Aussie match at the sports bar with Brendan and Trevor. However, when my alarm went off after just 3 hours of sleep, and I heard the rain bucketing down, I decided to just roll back over and sleep more! I got up at half time to watch the Japan vs Brazil second half, and followed the play-by-play commentary on the net of the Australia game (it wasn't showing on any TV channels I get).

'Twas an intense game! I was worried for a little while! But we're through, so I have some more excitement and sleepless nights to look forward to - yay!

World Cup fever part II

2006-06-20T09:42:00.000+09:00

Well, I went back to the sports bar on Sunday night... Japan vs Croatia at 10pm, and Australia vs Brazil at 1am. Big night!!! (Monday was my day off, so it was okay!)

Japan vs Croatia - a thrilling game! It was so much fun to be able to cheer with everyone this time! There was one incredibly passionate fan, who started the crowd cheering and chanting 15 min before the game started, and I think he wanted everyone to continue yelling for the entire game! He started to become hoarse before even half time, but his sidekicks kept things going, while he thumped the little table near him so hard it eventually broke!!

I learnt a few of the chants and had fun clapping and singing and yelling along! "Nihon no goru ga mitai!" (We wanna see a Japanese goal!) At one point in the game, Croatia was awarded a free kick REALLY close to the goal - the worst part was that we all thought it was a bad call. But thankfully, Kawaguchi did an AMAZING save! He's my hero! It was the highlight of the game. Unfortunately, there were no goals scored by either team.

Australia vs Brazil - a tense and not quite so thrilling game! Of course, most people went home, and those remaining were more interested in their chit chat and drinks than the game. But Brendan and Trevor were with me this time (and 2 Japanese staff asleep in their chairs!), so I still had company. Although very sad to have lost 2-0, I was very proud of the Aussie boys - in my (expert!?) opinion, they played well against the world's top team.

Now, if we can just beat or tie Croatia, we can make it through to the next round!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

2006-06-13T00:40:00.000+09:00

Oi Oi Oi!

Well, that was a very fun, but slightly awkward experience! I just spent the evening in a sports bar with 100 or so screaming Japanese soccer fans, while we beat them! Doh!

I went with 3 Japanese women, one British chic, and we sat next to and chatted with another Japanese woman and her Spanish friend. (We were the only 3 foreigners in the room, and they were both cheering for Japan, as any sensible person in that situation would do.) I had an awesome time, chatting away, watching the soccer on the big screen, clapping along to the Japanese cheers. It was all fun and games, until, suddenly, Australia started kicking goals!

Tell me, what are you supposed to do in such a situation? With the national broadcasting TV camera right in my face to catch my response, I bravely called out "Aussie Aussie Aussie!", and responded with my own "Oi Oi Oi!", repeating the process for each of the 3 goals. It just isn't the same with only one person doing it!! It seemed inappropriate not to cheer exuberantly when my country won, but at the same time, when you're the only one in a foreign country, you don't exactly want to rub their faces in it, eh? (And I did wanna make it out of there unscathed!)

After, of course, they wanted my response. My Japanese is so bad, I didn't know what to say. I was all prepared to lose, and only had my response of 'Omodetto Gozaimasu! Tanoshikata desu!' ready. (Congratulations! That was fun!) I sputtered out something like, 'I'm happy, it was fun, your goalie was really good.' I'll have to watch the news tomorrow to see if I made it on there, or if there were some more eloquent Aussies somewhere in the prefecture that will get the special spot.

But anyway, we won, and I had a great time. Sport is so much more fun if you watch it in a huge group with heaps of people who are really enthusiastic!

Great game, Japan, and awesome cheering, fans! Thanks for graciously allowing me to join you, and applauding my victory cheer rather than hurting me!

Some things never change

2006-06-04T15:14:00.000+09:00

How is it that I'm 'brave' enough to move to another country on my own, and yet I still totally freak out about attending a combined churches service and BBQ on my own?!? It seems I will never get over my fear and dislike of parties and other social gatherings of size. Thankfully, Tab was online this morning, to give me a pep talk so I managed to leave the apartment, and as I neared the park and was about to turn back, I spotted someone, so thought they might have spotted me, so I had to keep moving forward. As I knew would happen, it was great, and in the end I was really glad I went.

It was a combined service - my church and the pentecostal Japanese congregation. The Japanese pastor speaks English really well, so Pastor Ryan spoke, and he translated. When we sang, we used the same tunes, but sang the words in our respective languages - it actually sounded pretty unreal!

One guy shared how his wife had given birth to a breach stillborn daughter on May 27 (baby was due in August). He ran into the room where the doctors were with the baby, and starting praying, and suddenly she opened her eyes! They said she was in really bad shape, and wouldn't be able to feed for at least a month, and all this other stuff, and yet she was breast feeding about 4 days later!! Praise God, eh!!

After the service, we had lunch. I wasn't gonna stay, but I was sitting next to this Japanese lady who had come for the first time, and she was gonna leave 'cuz she was embarrassed 'cuz she hadn't brought any food to share. So I told her I hadn't brought anything either, and that we should stay anyway, and so we did. I managed to socialise for a while, before sneaking off. It was cool to hear everyone mixing and chatting... mostly in English, but with some Japanese too. I like it how love and a sense of community can be shared among people even with a language barrier.

Nihon no Tabemono (Japanese Food)

2006-05-22T00:16:00.000+09:00

I was out for dinner tonight for yet another farewell party, when I noticed something exciting... I was enjoying the food!!!! Actually really enjoying it! I was munching away on my shrimp, salmon (raw? smoked? something...), rice & egg dish topped with fish eggs, etc, and wanting to eat more 'cuz it was yummy!! I remember when I ate my first salmon sandwhich, and how much of a struggle it was to get it down, and now I'm enjoying it (mostly)... sweet! (And, of course, eating it all with my flawless (?) chopstick skills!!) Exciting to realise that tastes can change! Next challenge... raw horse meat or seafood that is still alive... ah, ok, maybe not the wiggling stuff! Let's be reasonable!

Rain, rain, come again!

2006-05-19T09:19:00.000+09:00

Seems the rainy season is starting a little early this year... it has rained SO much the last week or so! I love it, cuz I love walking home in the rain, and falling asleep to the sound of it. But it does mean 2 problems...
1) it is just about impossible to keep my hair straight and non-frizzy - I look like I've been dragged backwards through a bush - nice and professional, eh?
2) means the summer is probably coming early too, so we're in for a nice long one... doh! Already the humidity is soaring, and that horrible sticky feel hits you the moment you walk outside. (Thanks for the link to Sasebo weather on your blog Kel - I check it sometimes to see if I should walk or bus the next morning!)

As usual here at Nova, there are some staff changes. A couple of unexpected changes resulting in 2 teachers heading home suddenly, combined with another planned leaving, and 1 or 2 planned transfers means the schedule is a bit all over the place, so I'm doing a bit of overtime at the moment. Happy for my budget, as I'm trying to save for Africa! But sad to be losing more friends... you barely make friends here and they have left already!!

Happy Birthday to me!

2006-05-08T10:28:00.000+09:00

My birthday started at 11:01 on the 3rd - Martina declared that it was midnight in my country of birth, therefore it was my birthday and time for presents! She gave me an adult colouring book (so I can stop colouring Poo Bear while watching TV!), and some gorgeous (matching!) pink and silver jewelry, which I wore to work on my birthday.

The actual day was fairly low-key but enjoyable... I went to yoga in the morning, of course work all afternoon/evening, then out with my workmates after. (Momentous occasion: I think this is the first year I have ever worked on my birthday!!)

The celebration continued on Saturday night, when I went on Base with some Americans from church, and ate Subway (mmm... yum!) and went bowling. After taking me to the Base convenience store where I could pick up some Hershey's syrup (I love drinking it straight from the bottle!), I stayed the night at Heather L's and watched a very funny dvd.

Sunday... more celebrations...the post office was closed most of this week cuz of Golden Week, but on Sunday I was able to pick up some parcels! I spent the arvo lying on the couch, listening to a new cd, and guzzling yummy-as junk food!

And it continues today... more presents just arrived! Gotta go eat my weet-bix :) and open these new arrivals!! Happy Heather! Thanks for all the birthday joy!

Busy-ness

2006-05-01T11:56:00.000+09:00

Wow... done so much since I last blogged, I hardly know where to start!

Easter weekend... not celebrated in Japan, so Friday simply carried on as usual... Japanese class in the morning, working in the afternoon/evening. Saturday, one of the other teachers went home sick, so I worked a full day 10am - 9pm. I was well and truly ready for my 2 days off, but I didn't sit around...

Easter Sunday meant church in the morning (with yet another great sermon), followed by the Nagasaki BioPark, and Korean BBQ for dinner. The BioPark was unreal! Kinda like a zoo, but you could get up really close to some of the animals, feeding them and everything! Fun!

Also got to feed these gorgeous flamingos! And check out this funky capybara! It is a 'large, semiaquatic rodent, often attaining lengths of more than 1.2 meters (4 feet)'. They were quite friendly, wandering around almost just like ugly dogs! I want one!

On Monday I headed to Kumamoto for a day trip with Naomi (an Aussie backpacker). It is a little over 2 1/2 hours each way by bus, so it was a long day out, but a good one. We visited Suizenji Jojuen Park, a gorgeous strolling garden which I think I remember reading, took 3 generations to complete!

We also went out of town a little to check out the stone statues of the 500 disciples of Buddha who attained Nirvana. A few had lost their heads, but it was an impressive sight, regardless.

With so little crime in this country, it tickled my funny to see that a big post cemented into the ground had been chained to a fence... what the??

The following Monday was a busy one too... a day trip to Fukuoka with Heather L, Anne (pastor's wife), and Sharon (Heather's friend). I got to visit Gap and The Hard Rock Cafe for the first time! Hard Rock was very yummy, but the gap was what really excited me... they had jeans that fit!!! Long enough and everything!! I almost bought a pair, but then decided that considering how infrequently I have need of jeans, I probably didn't really need to spend $100 on another pair. (And I just bought a skirt, 3/4 length pants, and 3 tops for that much a few days earlier!)

Of course, we had to stop for Starbucks coffee and enjoy the GORGEOUS weather - it was just perfect! (Already the last couple of days have had a warmer and slightly muggy feel to them... oh dear! I'm walking as much as I can now, before it gets too hot!)

(From left: Sharon, Anne, Heather L)

I'm singing in the rain!

2006-04-10T17:33:00.000+09:00

It's been raining for almost 20 hours! Well, actually, it might have stopped for a while during the night - I was sleeping, so I don't know.

I was craving a fruit smoothie and some oreo cookies, so I decided to brave the weather and walk to the supermarket. On the way, I saw a few lovely puddles, and thought what fun it would be to jump in them. But, I have a cold, and I'm a responsible almost-25 year old, so I didn't - I just enjoyed the rain splashing on my umbrella.

However, it was like God was saying - go on, have fun!! For when I came out of the supermarket, it was bucketing down!! I very shortly was drenched almost to my knees! So, since I was already wet, I made the most of it! I stomped and jumped in all the puddles I could find! I was drenched well above my knees by now! And then some helpful cars drove past, and the huge spray wet me even more! It was SO much fun!!

I looked up as I jumped in one puddle next to the traffic lights, and saw a woman in a car laughing - I'm probably not giving foreigners a very respectable reputation! Oh, well, it was fun!

Happenings

2006-04-09T06:35:00.000+09:00

Long time no blog - gomenesai! (sorry!) Life continues as normal - more farewell / welcome parties (seriously, the staff turnover in this job...!), Japanese and yoga classes, and of course, work. Check out one of the amazing platters of raw seafood from Junko's farewell! Raw shrimp, octopus, and I'm not sure what else, and it's a little hard to see, but yes, that is a big fish head pointing up at the camera - lovely and appetizing, yeah?

I am working full-time this month, but so far so good. I am the kids co-ordinator at Sasebo, which means nothing except that I am a little more likely to get free periods than the other teachers, and I'm supposed to use them to organise/update the kids material. The new school year began this month, and I've had great fun, with quite a few frees, cleaning out drawers, making new files, etc, etc. :)
Of course, spring is in the air! The weather is gorgeous! Cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and I've been to 2 hanami picnics - with my Japanese class on a Fri morning, and with Nova staff (and friends) on a Sun evening.This Monday, I also finally made it to Huis Ten Bosch. It is a Dutch theme park just outside of Sasebo. (Sovereign Hill type thing.) The tulips were out - stunning! It was a pretty huge place (must have cost a fortune to build!), but there wasn't a heap to do. In the evening they did have fireworks / sound & light show, which was unreal to watch. It is on every night - don't know how that place makes any money!!

Yoga!

2006-03-15T23:26:00.000+09:00

While Martina has been away, I've been going to yoga on Wednesdays with Stephanie. It is so much fun! Well, actually, sometimes it is painful and hard work! Today, Steph was very smart and brought her camera along... she emailed me a couple pics - above is me doing an arch, and below is our sensei (teacher), his helper (next to him) and a couple other students. (Can you believe the one next to me is 35??) Sometimes after class we stick around and have ocha (green tea) and snacks. 'Tis very fun, and good motivation to keep studying Japanese, as conversation is severely limited!

Strange hobbies

2006-03-10T22:40:00.000+09:00

A question that is frequently asked between students at Nova is... "What are your hobbies?" I just love some of the answers! A selection of common answers:

Driving; watching TV; drinking; watching adult videos (ok, so that one's only been mentioned a couple times, but seriously... what the??); eating; sleeping; coming to Nova; and of course some regular things like tennis, etc.

Who says sleeping is their only hobby? How bizarre!! I was talking to a student yesterday about 'what makes you happy'. I asked her when she is happiest. Her answer? When sleeping!! What the...?? In my head I'm saying, 'Girl, you're unconscious... how can you say you feel happiest then?'. Whatever!

It says something about the lifestyle of many people here though... things that we consider normal necessities of living are for them one of the few things they do for themselves, and therefore classed as a hobby. The amount of time some people spend at school or work is insane! Australia truly is a lucky country!

I love days off!

2006-02-27T15:06:00.000+09:00

I just love days off!! I only have one this weekend (since I had Thurs off), but I am having such a great day! I woke up early, lay around for a while, then at 8am, jumped on the net for a few hours... relearning how to diagram sentences!! So much fun! I haven't done it since about grade 7! Then I put on my iWorship CD with the volume up while I did lots of housework, stopping regularly to dance and sing along with the CD, practice yoga, and blow bubbles! Very satisfying.

It is such a beautiful day, that I kinda feel like I should go for a walk, but I walk every day (nearly) to work anyway, so I think I'm gonna stay right here in my rowing clothes and hot pink bed socks and not leave the house all day! Yay!

It's one of those bliss days, where the simple little things fill me with joy. May each of you have an equally joy-filled day, whatever you may be doing! XXOO

Playing

2006-02-23T22:24:00.000+09:00

I had the day off today because of a shift swap with Kirk. Today is also Martina's day off! Yay! We discussed the idea of going to Fukuoka to go ice skating or shopping. But then we decided that we'd rather spend the $40 return bus fare to Fukuoka on clothes or something, so we just spent a day shopping in Sasebo! Yay!

I got up, finished my book, chatted online to Adam and Hannah, had a DMC with DB, then Martina and I headed off. We walked out to Daito, and visited lots of shops. I bought a hair dryer, perfume, a Japanese comic book, a Japanese study book, some trackies... so much fun!! And of course we had to visit a couple of coffee shops, too! Then we came home to watch some telly. 'Twas a fun break from the usual work week!

Winter View

2006-02-20T18:03:00.000+09:00

When looking out my bedroom or loungeroom window, I gaze onto a lovely cement wall. However, it does have its moments... check out the winter view! (The one time the snow actually settled properly!)

Gorgeous, eh?

Kaki Matsuri

2006-02-13T21:06:00.000+09:00

It is just about the end of my weekend, but it has been a busy and fun-filled one!

At church yesterday I met two other English teachers, Danielle, who has her own business-type thing, and Kelly, who works in a school. They invited me to go to the Kaki Matsuri (Oyster Festival) with them and their friends. It was good fun - a group of about 10 people, with an awesome mix ... Japanese and foreigners, and a variety of professions. And I ate SO many oysters!!

I went to church again in the evening, and had an exciting Japanese experience on the way. While walking in the morning, I had somehow lost a glove from my bag... in the evening, I found it sitting on top of a bush along the way! If you ever drop stuff, someone will probably pick it up and put it on top of a bush or fence so it is off the wet ground and easy for you to find. How sweet is that! I was so happy, for my glove that was lost was now found!!

After church I went out with Nova people, to welcome Stephanie and Nick, a new couple from America. Went to Bishnu, a delicious Indian restaurant.

I had a jamies day today... didn't get dressed until 5:30pm! But I did some yoga and house work while I was still in my PJs. Had to get dressed in the end to go out for dinner with Heather Rori and Heather Donna to a beautiful Thai restaurant. Had heaps of fun and lots of laughs!

I love living in Japan... amazing service, friendly and helpful people, strangers who pick your glove up for you, being able to just stop on the road to run into Family Mart (if you put your hazard lights on, there doesn't seem to be such thing as a No Standing Zone!)... it's a cool place.

A new church

2006-02-05T12:41:00.000+09:00

Today I went to International Christian Assemby. It was great!!! Very small... there were 12 adults, 2 teenagers and 5 kids. But before I even walked in, I started to get excited... instead of a hymn being played on an organ, I could hear a keyboard, an electric guitar and a djimbe!!! (The pastor couldn't play the djimbe as well as you DB, but it still sounded cool!) There are of course some great hymns, but it was nice to sing some familiar modern choruses and actually understand all the words and stuff.

The second thing to impress me... they prayed!!! Not just for the offering and "God bless this service", but for some relatives of one member, and for God to be working in Sasebo, and in us, etc, etc! And we had communion too! They don't have communion at Lighthouse.

The sermon was really good too. Don't know how long it went for, which is a great sign - I wasn't looking at my watch! He spoke primarily about Matt 3:17 - God the father expressing His love and ownership of His son, Jesus. Talked about our relationship to God as a father, and how we should try to imitate that with our children. (Honestly, I have nothing against families, but I'm getting a little sick of being the only person at church without one!! Well, obviously I have one, but not with me each week.)

Going back tonight for the Sunday night Bible study... and I think it actually will be a Bible study discussion, not just another sermon! Yay!! Can't wait!!!! They also have some sort of fellowship night on Wednesday night, but I can't go 'cuz of work, which is a bummer, but at least I can go on Sundays!!

Heather Rori and Heather Donna were also there (they'll give me a ride tonight, since its a 50min walk), as well as another Heather!!! LOL!! They're everywhere!! 13 adults this week at church, and 4 named Heather!!

A new hobby

2006-02-03T22:32:00.000+09:00

Martina & I started our new hobby today - yoga! One of the guys at work put me on to it... it is really close to our apartment and just $12 for a 1 1/2 hr class, with refreshments served free of charge afterwards. (Very small class sizes too... our class had just 4 students.)

We nervously tootled off at the appointed time, not really knowing what to expect. It was heaps of fun though! We weren't anywhere near as flexible as the others in the class, and made the teacher laugh, but we got better even in just an hour and a half! We were supposed to touch our toes and lay our hands flat on the ground... yeah right!! I couldn't even touch my toes with the tips of my fingers!!! But by the end of class I could almost get my hands flat! Just by doing different exercises and stretches! And I didn't at any time feel any strain or anything! Wow!!

We didn't wanna make a big deal about starting this new hobby until we had tried it for a while to see if we liked it. But half way through class, a TV camera crew walked in!!! One reporter joined the rest of the lesson, while the guys filmed away! How funny! So much for keeping it quiet... we might get to be on Sasebo TV next Thursday! LOL! Two baka gaijin (foolish foreigners) twisting and falling around looking dumb! Giggle!

Great Expectations

2006-01-31T10:45:00.000+09:00

Feeling a little down about life? Feeling a lack of significance or purpose? Why is it, that in an age and country where wealth and opportunity abound, we feel so empty? The world is your oyster! The possibilities are endless!! Why does this make me so depressed?

Maybe my expectations are simply too high. If anything is possible, then surely, I should do great things. I feel I need to change the world, achieve something great and outstanding. But the fact is that not everyone can be outstanding. For there to be a tall poppy, there have to be lots of short poppies to compare it to.

I was watching Pride & Prejudice the other day, and it made me think about contentment. They had so much less than me, and especially the women, had so drastically fewer opportunities. Yet I don't know if they were really any less happy. Look at the chic who married Mr Collins - an odd man who she didn't love. But as a plain, poor woman, she had few choices in life. She picked one that looked satisfactory, and simply made the most of it. She encouraged her husband to spend a lot of time in the garden 'for the sake of his health', and got on with keeping her house as best and beautiful as she could. And she was happy. She fully accepted her lot in life.

It seems that the more opportunity we have, the less we are satisfied with what we have. I have so many choices that I can't make a decision. We are always looking around to see what others have, or how we could do better. Why so many career changes? (Heather!!!) Because maybe that job is just a little better. Why so many divorces? Because maybe I could be happier with someone else. Why so much discontentment? Because maybe I could be doing something greater.

Are we just expecting too much out of life, to the detriment of our own contentment?

FIRE!! (... or not??)

2006-01-19T22:18:00.000+09:00

I walked home in heels tonight... it was a slow, cold walk. I arrived and tried the door... locked... Martina's out. I put the key in the lock, and the second I turned it...

RRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

Crap!!! I've got the wrong apartment, and I've set their security alarm off!! was the first thought flashing through my mind! A quick check... 605 on the door... nope, it's mine. Oh no!! Martina installed a new security system while I was out! was the second thought. Okay, okay, calm down Heather and stop being daft.... it's okay... it's just the fire alarm. Uh, did you say "just"??

I nervously stepped inside as the ringing stopped. Everything seemed fine in our apartment, so I took a tim tam, and went out to the front verandah/walkway thing. Hanging over the edge, I could see a fire truck pulling up, but without sirens or lights. A few people were out on other levels. (The fire alarm was still going off every now and then.) Oh, the excitement!! I called out to a lady on the level below, but she didn't know what was happening. Finally one man told me "No fire!" (God bless the Japanese school system and its compulsory English!!). So I figured it was safe enough to come in and put the kettle and computer on. Wonder if I'll ever find out what happened?!?

Back home again

2006-01-10T17:46:00.000+09:00

Boy, does time fly!!! I am already back in Japan!!

My 2 weeks in Aust almost seemed over before it began! I had a great time - spent heaps of time just hanging around with my family, which is what I missed most of all. Two days were also spent in Victor Harbour (plus a couple days driving), hanging out with Mum, Grandma and Auntie Kathy, which I thoroughly enjoyed... I think it is SO important to spend time with other generations... you can learn so much. It was also so awesome to hear Grandma praying for her kids, grandkids and family-in-law, and to be reminded again how privileged I am to be part of such a supportive and caring extended family.

Lets see... I also did some business-y stuff, like the blood bank and doctor's appointments (yep, I'm still alive!), and visited a few friends - I didn't get to see half the people I wanted to see - sorry folks!!!!

On both my flights back, I got to sit next to a friendly person so I could chat a little - that was good. My second flight got delayed 2 hrs due to 'technical difficulties'. I had taken my drowsy tablets just a little before I found out about the delay, and they made me really sleepy, but I couldn't really sleep cuz the waiting lounge was so freezing! Everyone was putting on their coats that they had ready for landing in Japan! I was reading a book I impulsively bought just before boarding the plane in Aust (glad I did or I would have been really bored!), but I had to read each page a couple times cuz I was so sleepy!! LOL!!

After spending 2 weeks constantly in the company of at least one family member, it felt strange to arrive home to an empty apartment. Within 2 hours of arriving in Sasebo, I had unpacked, showered, gone through my mail (thanks peeps!) and didn't know what to do with myself!! So I messaged Martina, raced into town and had lunch with her. And she told me how to use her computer and that there was a stack of videos at home for company, so I could go back home after that! Giggle, giggle! Funny how I love my solitude, but the sudden change really threw me!

But it is good to be back again. Hoping I can quickly remember all the Japanese I've forgotten in the past couple weeks and looking forward to getting back into the Japanese swing of things.

Love you all so much!! Thanks so much for all your letters, prayers and caring!! I am seriously one of the luckiest people in the whole world because of each of you!!!!

Suprise!!!

2005-12-27T16:37:00.000+09:00

Guess where I am?? Australia!!!!!

Yep, the whole Thailand thing was a cover-up - I actually came home for Christmas! Only just tho - I left my home very early on the 24th, to arrive in Melbourne about 8am on Christmas morning. I wanted to suprise my parents, and from the look on mum's face, I'd say, yes, she was very suprised!! So much fun!!

At the airport, I couldn't get over all the Aussie accents - so amazingly strong!!! I have adjusted quickly tho, and its almost like nothing has changed.

It is great to be back for a little while just hanging out with my family, driving again, eating lots of yummy foods that I haven't had in a long time, being able to go into a shoe shop and actually find shoes that fit, etc, etc.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas day and didn't eat too much!

Merry White Christmas!

2005-12-22T22:16:00.000+09:00

Yay!! It`s a white Christmas!! The snow has come early, and it is oh so exciting!! The students think I`m weird cuz I like to walk half an hour in the wind and snow and rain to work each day!! So much fun! Temp is hovering around 4 degrees during the day, I think.

Having computer trouble (at a chat cafe at the moment), so will take this opportunity now to say Merry Christmas to you all!! May it be full of laughter and peace for each of you!

Apologies for the lack of pressies and cards (aparently moving to Japan has not magically made me more organised!), but please know I love you all!!!! XXOO

Rachel is gone

2005-12-08T22:31:00.000+09:00

:( It is a very sad day indeed. Rachel left this morning.

We had a slumber party in the lounge room last night, and were up pretty late (2am??), then were up before the crack of dawn (5am) to take her to the bus station. It'll be strange not to have her around. Part of my little Japanese family just left!! To comfort ourselves, Martina and I went straight to McDonalds after the bus station, for a nice unhealthy breakfast while we waited for the hair dresser to open at 8am. We both got a hair wash and cut... nothing like looking more beautiful to make you feel better about life!

I had something else to tell you all as well, but now I can't for the life of me remember what it was, so maybe I'll tell you another day. I'm gonna go put my weary body to bed. Sleep sweet all!

More Snow!!!

2005-12-05T17:35:00.000+09:00

Today a Japanese friend, Tomoko, took me to Unzen to visit an onsen (hot spring) and do some sightseeing. It was absolutely freezing, and we weren't far out of Sasebo when we first noticed a dusting of snow on some of the mountains!! How exciting!!!

The scenery along the 3hr drive was absolutely spectacular! Driving through mountains and beside the ocean, I wished that my eyes could record everything I saw. As we got closer to Unzen, the snow was getting thicker, and the excitement turned to a little concern that the road up the mountain might be closed! But inspite of all the warnings beside the road, a nice police officer told us we were welcome to attempt the drive, and we made it up no worries. It was so beautiful!! The snow looked so pretty sitting on all the trees! And in places the snow was quite thick on the ground!!

And the onsen was awesome! Because its Monday and it was snowing, we were the only 2 at the women's onsen. You could move between three inside pools - cool, hot and really hot, looking out over a lake next to a snow-covered mountain! Stunning! You could also go outside on a balcony-type thing (very private tho) and sit in a hot bath, with the same view, and the cold wind blowing snow off the trees and at your head! Very fun!

Then Tomoko bought me a scrumptious Japanese-style lunch... they don't just give you the dish you ordered - you get all these cute little side dishes too - soup, salad, bread rolls and stuff. Before we returned to Sasebo, I had to make a baby little snowman in the beautiful yummy soft snow... oh the fun!!!

Snow!!!!

2005-12-05T05:26:00.000+09:00

Well, it may only be the 5th of Dec - 5 days into winter, but already it is snowing!!!

It was very cold yesterday! It hailed several times during the day. Last night was the Nova farewell dinner for Rachel. We went out for a very yummy dinner, then carried on to karaoke. It was totally freezing. And when we came out of karaoke in the wee hours of the morning, it was... snowing!! True, it was so very little snow, and melted the second it hit the ground, but it was very exciting!!! I look forward to much more, esp in Jan and Feb when it is supposed to be very cold!!

But on a sad note, Rachel leaves in just a few days!! :( Very sad!

The Chiro

2005-11-28T16:19:00.000+09:00

I just survived my first trip to a Japanese chiropractor! Yay!!! I had a headache for a couple of weeks, and it was mostly better by the time I managed to find a chiro, but I went anyway in the hope that he could make me all better.

It was quite scary! I got the number from a referral service, so had no recommendations or any idea what he was like or if the Japanese idea of a chiro is anything like the Aussie version. But I went, armed with my Japanese translator (who has never been to the chiro herself). We arrived in good time, and I was a little worried... it smelled like a hospital, and the people looked like doctors and nurses in their little uniforms... I just wanted a neck alignment!!

But it was all good and he seemed to do all the same stuff as the Aussie chiro's, so it felt nice and familiar. And he seemed to know what he was doing. I still have a bit of a headache, but that could be due to my cold and the resulting lack of sleep last night.

So it was all good, and tonight I am about to go to the movies with Valerie, who I haven't seen in ages, so that'll be fun! I'm gonna go get ready now, cuz we're going to Taco Bell for dinner!! Yay!!

Taking it for granted

2005-11-27T09:35:00.000+09:00

There's nothing like going without for a short while to make you realise how much you take for granted. On Friday we had no hot water... I did not enjoy my icey cold half-shower that morning! And I refused to wash my hair in it, which meant I spent the rest of the day feeling yuck and self-conscious about it. Hot water... normally I don't even think about it, but not everyone has it. Boy am I glad I do! I really enjoyed my hot shower on Sat morning!

I heard that in Aust the Christmas decorations have been up in the stores for a while now. It's just started here. Halloween & Thanksgiving are over, so everyone is gearing up for Christmas. Not that people get the day off work or really do much to celebrate it, but any excuse to decorate will do!! The autumn leaves displayed everywhere (even in the vending machines!) are coming down and being replaced by 'snow' and christmas lights. So pretty!!! I'll have to redecorate my room, too!

Will be a bit of a strange Christmas for me - my first away from family!! But its on my day off, so I'll go to church, and there will be Nova Christmas parties on both Christmas Eve and Christmas night. And a couple days later... it's off to Thailand!!! Martina and I are using the New Year closing period, heading over there on the 28th of Dec, and coming back on Jan 3rd! Very exciting! Will be a bit warmer there than here, too, and it will be nice to get a bit of sunshine in middle of winter.

Have yourselves a merry little Sunday, and enjoy all your Christmas shopping!! (I don't need any stuff to add to my already overflowing room, but don't forget to send me a card or an email!! XXOO)

Craziness

2005-11-23T09:43:00.000+09:00

We all know that you shouldn't drink and drive, but apparently you shouldn't drink and fly either. Don't know if you read about it in the papers or not, but a French woman recently flew to Australia for a holiday. Being a very nervous flyer, she took sleeping tablets and was drinking before she got on the plane. Mid-flight, a flight attendent spotted her, unlit cigarette in mouth and lighter in hand, tampering with the emergency exit!!

She said she wanted to go out for a smoke!!!

(Postscript: Upon her arrival, she was greeted by the friendly Australian Federal Police, and had to go to court for endangering lives, but she was released on a good behaviour bond.)

Okinawa highlights

2005-11-10T17:08:00.000+09:00

Well, on the first night, we didn:t go to Chizuru`s home - we stayed in this little cabin on a mountain side - very cute, but it didn`t have a door! (It was free!) I wasn`t stressed, cuz, hey, it`s Japan! In the middle of the night, tho, I half woke up and was concious of someone standing in the doorway... I was trying really hard to wake myself up and open my eyes properly, when I noticed him looking in our backpacks!! Boy, did that wake me up! I sat bolt upright, pointed at him, and full-on yelled - `Hey, don`t take that!!!` Suddenly, I realised I was pointing at the wall of Chizuru`s house, and she was sleepily staring at me, going, `What the...?` Oops! It was just a dream!! What really happened was...

Sunday:
- leisurely start - 11am bus to Fukuoka to catch my plane
- Chizuru had hired a car to pick me up from the airport and take me to Shuri-jo (Shuri Castle)
- very funky castle!!!
- ate Baskin Robbins icecream while watching some awesome street performers - teenage drummers and break dancers
Monday:
- met some other Nova staff, Tomoko & Maki, and went snorkling at the beautiful beach
- went out for tea with the above staff and some Nova teachers - out very late
Tuesday:
- slept in, then watched Japanese daytime soaps (suprisingly fun! I loved one called Wedding Planners, and watched it Wed morn as well!)
- went shopping in Naha - fun, fun, fun - bought a sarong, elmo couch blanket and some jewelry
- Tomoko works in Naha and drove us the 40min home so we didn:t have to catch a bus
Wednesday:
- went to Big Dip for an icecream sundae for breakfast :)
- caught another ride with Tomoko back to Naha, then the monorail to the airport
- home in time for tea and a video with Rachel

Memories:
- Shisa everywhere!!!! (A lion/dog dragon thing that is on all the roofs and verandahs for protection, and available in every imaginable form of souveneir - kinda cute, kinda ugly
- childhood flashbacks - surrounded by hybiscus and bouganvillia flowers, juicy wonderful delicious pineapple, and perfect weather (even when its raining!)
- trees all propped up with little logs to help theｍ withstand the yearly typhoons
- yelling in middle of the night and scaring both Chizuru and myself half to death!

Friends & birthdays

2005-11-05T19:37:00.000+09:00

Had an absolutely fantabulous day yesterday! Went to my Japanese class in the morning, and was learning all these new adjectives - it made my brain hurt, but when she marked my homework from the previous week, I got it almost all right!! Yay!! Then Erika and Odette (2 Dutch girls from Jap class) and I went to the movies - my first time in Japan!! We saw The Chocolate Factory - very fun!!! We went to Starbucks for a little while, then they left to get on with their days, but I stayed for a while to study. I ended up chatting to these two 25yr old Japanese chics, and we swapped numbers, so will hopefully catch up some day. I eventually toodled off to work at 5pm and had fun there for 4 hrs - my 3 little chibikos (2yr olds) were absolutely adorable!! After work we went out for Korean BBQ to welcome the new guys and celebrate Martina's b'day (today - Happy Birthday Martina!!!) - we all absolutely stuffed ourselves with red meat - that's my iron fix for the next month! I was home in bed by 1am, feeling all happy and snug under my doona now that we have nice cool weather. Big smiley day!!

Tomorrow I'm off to Okinawa for 3 nights - yay!! I'll be visiting Chizuru, a Nova staff member who was transferred there for a couple of months... we'll spend time hanging out at the beach, and whatever else takes our fancy - should be fun!

Hugs & kisses to you all!!

Yosakoi dance festival

2005-10-31T17:51:00.000+09:00

Had a fun day yesterday... I went to the Yosakoi Matsuri (dance festival). It was very cool!! People even came from Hokkaido and Korea and China to dance in it!!! For 2 1/2 days, they danced their way up the arcade, highway 35 and on a big stage on the oval nearby. The teams varied greatly in size - from 10 to 100, and their costumes were bright and beautiful!! The dancing was unreal! Many of the dances had a tribal feel with a bit of an oriental twist, and a touch of hip hop mixed in there! And all the dances were performed with such energy and emotion! It was such a fun, festive feel! On the oval, which was the main performance area, they had all these festival stands set up where you could buy food, drinks and festival stuff like souveneirs and balloons - so much fun!! I bought a sausage on a stick and some souveneirs. I ended up staying til the end (8pm). After they announced the winner and they did their victory dance, everyone was allowed up on the stage for a big dance party! They played cool music, and everybody was dancing on the stage and on the grass around the stage! So much fun!! I like festival crowds!

Had a yummy lunch today, by the way. Couldn't decide whether to have pancakes or tuna casserole, so I had... tuna pancakes!!! I know, it sounds gross, but it was really yummy!! Flat pancakes, with tuna, cheese and mayo on half, then fold the pancake over so its like a burrito... mmmm! Try it!!

Micah 6:8

2005-10-21T00:30:00.000+09:00

The Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Working, that's what I do, I go working

2005-10-19T00:10:00.000+09:00

Oct is a busy, busy month... a couple of teachers, Matt & David, left at the beginning of the month, so I'm doing lots of overtime this month - have gone from 3 full days and 2 half days to 6 full days a week. Combine that with a couple extra days b/c of shift swaps from last month, and it makes for not much time left for anything else. Which means I have nothing interesting to blog about! :( Although, I am going to Okinawa on the 6th of November to visit Chizuru!! Yay!! It's a little island south of Japan. Very exciting!! Hope you all are having fun and not working too hard! XXOO

You know you're in Japan when...

2005-10-05T23:16:00.000+09:00

~ Voice class is moved to the kids classroom, and your boss says, nah, don't worry about rustling up some chairs, and sure enough, your adult students waltz in, remove their shoes and plop happily down on the floor, ready for their English lesson!

~ you pull into a petrol station, and before you can get out of the car, 3 staff come running up - one to fill your tank, one to take your money and one to wash your windscreen, then they even run out on the road to stop the traffic so you can get out again!

~ a customer comes into work right on closing time, and instead of being asked to leave, the staff sit down and discuss the customer's needs for 45 min (unpaid overtime, of course).

My first hitori de trip

2005-09-28T19:18:00.000+09:00

I've always had the sneaky suspicion that I am a little too disorganised, scatterbrained and naive to travel on my own... but I'm happy to have proved myself wrong!!! I just survived my first trip by myself (hitori de)! Yay!! I know you are busy people, so here's my hol in dot points:

Monday
- woke, packed, went to catch the bus at 11:30ish
- Next bus not til 1pm, so coffee at Starbucks with Mike
- At Kumamoto, went straight to the castle
- met a cool Jap lady who was eager to show me her drawings of the castle; walked with her for a while, and she gave me a drawing to keep!
- castle was unreal!!! standing on the huge walls, i could make believe I lived in old times and was up on the city walls looking out over the country side
- booked into a business hotel for 6800yen
- went to get dinner and discovered this huge awesome shopping area
- impulse bought a black skirt and cute pink top and cardi (6000yen combined)
- soaked in a bath eating chocolate with a face mud mask that arrived from Ruth 1/2 hr b4 i left Sasebo

Tuesday
- woke early, Macca's for breakfast, caught 9am bus to Aso, a cute little country town
- climbed up to the volcano - smelled funny, was cool, cement shelters (in case of an eruption) made me a little uneasy!
- ate 2 icecreams for lunch :)
- met a German lady who lives in Argentina - went to the hot springs with her (gonna stay with her in Argentina when I travel around the world!)
- when they say hot, they mean HOT! felt all cleansed after though
- stayed in a gorgeous little hostel / B&B type place - Jap style room, shared bathroom (squat toilets of course) for 4200yen
- had dinner at one of the few restaurants in town; sat with a friendly Dutch couple
- bought some OJ and more cookies at the 7-eleven for midnight snacks and brekky

Wednesday
- woke early, rice ball from 7-eleven for brekky (think i'm turning Japanese!), caught the 9am bus back to Kumamoto
- window shopped, coffeed, wandered the town
- caught the 2:30pm bus back to Sasebo, enjoying the spectacular scenery along the 3 hr ride

Had a great, relaxing trip, and would like to go back to Kumamoto next time I feel the need to escape town for a couple of days! It was fun, and I didn't get stressed, even on my own!

Tripping

2005-09-25T21:21:00.000+09:00

Wow - what a beautiful day!!! Autumn is here!! The weather is cooling down beautifully, and it was just gorgeous outside today!

I have the next 3 days off b/c of shift swapping, so I'm gonna head out of town tomorrow. Being the incredibly organised person I am, my plans are all laid out: get up when I wake up, pack, go to the bus station, find out when the next bus for Kumamoto is and get on it. There, I'll visit a castle, wander around town a bit, maybe stay the night, maybe not. Head on over to Aso, and go climb Mt Aso (an active volcano!). It's only a little baby mountain - think it takes like an hour to get up or something. I'll stay there a night or two, then find my way back to Sasebo. Should be fun! Just wandering around and relaxing.

There was a baptism at church tonight. Was pretty cool. This girl at this morning's service talked to the pastor during the last hymn and said she wanted to get baptised, but they're leaving Sasebo this week, so the pastor just announced after the service that she would be baptised at the night service. It was very exciting!

Respect For Your Elders Day

2005-09-19T11:08:00.000+09:00

Today is a public holiday in Japan - Respect for your Elders Day! So, everybody, you have to be nice to parents and old people today!

Had a good day yesterday. Went to church in the morning, and the pastor and his wife invited all the singles home for lunch. It was YUMMY!!! Very nice to have a good home-cooked meal. We all piled into their van and hung out there for the afternoon, then they took us back to church for the evening service. It was a nice family feeling day! Most of the afternoon was just hanging out in the lounge room, a few of the guys were sleeping, pastor and one guy were discussing religion in Japan, and I was playing with this game thingy and listening to their conversation. It was fun!

After church I caught a bus into town, and went out for a farewell dinner for one of the instructors. That was fun, and reasonably yummy. I had fun chatting to some of the instructors and to one of the staff I don't know so well. Very pleasant day! I was out all day, tho, and I have to work today b/c of shift swaps, so it feels like a very short weekend - oh, well, its been a good one! Short and sweet!

Happy Heather!!!!!!!!

2005-09-17T19:21:00.000+09:00

I got home from work tonight to discover 2 packages waiting for me!!! And they both had tim tams!!! They were full of delicious yummy stuff!!!! Tim tams, condensed milk, caramello koalas, custard, vegemite, weet bix and instant chocolate pudding! And a letter and a card! What joy!! What bliss!! What an absolutely brilliantly fantastic way to start my weekend!!! Thanks girls!!!

Hey, wanna hear a funny story? If not, stop reading. My students often ask me what my favourite Japanese food is... well, I don't like seafood, so that rules out sushi (actually, you can get some without fish, but I haven't tried it yet) and sashimi (raw fish); Japanese sweets aren't sweet; and miso soup is a little too salty. So I always answer - Ramen! The students usually look really suprised at my answer, and sometimes almost even laugh a little... I always wonder why.

Well, this week I found out why... when I answered "ramen" a student laughed and nervously told me: "Uh, ramen is Chinese food." LOL!!!! On ya Heather!!!! For months I've been telling all these Japanese people that my favourite Japanese food is Chinese food!! Doh!! LOL!!! The funny thing is that I think I even remember reading that, but didn't quite twig at the time! All those students must surely have left class muttering, "Baka gaijen!" (idiot foreigner)

So, anyway, with my head hung low, I was about to change my answer to Yakiniku, when, with horror, I stopped myself in the nick of time - You fool, Heather - that's Korean!!! I had to shame-facedly ask, "Uh, what is Japanese food?" So from now on, my favourite Japanese food shall be named as Yakitori - food stuck on a stick. I had it for tea 2 nights ago, and it was very yummy.

Anyway, this happy little baka is gonna go eat more tim tams! Have yourselves a merry little weekend! XXOO

The joy of discovery!! ... smooshed :(

2005-09-15T11:29:00.000+09:00

One of the things I love about living in Japan is the joy of discovering new yummy food, esp new chocolate stuff. On Sunday, I discovered these new yummy-as chocolate biscuits on display at the end of an aisle - a small packet for just 79yen! They are donut shaped little cookies, covered in chocolate. I rapidly ate several packets. I was devastated, however, when I returned yesterday to buy more - they were gone!!! I wandered around the supermarket for ages, but alas, they were nowhere to be found!! My joy was smooshed completely! But, to console myself, I bought coffee for the first time since coming here. (Which, incidently, was 4 months ago!) I just finished eating pancakes, coffee and OJ for brekky - yummy!! It made me all happy again!

Oh, yeah, I have also been educating all my students on the proper way to eat Tim Tams (slurping coffee thru them) in case they should visit Australia one day. So if you ever see a Japanese person (esp in Sydney) slurping coffee and Tim Tams, go say hi and ask if they know Heather!!

Just call me Dandy!!

2005-09-07T23:22:00.000+09:00

Every now and then a student will ask me the meaning of my name. I tell them that I'm named after a small flower found in Scotland. If they ask me what colour or size flower, I always have to admit that I don't know.

So tonight I finally looked it up on the net... I am a small, normally purple but occasionally white wildflower found on a small shrub that grows to a height of about 1m. I saw a picture, and I don't think I'm the prettiest flower around. I asked Martina, and she said it is very common, covering hillsides in Scotland and Ireland. I wanted to know if the name was given to many girls, and she laughed, and said - "That would be like calling someone Dandelion!" LOL!! So... just call me Dandy, and think of me every time you're about to step on a dandelion!! ;)

My first typhoon!!

2005-09-07T08:44:00.000+09:00

Dear all concerned Aussies,

It actually wasn't that bad here in Sasebo, believe it or not! I was kinda disappointed with it all - I felt bad, cuz I know you shouldn't wish bad stuff on your city, but it was kinda a pathetic excuse for a major natural disaster here!!

Monday night the winds were pretty ferocious, and they were still at it a fair bit on Tues morning. I made it to work at 1:20 without any problems (I had to share the bus with a whole one other person!!), although I got pretty wet even in the tiny dash from apartment to bus stop and bus stop to arcade. I only had two students scheduled later in the evening, and spent my time productively cutting up flyers and mopping up a bit of a leak in the voice room. I had only been there about an hour when the fax came thru saying all Kyushu was closing!

We were very happy to go home, but I felt a bit naughty, b/c by then the storm had totally died down! I wanted to go for a walk in it, and in the 7min walk back from the video store, I didn't even get soaked through!! Very disappointing to be in middle of a major typhoon and have to go jumping in puddles to get properly wet!! It picked up a little later in the evening. And, hey, I got to watch ER for almost my whole shift! 8 episodes in one sitting! (Ah, the excitement of my life!)

Martina said that's the first time Nova has closed in the 3 years she's been here!! Last year she had to walk to work in a typhoon cuz the busses had stopped running!! LOL!

Dry and safely yours, Viana
Ps - I managed to upload just a couple photos to "Vi's Pics" of my Fuji trip.

I DID IT!!!!

2005-09-02T15:34:00.000+09:00

I CLIMBED MT FUJI!!!! And I survived! Yay!!

Wow - what a trip! Summary - big mountain, long cold hike, feeling good now. Read on if you want more details...

We got up before dawn on Wed morning, and were down at the bus stop just after 5:20am. Thanks to Rachel's diligent preparation, we easily found all our connection points. By 10:20am, we were in Tokyo - I'm usually still in my PJs at that time!! We stopped at Macca's for lunch, and I was at the point of laughing hysterically for no reason other than my extreme tiredness! And we hadn't even made it to the mountain yet!! We did have a little trouble finding the right bus centre in Shinjuku, but this Japanese man saw us wandering around looking confused, and walked us right to the bus centre, a five min walk away - what a sweetie!!

At the bus centre, we discovered that the next bus to Station 5 on Mt Fuji wasn't until 4:50pm - almost 4 hrs away!! We wandered for almost an hour looking for a small patch of grass or park bench to snooze on, but finding nothing, we headed for Starbucks for a few coffees.

We got to the 5th station before 7:30pm, wandered around the souvenier shop for a bit, and started climbing at 8:05pm from 2305m above sea level. I began in a thermal singlet, long-sleeved top and trackies and was still cold, but it didn't take me long to warm up and discard the long-sleeved top. The track was fairly deserted, as climbing season officially ends on Aug 31. The hike to 6th station (2390m) took about 45min, and was a pleasant one. Sweet! We had bought walking sticks at the bottom, and proudly got them stamped. It only took another 50min or so to 7th station (2700m), and once again, wasn't too bad.

But then the fun began... the temperature had dropped and the wind was picking up, and the walk seemed to be never-ending. As the season was ending that day, a some of little huts along the way were already closed, so we couln't get quite as many stamps on our sticks. We did stop at about 10pm for a cup of noodles (like an instant cuppa soup) for about $7.50. When we found the 3000m mark, we were a little tired to be hugely excited, but we did stop for photos. The 8th station was just 20m higher, but I'm not sure what the actual distance walked was. Even tho it sounds so little, it takes so much longer to climb than you'd expect.

About the 8th station, the rocky terrain, lack of oxygen and sleep, and the strong winds made walking a challenge. I swear, when strong gusts of wind came, I nearly lost my balance! It was totally ferocious!! At the next hut, an excellent salesman met us and easily convinced us to come in for a couple of hours for just $12.50/hr. We warmed by the fire, and slept for about an hour.

Just past the 9th station (3360m) it started to appear that we might not make it to the top before sunrise. We could see clouds gathering over the top of the mountain, slowly creeping down, so we found a slightly sheltered spot, parked our weary, cold bodies (by this stage I was wearing: 3qtr tights, trackies, thermal singlet top, 2 warm long sleeved tops a polar fleece jumper and my beanie), and waited for sunrise. It was very beautiful!!! And as the light increased, we had an excellent view of the surrounding area - absolutely stunning!

The last 300m up seemed to take FOREVER, but eventually, we did make it to the top!! We proudly paid for our stamp that I'm guessing says something about making it to the top. We rested for a while, chatting with others and drinking hot chocolate.

Then began the downward hike... boring!!! When you've already reached the pinacle, the rest just seems like working for nothing! We zigzagged back and forth, back and forth for hours!! We sang silly songs, walked, made dumb jokes, walked, complained and whinged and walked some more!

The downward path met up with the upward path at the 8th station, and we bumped into 2 Canadian girls we'd met earlier - they'd fallen asleep for too long and were still heading up!!! While we were chatting, they went inside and got into a yelling match with the hut owner... excitement! Turned out, they had chucked a plastic bottle down the organic toilet - not good! The owner wanted them to fish it out or pay a $125 fine - guess which they chose? Fishing!!! LOL!! We hung around for a while, holding a torch and watching them fish with a stick in a big pile of crap... so funny!! The machine had been turning it over, so they had a bit of trouble - we finally left them to it, and continued the remaining 3 hrs downhill to finally end our hike at 11:30am.

We got down later than planned, and there were no direct busses back to Shinjuku (cuz it was now 1/9 - climbing season was over!), so we didn't make it to our hotel til 4:45pm. This meant we would have to shower and leave straight away for Disneyland, with no sleep. Rachel didn't care either way (she's been b4), so I made the agonizing decision to skip Disney. :( I didn't want to spoil my first impression of Disney by going when I was too tired to enjoy it properly, and we had been overspending our budgets anyway. I'll go back another time.

So instead, we went for dinner at a really nice Thai restaurant and wandered the gorgeous little backstreets of Asagoya, where we were staying. It was so cute and Japanesey - I loved it! We had a good night sleep, and so work on Friday wasn't that bad after all! Yay! I have now recovered almost completely - still just a little tired, but my muscles feel suprisingly good!! I'm fitter than I thought!

Doing that touristy thing

2005-08-30T11:44:00.000+09:00

Well, on Sunday I got to do the whole touristy thing in my own city! Very fun! Amy & Jacinta came to visit, and we had a great day! The weather cooled, and was so beautifully pleasant all day - unreal!!! We had coffee, wandered around the city centre, had lunch, then jumped on a bus for the 99 Islands (Kujukushima in Japanese). For 600yen, we had entry to the aquarium (small, but quite interesting), museum and a little imax theatre. In the kids section of the aquarium, there was a human sized cage, with rabbit & monkey ears, pig and elephant noses, etc - we got right into it, taking turns dressing up and snapping pics! The funniest part was the number of Japanese ppl who stopped to watch us, and then had a turn of their own when we were done! There was no one there before! LOL!

We stopped in at the imax theatre for a 30min show - In the Deep. The commentary was all in Japanese, but the scenery was beautiful, and the background music was very relaxing. It was then time for the cruise on the pirate ship - quite a funky ship really. We were right at the end of the line, and were a little worried that there wouldn't be room for us up on the deck. We forgot we were in Japan, where people are paranoid about tans! As we got on the boat, the bottom two levels were quite full, and we had as much space as we wanted up on the deck!! LOL! So we enjoyed our almost-hour sailing around some gorgeous little islands on a pleasantly warm day, with a cool breeze blowing - nice! And b/c we had been to the museum etc, it only cost us 1000yen! ($12.50ish)

After the girls left, I went out for a yummy-scrummy dinner with almost all the instructors and staff - very fun! So much for an early night tho!

The weekend fun didn't stop there either... on Monday evening I had dinner on the US Navy Base with Matt, David, David's navy friend Zac, and 2 of Zac's friends - Eddie & Tomoko. It was such a yummy dinner (how's that - out to proper restaurants 3 nights in a row! Very happy weekend!) - and the cost? Nothing - Zac paid for all 6 of us! Sweet! We had Baskin Robbins for desert, and then headed up to Mt Yumihari to look out over Sasebo. It was Eddie's last night, so he wanted some pics. Tomoko drove the others, and I went on the back of Zac's motorbike - fun! Once again, wasn't an early night, so I am gonna be really stuffed by the time I get back from Fuji!!

Yes, that's right... I leave tomorrow!!! I have to be at the bus stop downstairs at 5:33am! How exciting!

Ramen Club

2005-08-28T02:01:00.000+09:00

Because Sat is my early finish day, Natsuko & Miki invited me to once again join them for Ramen Club (ramen is noodles, a few vegies like spring onions, and sometimes meat in a broth). I have been with them once before, so I knew this "club" existed, but tonight I found out how serious it is... they have a spreadsheet printed, listed with many names of places nearby where you can get ramen, and space to fill in what each of them got, the cost, and a comment! I felt privileged to not only join them, but be allowed to pick the restaurant!

I chose Tenshin Pozu - a chinese restaurant I've been wanting to try out for a while. It was awesome! I had pork ramen. Also, the waitress was a student at Nova, so she brought us free entree - gyozu (I think) - dumpling/dim sim type things, which we ate dipped in soy sauce and vinegar, and then she brought us free dessert - a custardy pudding which you could add either caramel-type sauce or fruity sauce! We sipped on green tea, and it was all delightfully yummy!! And all for the bargain basement price of Y680 each! ($8.50) It was fun hanging out with Miki & Natsuko, too, even tho it did make me realise just how little Japanese I really know!!!

When I got home, Martina was still up, so instead of going straight to bed, I stayed up and chatted to her for a while - what a good way to end my 12-days-working-in-a-row! Can't sleep in tomorrow tho - 2 Aussie girls I flew over with are coming to visit, and we're gonna go for a cruise around the 99 Islands! Yay!

On my first day back in Australia...

2005-08-24T23:17:00.000+09:00

On my first day back in Australia, I am gonna eat weet bix for breakfast, Kellogs cornflakes for morning tea, a meat pie, fruche and Cadbury caramello supershake for lunch, Kellogs rice bubbles and 2 packets of tim tams for afternoon tea, a roast for dinner with chocolate pudding and white custard for dessert, and all-in-together pudding and icecream for supper. Oh, and maybe for a midnight snack, I'll have some choc goo slice.

Mmmmm..... yum!!!

Obon & Shoronagashi

2005-08-24T12:32:00.000+09:00

Long time no blog... sorry! I've been lazy! Last Monday night (15th) I went with Odette (from Japanese class) and watched the Obon festival - Shoronagashi. Obon is a time when Japanese return to their home town to pray to their dead ancestors, who return home from the 13th - 15th August every year. On the evening of the 15th, the ancestors are said goodbye to in the Shoronagashi festival. At this time, boats are made for all who died within the last 12 months. The more important the person, the bigger the boat. The boats are covered with lanterns, and sometimes have a pic of the person on the front. They are carried in a big procession down the main street of the town. In most of Japan, this is done in silence, but in the Nagasaki prefecture, there are firecrackers galore!! I thought I was gonna go deaf! Traditionally, the boats were sent out to sea, but due to pollution issues, they are just taken to a big meeting place (in Sasebo, the local baseball park). I'm not sure what happens to them later.

I also stopped by the river, where prayers were being written on lanterns, which were then lit and floated down a river. It was very beautiful! (Once again, b/c of pollution issues, there was someone around the bend of the river to catch them before they got to the ocean!)

Although I'm obviously not into praying to the dead, it was interesting to watch this traditional Japanese occasion. Very beautiful! I love the way the Japanese have held onto their culture so much even though there is so much Western influence!

At this time in one week, I'll be in Tokyo!!! Yay!! The shift swaps were approved, and I've worked 8 days of my 12 days in a row that resulted from my swapping - almost time for a day off!

Still enjoying Japanese class. Bought a notebook, and today started my new habit of keeping a diary in Japanese! Today I wrote 4 sentences!! LOL! Between that and my inability to read The 3 Little Pigs, I feel like I'm back in kindergarten!!

Fuji-san, Fuji-san, here I come!!

2005-08-15T18:02:00.000+09:00

Yay!! I'm gonna climb Mt Fuji!!! Rachel and I went in and booked and paid for our flight to Tokyo today! Our shift swaps haven't technically been approved yet, but Darren said over the phone that there shouldn't be any problem, so here's hoping, since our airfare is non-refundable!

I'm a little nervous since this guy Chad just got back and said it was 12 hours of hell, but hopefully we'll make it up okay!!! We will be pretty stuffed... the plan is to leave the house about 5:30am Wed 31st of Aug, catch a bus to the station, catch the 6am highway bus to Fukuoka, then fly to Tokyo, get another bus to the base of Mt Fuji, yet another bus up to Station 5, then start climbing from there. We'll climb overnight, so we can watch the sunrise from the top, then hike back down again.

Don't know how well it'll all fit in, but we would like to then find a youth hostel to crash in for a few hours, and head over to Tokyo Disneyland in the evening! (Its cheaper after 6pm, and way less crowded.) We fly out of Tokyo in the morning on Fri 2nd Sept, and should make it back to Sasebo with time for me to get home, shower, change and be at work all fresh (???) by 5pm! How much fun!!

Oh, yeah, my sty is heaps better already!! Yay!

There's a sty in my eye...

2005-08-13T07:16:00.000+09:00

:( I'm very sad. When I went to bed last night, my right eyelid was starting to hurt. I didn't sleep very well, and when I woke up this morning, it had turned into a sty!! It isn't grotesque yet, just looks a little odd, and hopefully it won't get worse during the day, and will have recovered by Tues, cuz how distracting and disturbing would that be - for your teacher to have a huge ugly sty? Yuck!

Talking about distracting, I now have that song stuck in my head - There's a flag in the sky, let the whole world know... - only my version is about a sty in my eye.

Flower Fire & Yukata!

2005-08-08T21:44:00.000+09:00

This weekend was the Sasebo Seaside Festival. I was gonna go by after work on Saturday to check it out, but it was raining, so I didn't. :( On Sunday night tho, I did make it to the fireworks!! (In Japanese they are called flowerfire!) It was quite spectacular! There were 10,000 fireworks - it took flamin' forever! About 45min! It was almost a little too long - we got up and wandered around checking out a few of the food stalls etc for part of it. I was going to take photos, but on the first one my camera batteries died - doh!! Rachel got a good one, so when she puts it on the computer, I'll put it on my blog.

There were lots of people in their yukatas (summer kimono) - they all looked very cool! I bought a yukata yesterday arvo, but I didn't wear it to the fireworks, because I didn't know how to put it on. But there is another festival next Monday, so I plan to wear it to that. Yay!! I'll have to get staff to show me how to tie it all up before then. I saw a very pretty yukata for 10,000 yen, but decided to get one for 4,000 yen instead.

And guess where I'm going next.... Mt Fuji!!!! Yes, John, you will get your pic! Still in the planning stages, but hopefully will happen on the 31st Aug & 1st Sept. Yay!! Hope I'm fit enough!

Dancing, porridge and audio

2005-08-02T11:42:00.000+09:00

Well, had my second dancing lesson yesterday. Was fun. And they let me pay! Everyone was paying, so it must have just been a first of the month thing. Wish there was somewhere to actually dance, rather than just practicing once a week.

Daily life continues as normal. I work, eat, sleep, eat, watch TV, eat, then go back to work again. I miss some Aussie foods - weet bix, meat pies, fruche and tim tams to name a few. Haven't been drinking coffee since I got here either, cuz I decided it was a needless, unhealthy expense, but I think I'm about to crack and go buy some - the weather is all rainy, and just right for sitting down with a cuppa - near the air conditioner. (Yes, rainy season is over, but now its monsoon season, which means its raining again!)

While shopping, I was excited to see some oat-like stuff. Yay, I thought, I can eat porridge for brekky! They aren't real oats tho! :( It kinda makes a gluggy gruel with clear chewy lumps in it. Oh, well - I'll still eat it now and then - it kinda resembles porridge, is okay with lots of sugar, and it's cheap.

Oh, yeah - this computer has a microphone!! So if you are chatting to me on msn and you have a mic too, we can actually have a real conversation!! Cool, huh? Stay warm! (Oh, yeah, Beck, maybe the better phrase for you guys would be Samui des ne? - Cold, isn't it?)

We have visual!!

2005-08-01T21:20:00.000+09:00

Very exciting news... my photos are on my computer, and slowly becoming available on the web! It has been a bit of a process... I bought my camera here, and so we had fun trying to put the software on the computer - it's all in Japanese!!! Rachel is a legend, and got it on there. Then Matt G helped get the photos saved there, then I laboriously uploaded a few on my other website

www.vianapics.blogspot.com

or else you can click on the link at the side of this blog (yes, I've finally started doing some housekeeping stuff like putting in links!). There are only 3 photos up at the moment (there have been some complications, and I just can't be bothered doing any more at the moment), but I will hopefully soon have lots of wonderful pics for you! Stay tuned!!

Guess where I am???

2005-07-29T22:36:00.000+09:00

At home!!! Yes, that's right! We have the internet on at home!!!! YAY!!! It was so exciting to be able to come home straight after work tonight, instead of having to go to JJs. We are very happy about it!! So now I can actually surf the net a little, and talk on msn without having to stress about the time! Yay, yay!!

Have recovered well from my holiday - very excited that tomorrow is the last day of my week, then I can just stay home for a couple of days to tidy my room, organise myself, watch a few episodes of ER and do a bit of emailing :)! Need to spend a bit of time studying Japanese, too - I'm a little frustrated about the limit of my Japanese ability and the large amount still to learn. I enjoyed my lesson today tho. Favourite phrase of the day: Atsui des ne? - hot, isn't it? It was indeed hot today. Hope you all aren't freezing too much! XXOO Vi

Home again

2005-07-28T12:44:00.000+09:00

Wow, kinda weird, but cool, that I could say "I`m going home to Japan" to people I met on the train back to Pusan. I like the fact that Sasebo does feel like my home now.

Well, Tues was another fantastic day!!! Said goodbye to Dae Gyu`s mum in the morning, and she gave me another set of chopsticks and spoon - the mens spoons are slightly different, and so she gave me a man`s spoon - for my husband!!! My first wedding present!!! LOL! We drove to the Korean Folk Village, getting to see some more of the country side along the way. (Very mountainous like Japan, but I think the mountains are a bit lumpier in Japan - kinda hard to explain.) The folk village was UNREAL! Like Sovereign Hill, for those who`ve been there, but Korean style. Heaps of awesome, gorgeous little old style houses and buildings. And the shows were awesome too - these unreal dancers, women on a see saw - sounds unimpressive, until u see them - they use the see saw to launch each other way up in the air and do stuff with tamborines and hula hoops and stuff, and this amazing guy bouncing around on a tight rope - so spectacular!! Had a really yummy Korean style lunch, and met some American mormans. There was a little activity park there, so we went on the pirate ship and bumper cars and this other ride too! Unreal fun!! And all this for just $14 per person! (Not including lunch) Sure beats Sov. Hill!

After that, we drove back to Seoul for a quick shopping trip - I bought a skirt, blouse and a few souveneirs. Then, alas, it was time to go. Caught the subway to the train station, grabbed a burger for tea, said goodbye to Dae Gyu and jumped on the express train for Pusan.

Once in Pusan I found my hotel with the assistance of some very helpful Koreans who walked me right there when I showed them the paper which Dae Gyu had written in Korean asking for directions to the hotel. This hotel was also amazing!! Once again, just US$40 a night, and it was even bigger than the first hotel! I couldn`t get the internet working, so I just had a spa instead! :) I was so tired, but I just had to enjoy the spa while I had the chance!

The next morning tho, the extent of my tiredness became apparent - I slept thru my alarm!!!! DOH!! I woke up at 7:55, and my ferry was due to leave at 8:30! I freaked out, and made it out of that hotel faster than I`ve ever left a building in my life! I knew if I missed that ferry, I would be late for work, and there would be big trouble! I made it to the ferry, got my ticket and checked in just in time! Phew!! On the ferry, I went to the bathroom to change, repack my bag, and freshen up a little, but couldn`t do much about washing my hair - doh!

In Fukuoka, I caught a bus to Hakata Bus Station - it was a 5 or 10 min taxi ride in the opposite direction on Sunday morning, but took close to an hour because of the traffic on the way back!! Another DOH! I just made it in time for the 1pm bus to Sasebo! Was pretty hungry by now, so I ate a packet of biscuits on the way - healthy brekky/lunch, eh? The bus was just entering Sasebo at 3:10, so I just had to get off at a stop near Daito (where I was working yesterday), cuz I didn`t have time to go into town, home, and then catch another bus to work. So I had 45 min to walk to the office, stop at the supermarket for food and body spray. Wow! Action packed day! Work wasn`t bad, but the bus didn`t come for almost an hour after work, so I just walked home - 40min or so. Was SO TIRED by then!

But overall, it was an ABSOLUTELY AWESOME holiday! Totally worth it!!

Itinery change and super hospitality

2005-07-26T07:07:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was another awesome day! Dae Gyu picked me up from the hotel and we headed off to Gyeonbok-Goong (old king's house). It was unreal! Absolutely huge, and such beautiful buildings! We watched a re-enactment of the changing of the guards, and checked out the museum. It was an awesome look at old Korean culture!

We then detoured from the itinery to visit the aquarium- also very impressive! Saw heaps of unreal fish and other sea creatures. Unfortunately, also got to see some sharks eating some of those cool fish :( It was a huge aquarium.

Our trip then took another detour. We were gonna go to the Korean Folk Village, but when we were still in Seoul, Dae Gyu's car started smoking! Doh! But it did create another fun experience for me - got to ride thru Seoul in a tow truck! Hope his car doesn't cost too much to fix! So he rented a car, and, as we were out of time, we went straight to his mum's house in Yoe-Joo.

Talk about hospitality!! She is a beautiful woman, who greeted me with a huge warm hug like I was a good friend she hadn't seen in ages! And then we sat down to a home-cooked Korean banquet!! She had made heaps of different foods for me to try, and we sat around the table eating Korean style, which is everybody eating straight from the dishes in the middle. There were 3 kinds of kimchi, 3 kinds of soup, 2 famous beef dishes, 2 fish things (which I enjoyed cuz they were cooked!), some green leafy vegie things, and some lettuce-y stuff that you could eat alone or with bean sauce and some of the beef stuff (I'll have to get Dae Gyu to write down the names!) and of course rice. It was SO yummy!

I was commenting on how much I loved the cutlery - silver chopsticks with a turtle carving and a matching spoon - and so she wrapped up a set and gave it to me!!! I was like, no way, Dae Gyu tell her she can't give me part of her cutlery set!, but he just laughed! LOL! How sweet is she!

After dinner I had a shower, and we sat down in the living area in her room for desert. Quite yummy, and yep, made of rice! What an unreal experience!

Other hotel features...

2005-07-25T08:46:00.000+09:00

I forgot to mention last night that my room also has a dvd player, and I can choose from a range of dvds downstairs (no charge of course!), a hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hair spray and gel, face cleanser, a face mask, moisturiser, skin softener (?), cotton buds, shaving cream, a shoe shine mitt, and of course a dressing gown! Sweet!

In Korea!!!

2005-07-25T00:31:00.000+09:00

Guess what??? I'm in Korea!!!!!! WOW! It's 12:30, and I really should go to bed cuz Dae Gyu will be back in about 8 hrs, but I just had to jump on the net and do a quick blog, cuz guess what? ... My motel room has a computer with free internet access!!!!! For like, US$40 a night, I have a double bed, ensuite, computer with free internet access, big flat screen TV, mini bar with a few free snacks, air conditioning... the works really!!! Wow! Pity I'm only staying here for 8hrs!

Had a great evening with Francie and her flatmate - went to this gorgeously trendy restaurant, and sat on the balcony upstairs, totally surrounded by fairy lights, eating scrumptious beautifully arranged food and sipping on a yummy-as glass of wine - I felt so chiq!!

Left at the crack of dawn and had no probs flagging a taxi and getting to Hakata Port. Had coffee and muffin for brekky while waiting for time to board. Ferry ride was about 3hrs. Met a Korean business man with excellent English and a Norwegian tourist. Jumped in another taxi to get to the train station in Pusan. Was a pretty short ride, and ONLY COST US$2!!!! Very cheap cabs here! Picked up my ticket that Dae Gyu had so kindly pre-booked, and had time for a hot dog and mountain dew for lunch. The express train got me to Seoul in 2hrs 50min! We got up to speeds of just over 300km/hr! Wow!

In Seoul, Dae Gyu picked me up from the station (about 4pm) and we had time for a short drive before attending the English church at his university at 5pm. Met some friendly-as people there! Felt VERY welcomed! Had a look around his uni - it is amazingly huge! Second largest in Korea, I think. Very impressive.

We then took a trip thru the city to the tallest building, where we had a look around the viewing deck on the top floor (cloudiness limited visibility, but it was impressive none the less), and had an amazing all you can eat dinner at a beautiful restaurant. There was heaps of seafood, and I've decided that I'll never become a seafood lover, but at least I can now answer all my students that, yes, I have probably tried just about every kind of raw fish you can eat! I even ate some raw beef! Wow! Finished off with some yummy fruit and icecream, and felt VERY full.

We went for a short walk down by the river, and set off some fireworks - fun! There was the most awesome atmosphere down by the river - heaps of people out on their picnic blankets, rollerblading and skate boarding. Such an awesome summer-party feel! Then, we stopped to watch this huge suprise for some girl's birthday - candles surrounding this huge banner, with her boyfriend at the bottom surrounded by fireworks and holding a birthday cake and huge boquet of flowers! How sweet!

We drove across the bridge and got a good view of the city lights, and parked the car at Dae Gyu's house. Caught a bus (just for the experience - fairly similar to Japanese busses, but you pay by credit card!!!) to an area nearby. Incredible - the city never shuts down! I wanted to go to a traditional Korean pub/eaty place, so we stopped in at this gorgeous little Korean place that was so beautifully decorated! Big shiny stepping stones surrounded by little pebbles, cute wooden half walls between the tables. But Dae Gyu didn't like the menu, so we went to this other little place that was gorgeous in a whole different way - instead of meticulous charm, it had a country, graffiti on the walls, uneven roof hight kinda charm. We had rice wine and Korean pancakes (Aussies would be more likely to call them veggie patties than pancakes!). Very yummy as well.

And now here I am in this stunning hotel room!! Wow!! Tomorrow we are going to check out the old King's house and a Korean folk village (Sovereign Hill kinda idea), then go to the country. I'm staying at his mum's tomorrow, so will get to experience home cooked Korean food and life! Tues we'll check out King Sejong's tomb and go shopping in the city, then I'll express train back to Pusan to crash in a motel, before ferrying back to Fukuoka and bussing to Sasebo, with approx 1hr to unpack, refresh and be down at the bus stop ready for work! LOL! I'll be stuffed, but I love holidays! (And isn't Dae Gyu a legend?!? He has been emailing me, asking what sort of stuff I wanted to do, and then met me at the station with a typed out itinery of my holiday!!!!)

Feelin' hot, hot, hot!

2005-07-22T21:32:00.000+09:00

Well, rainy season is over, and most of the mugginess is gone with it. Yay! I can walk outside without feeling instantly sticky! But the cloud cover is also gone, and so the sun is shining in strong, and it is very hot! Still is a bit humid, but only like 5 weeks left of summer, so I'll live!

Guess what? Tomorrow after work I head off to Fukuoka to stay the night with Francie, then early on Sunday morning I head off to Korea!! Yay, yay! So I'll post again at the end of next week when I get back! Don't miss me too much!

Presents!

2005-07-19T21:18:00.000+09:00

Got given an unreal present today from a student that I have quite regularly! It is a beautiful little wall hanging that she made herself! Don`t know what kind of craft you would call it, but its kind of like patchwork quilt. It is of a little red kimono and pair of thongs. It is SO gorgeous, and such an awesome Japanese-y memorabilia type thing, and so much better than anything I could buy cuz it is a present. Definitely something I`ll treasure long after I`ve left Japan! She wrote a message on the back, too, half in English, and half in Kanji. Sniff, sniff... I feel all warm and fuzzy! I don`t think Nova likes you giving presents to students, but I`ll at least write her a thankyou letter.

Grandpa died today

2005-07-15T13:59:00.000+09:00

My Grandpa died today. At about 4am. Found out he had a brain tumor a few weeks before I left to come here, so I did get to say goodbye before I left, which is good. It`s good that he`s gone and isn`t suffering, but man it`s sad for everyone left behind. Poor mum - her daughter leaves for Japan about the time she finds out her father is dying, then her son leaves for Sydney the weekend he dies. I am really sad that I can`t be in Ballarat with her at the moment, so everyone in Ballarat - you have to be extra nice to her for me, k? And pray for her and for Grandma and everyone else. Death is no fun. And go and hug all your family members who are still alive, and tell them you love them.

Ballroom Dancing

2005-07-11T14:11:00.000+09:00

Well, I toodled off to my first Japanese ballroom dancing class today! When we got there, the guy we were trying to give the guy some money, but he kept saying something in Japanese. Another lady came over to help, and was saying "Suiyobi, suiyobi" (Wednesday). We were like, oh, okay, so we should come back Wednesday, but can we watch today? She said, "Hai (yes), look, look". So we settled ourselves down to watch, but the teacher and 4 students were beckoning us over to stand in line! What the...??? We couldn`t work out what was going on, but we went and stood behind the other women, and he started the class, so we just joined in! It was heaps of fun! We learnt 2 dances in the hour class, and I LOVED it!! I`d forgotten how much fun ballroom dancing is!!

At the end, she was saying "Blah blah saraishu blah getsuyobi blah" (something about monday week after next). Looking at a calendar, we worked out that there is a public holiday next Monday, so we are supposed to come back the week after next. We tried to pay again, but he still wouldn`t take our money!! Who knows what the deal is!! Maybe you pay only at the start of the month, so they`re gonna give us two weeks free! Anyway, it was heaps of fun, and will be a good chance to practice my miniscule amount of Japanese too! Yay!

Church was cool yesterday too. There was another church potluck lunch, and I wasn`t gonna stay cuz Valerie and Heather weren`t there to sit with, but then I was like, "Come on Heather!! What a perfect way to meet new people if your friends aren`t here to sit with!! Grow up!" So I stayed, and I`m so glad I did! I talked to a couple of ladies who were really nice, and then I chatted to this Japanese woman - her name is Mami (ma is pronounced like in manilla), and she is a single 33yr old who lives about 20 min walk from me. She`s really nice, speaks quite good English, and is gonna take me to her favourite Japanese restaurant one evening! YAY! We swapped phone numbers, and I really look forward to catching up with her! Happy happy joy joy!

Presentation Day

2005-07-08T15:01:00.000+09:00

Today was presentation day in Japanese class! We all meet in the same room, but each have our own teachers (or 2 to 1), but today we were all in together. We were warned that we each had to give a one minute presentation in front of the whole class, introducing ourselves in Japanese. My teacher pretty much wrote mine for me, and I just had to learn it. I thought I had it down pat, but of course, being nervous, I forgot words and stuffed it up a bit, but no biggy. What they didn`t tell us about today was that it was gonna be a cultural day. SO much fun!!!

When we got there, Mike and Matt got sent out of the room, and each of us girls got dressed up in Yukata (summer kimono) - it was unreal!!!! I felt so Japanesey! We all gave our presentations, then the teachers gave a presentation about Tanabata, and we each had to write a wish in Japanese (with substantial assistance!) and hang it on the bamboo. Then, they brought out all these Japanese snacks for us to try!! I tried this "sweet" green thing with reddish stuff inside - it was so weird! It looked a little like a squishy slug type thing, complete with red guts! I didn`t really like it - and it wasn`t what I`d call sweet, but it was a good experience anyway! So unreal!!! I want to do something for my teacher, but I can`t think of what... teach her how to slurp coffee thru tim tams perhaps? (Did I tell u that u can get tim tams here - for about double the price in Aust?)

Then afterwards I had coffee with 2 of the Dutch students, Odette and Eriko, and Rachel was walking by and stopped too. And then Rachel and I found out about ballroom dancing classes!!!! We`re gonna start on Monday afternoon!! YAY!!! So exciting!

On a sadder note, how tragic is the bombing in London?! :,(

Tanabata

2005-07-07T17:17:00.000+09:00

Today is Tanabata!! (Also known as Star Festival) Not that it means much to any of you I suppose! I can`t remember the whole story, but it is about 2 lovers who are caught either side of the Milky Way, and this is the one day each year that they meet up. (I think 2 stars kinda cross paths in the sky today, or something.) Today is the day for making wishes. All down the arcade, for the past couple of weeks, there have been little tables set up with bright pieces of cardboard and pencils. You are supposed to write your wish on the cardboard and tie it to the bamboo stalk next to the table. When the stalk is full enough, it is hung up in the arcade, and a new one is put in its place. The arcade is looking quite beautiful!!! I wrote my wish today - that I will become better at speaking Japanese. So, here is an instance of people actually wishing upon a star!

Being happy

2005-07-06T11:36:00.000+09:00

Was chatting to a guy from work on Sunday night, and he was angry! He is quite a pessimistic guy, down about something a lot. I spent a good amount of time talking with him, about the fact that life is full of crap and that people will hurt you and let you down, but being miserable and angry about it doesn`t do any good - it only hurts you! You can`t make the bad stuff in life go away, and whinging about it just wears you out and gives you ulcers and arthritis. It takes more energy to be angry at the bad stuff in your life than to be happy about the good stuff.

I don`t know how well I convinced him - he was smiling in the end, but who knows how he was the next day. Let me tell you how I was tho...

I woke up feeling GREAT! I was flicking thru photos of all you wonderful people, and the ones I loved best were the laughing faces just bursting with glee and enthusiasm! And it made me pray...

Papa God, fill me with Your supernatural joy, that I may live every moment overflowing with exuberant enthusiasm for life! And as it overflows, may it splash onto everyone around me!

...and I put on my Happiest Girl in the World t-shirt, some pink earings and my stripey pink toe socks (thanks Hope!), and just sat for a moment, wiggling my toes and revelling in the sheer bliss of having happy socks.

You see, optimists say the cup is half full, and pessimists say it is half empty, but the reality of life is that the volume changes on a daily basis, and it is never either full or empty - always somewhere in between. There is always bad stuff you can moan about AND good stuff you can sing about. In the end, regardless of how full your cup is, you have the choice to either moan or sing - which would you rather?

Canada Day Wash Out

2005-07-02T13:57:00.000+09:00

Poor Mike! Canada Day kinda fizzled. We went to the guys place after work to watch `Snack TV` - hanging over their balcony and watching the Snack Girls at work in the street below. (Snack Girls are hired by bars and pubs to bring in customers. The usually work in pairs, dressed in cute matching outfits. They aren`t prostitutes, they just hang around and chat to guys and laugh at their jokes and make them feel good about themselves. Guys pay a fair bit of money to go into one of these bars for an hour, and the drinks aren`t cheap either.) Snack TV can be quite interesting at times apparently - fights break out, drunk people fall over and make fools of themselves, etc, etc. Was pretty quite last night tho - prob cuz it has finally started raining here. The rain is great, but meant that we couldn`t have fireworks. :( We decided to go to Grammarphone, and were on our way there when I got a message from Martina to say she was back from Tokyo and didn`t have her keys with her... so Rachel and I just went on home! Poor Mike!! Ah well, at least a couple of us got into it with the tattoos and flags. (Mike wore a tattoo on his cheek and managed to get away with it at work!!) He promised to return the favour and wear an Australian flag tattoo on Australia day!

Oh, yeah - my seat on the ferry to Korea is booked and paid for!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Taught my first kinder classes an hour & half ago. Went alright. They should be okay fun. I have trouble controlling the boys tho - girls are so much more co-operative!!!!!!!!