Earthquake

I just survived the biggest earthquake of my life as of yet. I realize being from Minnesota doesn't say a whole lot, but it was a 5+ on the seismic scale, which is pretty big. I was startled awake at 5 am with hardcore shaking. Grabbed the robe by my bed and ran to the doorway (which I have found since moving here, actually isn't the best place to go, but I was quite groggy and didn't make it under the table). It went for a good 10 seconds I would say, long enough to freak me out and make me shaky. Interesting adjective I know. Nothing fell in my apartment surprisingly, but I have heard from a lot of other ALTs that stuff fell off their shelves and such. Just a small report to you guys from early this morning, since I am not sure I can fall back asleep for another hour. A 1/2 meter tsunami is expected, though you can hardly call that much more than a big wave, but it's sorta a wake-up call to where I live. Survival kit...check. Here's a link to the first article being put out about the quake.

Whirlwind Weekend

Wow, what a whirlwind of a weekend! We had a welcome party for the new teachers that arrived, just the same as last years. I was much better prepared for the party this year, and it seems crazy that it was a whole year ago since I was in the same place as this year's new crowd. It's been really interesting to meet all the new teachers. They are a good bunch of people. It has been really interesting to watch and observe though, and it's weird to think that I probably acted just like them too. It's eye opening to see just how far I have come and how comfortable I am with everything and how un-new it all is to me now. I still encounter new things every day and feel uncomfortable about at least one thing every day...and yet, looking at these shell-shocked newbies, I can see just how many strides I have made toward settling into life here. I hope that it also reminds me to seize every day and to notice and enjoy the little things I have started to take for granted.

(Veteran ladies at the welcome party: Kari, Kelly, Chrissy, Me)

Another highlight of the weekend was checking out a few bars in Fuji City. When we go out as a big "foreigner" group, we tend to all go to Numazu (ie 45 minutes away) or always go to the same Australian bar in Fuji, so we set out to explore a few others. We went to one bar called "Oldeis" (yes, spelled incorrectly). It was decorated sorta oldies/old American style with lots of cool signs and such, including the quite puzzling one below. I got to play some darts with my friend Kelly while the guys played pool. They played a lot of Elvis, and I thought of my auntie Carol the whole time :) We also found another pretty cool bar with a huge selection of liquors, so we just may have to go back for cocktails someday. It was nice spending so much time with friends. In the second half of last year I sorta scaled back on the social scene, but it was nice to get back to it. Hopefully the weekend spree will continue!

(questionable sign in Japanese bar...)

I'm headed out of town Wednesday-Friday to orientate the newbies, here's to hoping I don't bore them too much! Miss everyone at home lots since getting back; drop me a line and let me know what's going on at home!

Welcome to August

Since I came back to Japan, time has been flying by. I celebrated my 1 year anniversary in Japan, and now am on to the countdown already. I have been going through stages of appreciation for this opportunity to live abroad and in Japan specifically as well as stages of homesickness and a bit of culture shock all over again. I suppose I knew I was subjecting myself to this when I left in the middle to go back to the US, but it really doesn't make it all that easier. I did jump pretty much back into things however, and am keeping busy with helping for our new teachers' orientation, festivals and catching up with friends here.

I came back when rainy season was in full gear, and I really just wanted to see the sun for days!! It went from moments where it was just water hanging in the air like below, to downpour to a little bit of blue skies, to cloudy, to downpour again. It was insane!



I also had to say goodbye to more friends after coming back, and also here you can see what the humidity does to my poor hair! Compare to the extremely straight and flat hair from the my USA entries!! haha!


It's also festival season in Japan, so last weekennd I hit up some fireworks on the Izu Peninsula with some friends. The fireworks would have been pretty cool, but there wasn't any wind to carry the smoke away, so some of them you couldn't see through the smoke. Overall it was still good though.


I think that rainy season has officially ended the past few days as we have actually seen Mt. Fuji again and the skies are becoming more and more blue each day. Along with the end of the rain however, is the beginning of the heat (don't worry the humidity is still there even though the rain is gone!) and no AC. Last night was officially the first night I couldn't sleep with a blanket, only my sheet and I still woke up hot a few times. It might be a long August :)

On that note, I have some stuff to do yet for Orientation next week, and will be helping an English Club student with the speech contest today...in addition to filling out stupid paperwork because I got sick the last two days when I was supposed to help with English Camp. That meant Japanese doctor visit #2 which resulted in a diagnosis of food poisoning. Though I disagree with the the diagnosis, I got medicine and thankfully am feeling 90% better...now if I had only remembered to bring my lunch with me this morning! Will have to take a long lunch break ;)

Home

So I haven’t blogged a lot lately. I could do the usually dozen updates to catch you up, but frankly, I just don’t feel like it at the moment, so I guess we’ll see if it happens at a later date. I just got back from the US. It was definitely a weird experience to go back to America after a year in Japan. I sorta felt like and acted like an observer for most of my time back. It’s not that I felt out of place, but just that everything that was so distant for so long all of a sudden was in my face, some things for the good and some for the bad. And so…I shall only tell you about the good today.

It was amazing to finally meet my niece, Avery Elise. She is going to be SUCH a heart breaker. She has the biggest brown eyes that just make me smile inside.

One of the biggest shockers I think was just how GREEN Minnesota is and how beautiful it was! It’s not that I don’t have trees and fields here in Japan, because they are everywhere. But I guess just like how green it is for miles and miles and you can see it for miles because it’s so flat.

And along with that I guess is just the realization that maybe Minnesota wouldn’t be the worst place to end up despite the low teacher salaries (because frankly, where are they not low) and freezing cold, never ending winters. As you can tell I’m not quite past the cold part yet, but before coming to Japan, I never really thought I would try to settle down in Minnesota. But the longer I am here, the more I think that it’s more about the people in a place than the weather or the money. I loved driving on the open road “farming” as we used to say about my dad, just staring at the fields, cows on the side of the road, and the endless green miles.

I love my best friend’s old farm house and how much like home it feels with refinished wood floors and quiet “neighborhood.” I love a good old fashioned grill out, eating outside, and a keg party with chickens and horses surrounding me and hiding behind the barn with good friends to chat and look at the stars. I love country radio stations. I hate saying good-byes after such a short time when making all these realizations.

It was really nice to spend so much time with my family. Though at a certain point any family who spends too much time together goes a little crazy, it's interesting how things have changed in our family as we've all gotten older and how we have molded a little more to understand each other's personalities. I really spent a majority of time just with my family. We also had a "Christmas in July" trip since we couldn't all be together at Christmas. We went to Sioux Falls, ate some good meals, went to Falls Park, watched Avery go swimming for the first time at the hotel, and went mini-golfing.

Although I’m not quite as nostalgic about Utah itself, I made a 3 day stop to visit my other best friend (and her husband) who has just begun her journey as a mother. I sometimes caught myself thinking “Wow, that thing is really hers!” That “thing” being the cutest little boy EVER! He has the craziest facial expressions that just make me laugh and a smile that makes me smile just as big for no reason. But I was often in disbelief that my best friend has one of her very own. I do realize how outrageous that probably sounds, especially considering I have a lot of friends with kids, but I guess this time it was different because we’re such close friends. And although I talk to her often and know how much energy having a new(er) baby takes, I was still just floored at seeing firsthand just how much it changes your life! So anyway, we just spent a lot of chill time, which is just how I like it: hanging out with Nic and Cohen, watching old episodes of One Tree Hill and The OC, a little shopping here and there. We also spent one last day at the beach relaxing. Things quickly returned to normal with our great minds that think alike – seriously weird how many times we said what the other was thinking. So it’s interesting that no matter how many things change, how some just stay the same, in a really good way.

All these things going on at home really forced me to think about life since, as I said, I was sorta just being an observer throughout. In addition, the changing environment here in Japan, with a few of my good friends leaving, has contributed to this line of thought. Thoughts of what I want to accomplish and places I want to visit in the next year, and what I want to do after this year is up. And the never ending question from people, “What’s next?” So…what is next? I guess I better figure that out. Thanks to everyone who gave me things to think about while I was home. It was nice to catch up on life back in the US of A.

What's your definition of beach time?

My friends Jenny and Katie are off to (bigger and better?) other things in life, so Kari and I went to spend one last weekend with all of us here! Jenny lives by the beach = perfect! This is the "surfer" beach....not so obvious yesterday apparently!! But gorgeous nonetheless.




So we all definitely had different ideas of the beach. Mine = onigiri (rice ball with seaweed on the outside and a special surprise on the inside. this case tuna). In all reality, this is not my definition of beach time....but it's the only pic of me I had :) It was nice to lay out, listen to the waves, read and relax.


Jenny = get as much sun as possible and eat melty chocolate!
Kari...cover up as much as I can and study Japanese (and sing in Japanese to myself a little...)



Katie = Kindle Love! Book worm for sure!!


Katie and I couldn't resist a picture of Momma and Baby Kindle...our reading devices...of course along with the real reading material too....


Trying to squeeze into my little car! This was Katie's first and last time in the backseat of my car!! Her legs are a bit too long to be squeezing back there!


We're quite an eclectic bunch of girls, but I'm really going to miss Jenny and Katie next year!! Love you ladies and wish you the best!!

Just Another Friday Night

I stayed after school today to help my English Club finish decorating for the school festival the next few days. One of my students bought a bunch of "I Love New York" hats for a dollar each, so we were sporting them above! Below, of course the decorations included TONS of cartoon characters...why not turn the clock into Mickey Mouse?

Since I have to work the weekend away, I'm having a nice relaxing Friday night at home. I made mini hamburgers on some almost wheat table rolls (the closest thing to wheat and bun I could find!) and made mashed potatoes. Topped that off with pickles (!) and a vodka with mixed fruit juice in my awesome hurricane glass :) Now, this may not seem so remarkable to you, but it is to me! Though relatively easy to make, I have only had hamburgers and mashed potatoes a handful of time since I came here. Mmmmmmmm. All while watching The Bucket List, one of my all time motivating movies. Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and great weekend after that while I'm slaving away at work...or hanging out with kids and no responsibility all weekend haha.

Outta the Rut

I think I'm breaking out of a rut. Though it wasn't that big of a rut, things are just going well right now. I have lots to do at work, I started studying Japanese again after a like 5 month hiatus, and I went for my first run in almost a month today. Those are just small things I realize...but I was sick and the nose and sinus issues have been lingering, and I have been using it as an excuse to be lazy. Thankfully that's over...

I also found out that I have to be in "quarantine" after I come back from the US this summer...which basically means I get an extra week off when I get home --- a vacation from my vacation! Who could ask for more? A week to get rid of jet lag?! Although it does seem like that week could be put to better use if I coulda spent more time in the states, but I guess I'll take it as a good thing anyway.

I can't believe I leave in a month, time is just gonna fly by. At work I realized I only have one more lesson to plan and then a test to make and then I'm heading home! That seems like so little work, but the part you don't understand is that I have a STACK of essays on my desk to grade (280+80+more in the next week)...and then once the students take that test that I write, I will have 280 tests to grade too! But as you can tell, I'm really not all that bitter or worried about it...they will get finished when they get finished...and I was actually supposed to assign one more composition this semester, but out of sanity, my JTEs agreed it's not necessary for the kids to do another one this semester since they will write more next semester.

Alright - I'm off to bed. Need to get some beauty sleep...tomorrow is day 5 of 8 at work...still hoping for good weather so that doesn't turn into a longer work week! Love you and miss you all! -- Ash

Reminiscing Mt. Fuji

"Shizuoka ALTs attack Mount Fuji with great gusto and lose some of it along the way. Rated PG for one swear word and discussion of beer."

Yet Another Tokyo Excursion

I headed to Tokyo for a little pampering and time spent with friends before some of us part ways at the end of July. We started off with hair cuts -- here's some pics of my hair in the subway station. Not the greatest pics, but you get the idea...and I haven't really had many photo ops since then, sorry!! It took me a few days to get used to, but I think I like it. Either way it's nice to have something different and short! It's starting to get hot here and rainy season is upon us, so with the heat and humidity, I really needed something short to keep down the frizz.


After getting beautified at the salon, we headed off to Harajuku for some shopping. Harajuku is absolutely crazy busy on the weekends, you can barely turn around in the store!! I didn't buy anything cuz the crowds are just too much for me to focus, but it's nice to check out the big city for a few days as always. I found an awesome store - check it out below:


Next we were off to the Ninja themed restaurant. All the waiters dress up as ninjas and do a lot of "ninja magic." There are a bunch of different rooms you can sit in, dark hallways with torches for lights and mini waterfalls, just to name a few cool things! A lot of the food pieces came with a small production and at one point in our meal a ninja came over to show us some pretty sweet magic tricks. It was pretty cool - an interesting night out with the ladies!



























See above: my awesome tuna sushi (three varieties - lemon, cheese and salt) and even more amazing "Ninja sha" drink -- strawberry sorbet with champagne. I'm not sure how I lived without it before!!

After that we headed back to our capsule hotel for a good night's sleep! Capsule hotels are unique to Japan -- it's a small crawl space you crawl into and pull down a curtain on the end to sleep in. Each capsule has it's own little tv built in and a few other things (I never really use them, I just sleep!) and they are mainly used by business men who just need a place to shower and sleep. Most of them don't let women stay, this is one of the very few, but it's the second time we've stayed there. I tried to pack lightly this time around since it was just one night, and didn't bring pajamas, because they give you yukata (like pants and a robe type thing - like pjs). So I thought I was being all smart...took my shower, got out, and went to pull the pants on...and WOW. I got them pulled up, but I couldn't bend over or walk really! I mostly had to waddle to ask Jenny to borrow her pants instead!! Good thing I have skinny friends!

Morning came too soon, but thankfully our morning was spent at the 100% Chocolate Cafe. It was seriously my heaven! I had a Mocha and some chocolate cake to start the day off right!! Everything on the menu has chocolate and you can also buy different chocolates from around the world. They also have a chocolate of the day (see below) that has the date imprinted on it! So cool! Highly recommended!


Overall the weekend was a success! It was a nice getaway because this week is our school festival. I have a lot of essays to grade, a lesson to write and will have to go to work 8 days in a row (possibly ten if it rains, so cross your fingers for good weather!!!) So it's a good thing I got away last weekend since I'll be spending so long at school this week!

T - 1 month!

Congratulations Nic and Tim!

Cohen John Ahles
7 lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long

I'm an auntie again!! Twice in one year is quite a change, but not so much for me as the parents!!! Nicole gave birth to Cohen John on May 22 at 1:26 pm (yeah, I'm a little behind!!). I got to talk to her all through the process, and it was amazing to experience things right along with her, even though I'm so far away. Congratulations Nicole and Tim, I know that you are going to be fabulous parents - Cohen is such a lucky little guy! Good luck on the new journey, I know it's had its challenges already but I can think of no two people better fit for the job! I love you so much and can't wait to meet Cohen next month!!