Dance

I haven't updated in so long, I know. I've been busy ;). The one who's been keeping me busy is not here tonight, so I am procrastinating, and studying, and working on some stuff for my students. So I thought that I'd share a bit of what I've been up to. That's more productive than procrastinating, no? :P

I love my life in Kameyama so much. It's a small town, and I miss shopping, but because I am trying to save money these days, it's a good thing that shopping requires extra effort (like an hour bike ride to the neighbouring city Suzuka with malls, or an hour train ride to Nagoya).
I love Nagoya by the way, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, the main thing I love about Kameyama are my schools (especially the JHS), and my students, as well as the teachers I work with. Of course sometimes the lessons don't go so well, but I have enough great lessons and conversations with students outside of class to always want to put all of my heart into each lesson. I love my students.

You know what their favourite phrase is? "Sticker please!" Hehe. They always make me laugh when they say it. It's often a conversation opener :P.

Sorry I am not writing too much about school. I didn't finish that test I mentioned, and I should get back to it. Before I go though, I want to share one more thing. Three weeks ago I joined a yosakoi team. This team is in Suzuka, and it's called Furin Kazan. Every year they participate in dance festival/contests, and next year there are two, one in Suzuka city and one in Tsu city (both are in Mie). If I learn the dance and keep practicing regularly, I will go too (in fact, once I joined, I am expected to go :D so I better keep practicing!). Man, you should see the guys... well, the girls too, dancing. They are so amazing. I like the guys' dance better I think, because it's more intense... although I guess I like both.

This is my team this year:



I am learning the same dance. This video is a bit too far to see well, sorry, but you get the idea.

Ani Lorak (a Ukrainian Singer)

Long time no see. I wonder if anyone is still reading this blog, hehe.

Anyways, today I was home alone, studying Japanese (I have to submit a test in 5 days, so I was working on it). Of course I can't just study all day and do nothing, and in the evening I started procrastinating more and more, listening to love songs on youtube... because I wanted to see someone :P, hence the love songs. Bad idea, but oh well, hehe.

Anyways, I found this, and as I used to like her music, and still do like her voice, I thought I'd share:

Autumn is in the Air

When I was still in school, September first, and the crispy autumn air always had a very special meaning, the feeling of a new beginning, of new things to learn. In university too September had the same special meaning, of new and exciting things to come.

This morning it was windy, and the clouds were so high in the sky, and the air was so crisp, with a fragrance of leaves... It almost felt like September is here.

This year I won't be stepping into the classroom as a student.
Instead, I will go to class as a teacher. Isn't it weird? I am so used to being a student...
But regardless, I am really excited, because I know that this is just a continuation of my learning, every day I will learn just as much, if not more than in university, from my students and fellow-teachers.

This was a long way of saying, I am so excited about school starting soon.

JET Orientation

I am so sleepy, I could use a nap or a big can of coffee. But there
are some interesting and useful presentations, so I am glad to be here.

Train Tickets

Either this weekend is JR's nation-wide crack down on ticket-less
passengers, or just my luck, but I had my tickets checked 3 times in
the past 24 hours. That's more than in all of the past year since I
came to Japan.

My New Home in Mie

My new supervisors are so wonderful, they were so kind to me today. My co-worker is just as great as he seemed from emails, and really kind too. My apartment is absolutely beautiful, perfect size, and new, and it has everything I need, including kitchen stuff, bedding, books left by other teachers, and even some cleaning supplies and stuff. They even bought me new bed sheets.

This morning when I was leaving Toyohashi I was hoping that since I leave at 7:30, I will escape my boss and don't have to talk to her. No such luck. She caught me as I dropped off my keys at her place, as silently as I could, and blabbed away about totally random stuff until I had to excuse myself, saying I'll miss my train.

So coming here, and being treated like a responsible and reasonable adult, as opposed to a five-year old baby, I couldn't get over how happy I was to be starting this new job, and I told my supervisors so. Man, you should see my new place. It's so nice that I don't even have to decorate it. It's just clean, and new, with new furniture, and new wall-paper, and no dust or old dirt left by decades of teachers. I really hated cleaning my old place because it was so nasty from the start, but this place is so wonderful, I'd take pleasure in keeping it neat. The school board got professional cleaners to come in too, so I didn't have to do anything besides washing the dishes, just in case (hehe, I am not OCD, I just like to be extra sure with dishes).

I am so happy. Of course I haven't started actual work yet, but hey, I'll do anything if I get to work in a school, and have such nice supervisors.

I didn't get to see too much of the city yet because I was going through stuff left by previous teachers and putting away things I don't need. I am so tired now, I think I'll sleep early today. I still have to go through some documents I got, and read the welcome letters from the previous teachers.

On My Way

I am on my way to my new home!

It's so lucky it's raining today. The heat would not have been fun.

The view from the train is nice. I wonder if it's still Aichi, or already Mie.

I feel so excited, almost the same as moving to Japan all over again.

Internet

I HAVE INTERNET I HAVE INTERNET I HAVE INTERNET I HAVE INTERNET!!!!!!

You have no idea how excruciatingly painful it was to live for 2 months with no internet except on my iPhone.
I know I should never say never, but I am NEVER doing this again. Unless I move to Bhutan, haha. But then of course I wouldn't expect to have internet.

I got Softbank/eMobile cellular/wireless internet service, and it's actually really fast, much better than I expected.

On a completely separate note, today is one year since I came to Japan. I didn't even realize until I looked at my old visa expiration date and embarkation card, which was today.

Moving

Tomorrow morning someone from a moving company is coming to take all my stuff. They will deliver it in a week, which works perfect for me. Except it's a work day, in the morning, so I'll have to apologize to the school many times.

I am so glad I took care of my stuff. I just have to finish packing some small things tonight.

Moving

I finished packing tonight, so now I have to figure out the cheapest way to ship all my stuff off to Mie.

I was going to use Kuroneko, but after reading up on my options, I found that Kuroneko is one of the more expensive companies.

On Monday I have to call a number of places for price quotes. I don't really have the vocabulary to explain what I want to ask, so have to look up some stuff first. Hehe, study time! :P.

With these moving companies looks like I'll have to ship stuff the morning when I leave for Mie myself. That might be a little difficult but in any case, I won't know till I call and ask.

Hehe, good luck to me. :P