Hello all. I took the day to organize my digital photos, and sort out my blog a bit. I signed up for a photo website. I could've got yahoo photo but I picked a service that's prettier. I know it's a hassle to sign up for things, but this one has phenomenal photos posted on it. I've had it only a little while, and I've found tons of great photos. The ones from the Keeshond lady are especially nice. I really miss my dog!!

Last night, Ray and I went to Murphy's Irish Pub for their Hallowe'en Party. Drinks here are expensive! Beers are 650 yen (so like $6.70) and mixed drinks are 900 yen ($9.30). Shocking, really. Oh well, I barely ever touch alcohol here so it's not like I spend much on that sort of thing. I eat out fairly often, but I figure I spent much less than someone who goes out partying a lot. There's not usually any partying to be done in Akashi, anyway.

Anyways, Murphy's was fun. We arrived at about 9:30pm. I got to meet the new ET (emergency teacher) who's teaching at Akashi on Saturdays, for Mie, whose last day was yesterday. His name is John, he's from Florida and he's 22. He seemed nice enough. Sat and talked to him, and Michael and Chai, the guy I replaced. (Who was dressed in a wife beater, white shirt, black pants, and... *wait for it* silver glove. Oh yeah, he WAS M.J.)

I came as a devil, as is clear *I think* from the photo. It was a good evening. We danced upstairs in Kinsale, the French restaurant. Ray and I got hungry around 2am. I handed off my horns and fork to John, for safekeeping, and Ray and I headed to Yoshinoya. (24 hour!) Had some beef and rice, yummy, and cheap, and headed back but everyone had taken off for, we assume, karaoke or a dance club. Ray and I decided to head home, as well. Got there, and watched some Scrubs, world's BEST show, I can't get enough of Scrubs. http://scrubs-tv.com/ Favourite characters: Dr. Cox, J.D. and Janitor. Hands-down. I can't wait until my mom brings the Second Season!!!

In terms of Christmas, I decided I'll have an amazon wishlist and if anyone feels inclined to get me something, please make it a DVD. I don't care if it's a Blockbuster previously viewed or brand new. My lonely Japanese self will not care at all. So feel free to search under my full first and last name, or use my gmail address. www.amazon.ca

Tomorrow, it's back to work again. I can't believe my weekend is over already. I have to do my first prospective student interview. I hope I don't screw it up. *fingers crossed*
Anyways, I'm sleepy. I'm going to watch some Scrubs and called it a night.

AP0005 castle

AP0005 castle
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

Akashi Castle. Ray and I visited this last weekend, and got to go inside one of the towers. Beautiful views! Very old and lovely, situated right in Akashi Park, where there's a museums and some sprots fields. A lively place on weekends, filled with people of all ages.

AP0003 pond

AP0003 pond
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

Akashi Park has a pond right outside its entrance, and this is it! Filled with big fish, a few turtles and the occasional heron or swan, it's pretty lively this time of year. Quite pretty...

AP0020 city

AP0020 city
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

Akashi City as seen from Akashi Castle. Pearl Bridge is the world's longest suspension bridge, and one of Akashi's claims to fame. Akashi also has Japan's oldest planetarium and is famous for its fish market, which sells a LOT of 'tako' - octopus.

AH0011

AH0011
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

Lily, dressed up as a devil... Unsure of this student's name; apparently he's quite entertaining to have in class. Random sidenote: I lost my devil outfit (except shirt, of course) last night at Murphy's Irish Pub, because I took off the tail at one point, and then Ray and I decided to go to Yoshinoya at 2am (it's 24 hour!) for some grub, and when we came back everyone had already left, probably to Karaoke. Lucky for me, Hallowe'en is over!

AH0008

AH0008
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

Adult Hallowe'en bash: our student trying to ram the devil's fork up Michael's nose.

AH0040 Group

AH0040 Group
Originally uploaded by CreepingLily.

This is my school kids' Hallowe'en Party. (I'm in the very back, off a bit to the left side.) Very fun, but exhausting hour at work.

the gang of four

the gang of four
Originally uploaded by dancing_with_wolves.

This is a pic from Flikr... The one second in from the left looks just like Marlo, my lovely keeshond back home in Canada!

Green Apple ;D

Green Apple ;D
Originally uploaded by ênio cesar.

Flikr is the new photo service I'm using, and this picture was taken by one of the other members, Enio Cesar. Sign up for Flikr to see more!

Guess where I am?
IN MY APARTMENT!
And on the internet, in case you're a little slow on the draw.

What a pain in the ass it's been. I tried to set it up myself; and mac instructions in Japanese are NOT fun, let me tell you. Calling the NTT English help line was USELESS because I tried calling for 2 hours! BUSY. And local calls in Japan are metered: 10 yen/minute. Crazy, eh? My friend, Keiko, tried to help me out with it, but neither of us could do it. Randomly, Ravi called and saved the day. He's always doing that. (Amusing that, "mmm the brackets... I mean, no what are they CALLED! the greater than and less than signs, with dots in between!" was the key to my having the internet here at home.) God bless you, Ravi.

I have a feeling I might be temporarily addicted to the internet for a bit now.

So, news. I have a lot of photos to put up, but I'm hungry for breakfast/lunch right now, so I'll just say a bit about what's been happening with me.

My manager booked me a doctor's appointment and informed me of it on Monday. (It was for today.) I was sort of internally freaking out. I HATE doctors. (Despite 'Scrubs' being my favourite show... curious.) I asked if the doctor was English speaking, and she said no. I said "why not?" This may seem a little rude, but take into account I live in a city of 290,000 people here; they've got to have doctors. My appointment is in KOBE, about 15-20 minutes by train. Why travel if it's still in Japanese? So I spoke to my head teacher, who said it's not mandatory (which is good, because they claimed when we applied that no physical was necessary and I was beginning to feel mislead.) I also spoke to my trainer and he told me what it involved and that it's my choice. My choice is no. Unfortunately, my manager wasn't in until the evening yesterday, so I left her a note saying I was uncomfortable with this appointment thing. We'll see what happens there.

At my own expense, I went through getting a physical and various travel immunizations done. What a pissoff to think I could have just had the physical here. Although *shudder* an assembly line of Japanese doctors scares the crap out of me!

Anyways, also, on last Saturday night we had the office/school Hallowe'en party. VERY exciting. Our lobby was filled to brimming with people, some in costume, most not. Fun evening. Yesterday, 3:30pm-4:30pm was our Kid's Party. Dressing up as a devil midday was a bit odd. The big Hallowe'en shindig starts at 8:30pm Saturday night at Murphy's. I've only passed through there once, so it might be nice to meet some other gaijins.

Went to Nara, Japan's former capital city, last Sunday, but didn't have a chance to put up any photos. It was a fantastic day, full of revelations. Too tired today to write any down, but here are some visuals.

Todaji Temple. Oldest Temple in Japan, it houses the biggest Budha (not quite the Big Apple, but hey, you take what you can get) standing 51 feet high, or thereabouts.

Nara..

Nara...

Nara...

So, another week gone by. Finally, time to put some pictures up on the blog! Enjoy!

This is a tiny Siamese kitten we saw in Nara...

I threw out Chai's junk, and organized my classroom. Spiffy, no?

I finally cleaned and personalized my classroom, to the right side is my "Canada Wall."

This is my apartment building, in Nishishinmachi. (I'm on the second floor, the one with the blanket hanging over the edge - laundry day!)

Lily and Ray, on the Osaka Loop Line to Nara.

Feeling slightly better today; I get the internet on Tuesday! (Only took more than a month...) Tonight is the Hallowe'en Party at my school. Also, farewell to Head Teacher and Manager, and welcome to new AM and Head Teacher. I'm feeling pretty ill today, my sinuses ache and I'm sneezy, so it's off to Arka Pharmacy after this to get some vitamin C supplies. Apparently, Fido at home is giving my mom a ton of hassle; the jerks. Grrr. I wrote a nasty letter to them, though, as has been my habit many times in the past.

I'm planning on getting some rest this afternoon, sleep off this impending cold. Hope all is well in the rest of the world.

Hey All,
At an internet cafe, week 5 in Japan without the internet, trying not to be bitter, but those of you who are close to know how I feel right now. I,m feeling pretty sick today actually, my head hurts like crazy. Im pretty lonely and whatnot, and today Im stuck at JJs which is some idiot cafe entertainment centre in Akashi. Video game geeks everywhere I turn. Expensive, too. 105yen for 15 minutes.

Not much to report. Not on my iBook so I cant even post any pictures. Bummer. Anyways, you know where to email my cel if you get time!!

Yet another Saturday. In the cafe. I grow tired of not having the internet. I've been here more than a month, now. And it's at least 8 more days (business days?) until I get myself hooked up. My backside sometimes falls asleep by the time I get to the blog on these excursions. I spent a good hour just now, searching and saving news and New Scientist articles to my HD, because I'm itching for some news and something to read in my mother tongue! Got some good stuff on BSE, HIV, Black holes, Teenage brains, etc. Should keep me busy for a few hours.

The weather here is peculiar. Today it's miserable abd raining - go figure, on my day off. (The cafe is playing "Walking in Memphis" by Mark Cohen... blast from the past, it has been AGES since I last heard this song. I've always liked it, though.) Sorry, weather: yesterday was about 28! I couldn't believe it. I never tire of weather talk with my students. "What's winter like in Kansai?" (My area.) "Oh, it's hmmmm 3-7 degrees Celcius." "And do you think winter in Kansai is cold?" They always answer yes. It gives me great delight to describe Toronto's relatively mild temperatures (always a horrified audience) and then delve into the extreme bitter and inhospitable temperatures I've become accustomed to in Ottawa the past four years. -30. Canada has such a dramatic change in temperature between winter and summer.

I swing back and forth between miediocre moods and sadness most days. Teaching is great, though, I enjoy my students and many of them are amazing at English. Some old Japanese ladies just sat down at my little area (4 leather high-backed chair around a small circular table) and started saying something to me, but I didn't catch a single word. Smiling and nodding is SO damn useful!

I don't have a lot to write this week. Headed to Honbu on Thursday for some training. I'm not overly impressed at the moment with them, but I digress. I don't want to be a total stick in the mud about everything. Everyone is flawed. (Mind you, at least individuals don't have the opportunity to make their problems company policy...) Fairly quiet week, especially since it was only four days. Tomorrow, I am headed to Osaka, but for 11:00am this time, to meet with Chris and Ray. I'm not sure what adventures we'll get up to this week, but it might be awhile before I post again, but hopefully there'll be more photos when I do manage to get here again.

Amusingly enough, everytime I'm here, I stay about three hours. i always get a notice, in Japanese, that pops up on my mac, and who knows what it says, but probably, "get your ass out, stop loitering in our stylish smokey cafe, biatch." Also, I'd imagine that they WANT to tell me to go, lol, but I'm a foreigner and nobody really seems to want to speak to me. I don't understand Japanese, so it'd be a hassle to try and convey their thoughts.

ALMOST FORGOT! Yesterday a little Japanese repairman came to my apartment to fix my leak in the washroom. (Haha, that's an amusing turn of phrase.) When I walked by the washroom, he was like "Sumimasen, BRB" (basically, there was a lot of pointing) and then I saw why: he'd ripped my wink right off the wall! Luckily, he went and got another sink to install, and now, TADA, no more annoying leak. Thank goodness. Dripping water makes me want to punch someone.

I've been becoming more and more addicted to the "Music from Scrubs" CD since I finished watching Season One again. I ADORE that show, it's so funny. I'm going to start it again soon I think.
1. Superman - Lazlo Bane
2. All In My Head - Shawn Mullins
3. Fresh Feeling - Eels*
4. Good Time - Leroy
5. Good Life - Francis Dunnery*
6. New Slang - The Shins*
7. Beautiful World - Colin Hay
8. Hold On Hope - Guided By Voices*
9. Fighting For My Love - Nil Lara
10. Dracula From Houston - Butthole Surfers
11. Hooch - Everything
12. Hallelujah - John Cale
13. Have It All - Jeremy Kay*
14. End Credit Score - Jan Stevens
15. Overkill - Colin Hay

*Phenomenal tracks I am now addicted to.

Anyways, that's all she wrote. I'm exhausted and it's probably time to vacate this chair. My butt's definitely hit the snooze (spelling? my alarm clock's says "snooz" that can't be right.) button a few too many times for my own good.

So, yesterday (Sunday) I went to Osaka to meet up with Chris and Ray for the day. They're the only people here I feel completely at ease with. Everyone else is a little bit fake nice. I think they're all afraid I'll just up and leave. A wise fear to have, given how much FUN I'm having on this island.

The Midosuji Parade:
Today, or yesterday - who can tell anyways, was Sports Day in Japan. Everyone gets this Monday off. It's like pseudo-Thanksgiving for Canadians, woohoo. Ray, Chris and I walked around. Chris shared some big news with us, which is making me question things even more than I was already. It was an EVENTFUL day, let me just say. We were trying to find this accessory store called Monique, which is apparently near Hanshin Department store. We were not having any luck finding it. We stopped a group of Japanese guys heading into a restaurant (I know, we foreigners have NO shame!). "Sumimasen... Hanshin?" Lots of very confused looks, much Japanese consulation, and then the head Japanese guy, a short-ish guy in a brown jacket, decides that they're going to WALK us to Hanshin.

Picture this: three nice gaijin girls walking along with three Japanese guys, only one of whom knows almost any English. What occurs? Why, the same thing that happens everytime you meet up with someone who barely speaks your language. They call someone who... TADA... "speaks English." Don't be fooled. Their friend who speaks English is usually someone who knows maybe 5-10 words more than they do. Actually, though, this friend did speak English. Bullseye.

Chris picks THIS time to ask the Japanese guys how to say "back off." Apparently, one of the tissue people (monsters, the lot) was a little bit persistent with her the other day and she wanted to know how to get her message across more clearly. The Japanese guys must've thought that she meant for THEM to back off. Oh, joy. Once we got that cleared up, we had been walking for at least 10 minutes. They brought us to Hanshin, bless their hearts, and Chris decides to be nice and says, "Thank you, that was nice of you." Takes another 3 minutes to get THAT cleared up. AND THEN, the bomb drops. Chris says, "Enjoy your dinner." Three words. This ended up being confusedly taken as a dinner invitation. Hell, maybe they though we were TELLING them to buy us dinner. Haha. Luckily, we were like "oh forget it, thanks!" and sort of scooted off into Hanshin. Never did find Monique.

Decided to hit up the Yodoyobashi Pier for a boat tour. So, we started walking, but it was the day of the Midosuji Parade! See photos below. So much colour, this parade lasts for TWO HOURS. It went on for ages, a gazillion marching bands. A British regiment. Dancing, singing, waving things, poor horses dressed to the nines. You name it, the Japanese had it in the Parade. Very entertaining. Also, SO many guards. People handing out fans. It was quite a spectacle!















So that was the Midosuji Parade in Osaka.

We also ended up at Shinsaibashi, after ending up near Honbu, so we went wandering. Saw some interesting things, various large sculptures of seafood, the hugest Hello Kitty sculpture I've ever seen, though likely one of the smaller ones in Japan.





After we grabbed some dinner at some weird "Mos Burger" place (WTF does that even mean... a tribute to Mos Def? Who knows) we decided to hit the road. Chris took her train back to Senri-chuo, and Ray and I decided to search for the internet cafe Honbu told us about. Crappiest directions EVER, thanks a lot. But we did end up locating Popeye's Media Cafe. Shittiest online experience ever. Weird keyboard. Which didn't work. Japanese commands. A PC that kept turning off. It took me 20 minutes to get going, because I had to switch computers. Kept trying not to cry on the train ride home. I felt sick, and the train kept jerking around everytime we started moving again after stopping at a station. I thought I was going to throw up, but luckily I didn't. Managed to make it to Akashi, and then to Nishishinmachi, but of course, my ticket didn't work. I don't understand Japanese, so I don't even know what's always wrong with me ticket. If I'm buying the wrong one, or what. I don't particularly care at the moment.

Sort of down at the moment. I've been contemplating going home again. It's hard not to because everything here is SLOW as molasses. Anything minor is fast, big things takes ages. I still don't have the internet. I will have to wait at least 10 days more, likely 15. Another half month. Joy. Technilogically advanced, my ass. I'll believe it when I experience it. Phones here, even local calls, are metered. Gone are the haydays of a quarter will get you all the time you want. You pay by the minute.

I am not bitter. Lol, actually maybe I am at the moment. Oh well. Lots of things here are amazing. Just not at the moment. I need to do laundry when I get home, so that should be a barrel of laughs. Might air out my futon, too. It's been a few weeks. Should also vacuum. Ah, domesticity. That's enough of a post for now. Enjoy!

My tiny, shoebox-sized Leopalace kitchen. I miss my kitchen at home so much! Four burners vs. one here. Two sinks vs. one here. Shelves and cabinets galoe vs. 4 small shelves here. Fridge and freezer and separate freezer! vs. bar fridge about 1.5 feet squared.

My nice tiny Japanese washroom! Complete with square tub.

Microwave, toaster, etc. This ensemble now includes a "cute" pink rice cooker.

My closet. Actually pretty big, for here, anyway.

My bed/futon, on top of my foamy red couch.

So, my apartment. I might want to post some pictures, I suppose, because everyone keeps asking me what it's like, how small it is, etc. It's apparently, about 23m squared. I don't know. It's quite tiny, but I don't mind it so much. It's a place to escape my life for a bit and sleep and relax. Please see the photos above!

Ah, Saturday in Akashi. Sitting in the cafe, with the rain pouring down outside the windows. You have to love fall.

I'm very glad the week is over. It was long and exhausting. The weather was the pits. It's been cooling off, luckily, but I'm not sleeping any better; last night I remember seeing the clock many times before 3:00am. (which is fine, if you stay up until then, but I went to bed at 1:30am!) Maybe I had too much coffee. I always find myself yawning, which is very offensive here, during class, so I nip out from some cafe latte from the vending machine.

This is my classroom in Akashi. It's small, but it's the biggest classroom at my school, believe it or not!



Last night, i was feeling homesick, so I splurged and went to Pastel, a restaurant near the train station which serves pasta and coffee. It's pretty nice.


From the outside, it's pretty: lots of lights. Very inviting place.


This is another cafe, the one I went to last Sunday in Sannoymia with Keiko and Mie. It's called Atelier Works; French culture and cuisine are very popular here in Japan.


Anyways, I need to haul ass out of this cafe. I've been here almost three hours now! They're probably starting to wonder about me. I won't have the internet for likely two more weeks, so these blog entries will be few and far between, but I'll do my best. Ciao.

PS - Tomorrow marks a whole month since I landed in Osaka. It feels like it's been a year already.
11 more months.

New entry, but this will probably be a tad short. I know, and I'm sorry, but I STILL don't have internet in my apartment, so I'm reliant on the West Coast coffee shop here. God bless Seattle.

So, yesterday I was on the train from Nishi shimachi (my station) to Akashi, where my school is at, and where I was meeting up with Tomoe, one of my upper level students, to go shopping. I saw this bling lady, with a golden retriever. This is WEIRD in Japan. Most dogs are tiny little things. Shitsus (shisu?), chihuahuas, etc. A lot of them have sweaters on, poor bastards. I wouldn't even wear a sweater in this humid disgusting weather, and yet pets are forced. Anyways, this poor HUGE dog also had an equally huge outfit on. It was similar to a clown outfit, kind of pink in colour, with tiny dots all over it, and these weird elasticized and frilly cuffs. *shakes her head* WTF. I guess this woman had the "I'm blind" excuse, but still. Someone probably helped her purchase this get-up for her pooch. Accessory to the crime. *sigh* People can be so cruel.

It's been a whole week at my school in Akashi, and things are getting slightly easier for me. Lesson planning takes absolute ages, so I'm working hard on that, and it's still a very lonely place to live. Expensive as a ... too. I went to Sannomiya yesterday and on Friday, too. Friday was for Thai food with some other foreign teachers. That was enlightening. Apparently, lots of people have been leaving Japan lately. Makes me feel a little less terrible about being so homesick that I contemplate plane tickets daily. (Seriously, I kid you not.)

I'm in the new apartment these days, though, which helps a bit. The apartment itself is quite livable, albeit quite small. I expected it to be tiny, so that's fine. I put up some scarves to decorate. Once I get the internet in a reliable way, I'll post some photos of my apartment, tiny little spot that it is. It's mine, at the very least. Someplace to hang my hat. (I don't even have a hat, it doesn't get that cold here. Like 0. Cry me a river. You should see the look of terror that appears of my students' faces when I tell them about how cold Ottawa is in winter. Yeah, that's right. -30 plus windchill. Sometimes -35, when you're lucky and it's the middle of the night.)

the kitchen is unbearably small. One burner, a sink, a fridge (that's about 1.5 feet squared) and a tiny shelf. THAT's the kitchen. Cooking in there is hellish. So not worthwhile. Apparently, all Japanese kitchens are small. It makes me miss my spacious homeland. I will definitely have different eating habits when I return to Canada, but I ALMOST miss the kitchen in my rathole apartment on College Street in Toronto. Almost. Not quite, though. My roomie was way too psychotic for me to actually miss it. My apartment is smaller in sum total than my bedroom was there. Eesh.

I'm planning on seeing if I can find the Toys'R'Us in Akashi if I have time once I leave this cafe and buy train tickets and everything. Maybe I'll go purchase tickets first and then wander about semi-aimlessly, searching for stuffed animals. (Don't ask.

I bought speakers yesterday in Sannomiya. They're smaller than my fist, each, and white, and they cost me about $55 but they sound quite nice and I figure they're tiny enough to leave with me when I go home or travelling. It was really nice of Tomoe to invite me. We went to the street markets, she showed me a couple import stores for when I just need honey or cereal or granola or A&W root beer. Also, went to Daimaru, this huge Japanese department store. It has Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes... you name it. But luckily, also some semi-reasonably priced items. I bought some imported french body wash (orange flower and orange oil) since I can actually read French. Maybe I should've gone back to France. Or to Spain? Maybe next year, maybe after my masters. Who knows; we shall see in time where life takes me.

I'm having a lot of those little bouts of "What am I doing here?" and "What the hell was I thinking?" lately. Maybe it's my quarter life crisis? Haha. I think that's a silly term, given you can probably reach a crisis point anytime in your life. This is probably not even crisis-level, really. It's just brand new. When I was 15, it was only 3 months, and I *sort of* spoke the language. Now, I'm 23 (When did that happen?) and it's a year and I can't read or speak the language. It makes life a lot more difficult, but maybe it'll do me good. Someone left a post (grrr to anonymous posts) about how stable people sometimes need a little chaos in their lives. I don't disgaree. I'm just not sure if this level of chaos is healthy. (I can't even get medications when I need them, because I can't read the labels. That seems mighty bad to me.)

Anyways, it's almost 1:00pm so I need to get my ass up and buy some train tickets to Sannomiya and see if this mysterious Toys'R'Us is somewhere around here. Wish me luck.