day 3: check

[bangkok's haven]
[welcome to phuket]

last week the weather forecast for phuket said cloudy/ chance of rain. in actuality, we had perfect weather today! we started out early [for some reason i can hardly sleep past 7am!] and headed to a gorgeous nearby beach. of course we took a million cheesy videos and wandered around like we had no clue.

this afternoon we explored outside town, taking in some cool architecture and semi-hiking up the hill on the northern side of the city. it gave us an awesome view of the city and we got to see the sunset behind the hills. here are a few photos, but check out flickr for the whole shebang <3

we had our first thai food in thailand for dinner tonight. both of our mouths were burning but it was totally worth the pain *

happy hot xmas

it's definitely going to be a hot one, folks. cassie and i are sweating like crazy. actually, i just asked her to confirm and she said "no, i'm sitting right in front of a fan" :) we've safely arrived @ our hostel on phuket. it wasn't so easy to get here from the bus station but we are adventurous and brave enough to turn down a million offers for taxi and motorbike rides.

this hostel is already more amazing than the one the last 2 nights in bangkok. that one hinted of the flinstones-- you know, bed rock. bangkok was an overall success, but we are incredibly glad we didn't stay there any longer. yesterday we went to a temple, glimpsed the river, ate an amazing breakfast, saw a movie for less than 4 bucks, and rode a tuk-tuk. yes, i know EVERYONE says not to, but it was a quick, cool ride and totally part of the bangkok experience.

this morning we weren't psyched about more downtown exploring so we found this beautiful park on the north city of the city. we spent hours there, riding a duck-shaped paddle boat and taking millions of artsy photos. it was a much needed haven for us both. AND speaking of us both, cassie is the ideal travel partner. we crack each other up and are interested in basically the same kinds of things: typical sights, natural beauty, and going with the flow. i'm so grateful to be spending the holiday in the presence of her good attitude and laughter*

happy hot xmas; hopefully some pictures will be online tomorrow!

thailand photos

i'm leaving for thailand in less than 24 hours!!! this blogspot takes a SUPER long time to upload photos, so i'm trying a new approach.

this is the link to my newly created flickr site... check it out for thailand photos*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22059488@N04/

antsy

this weather is definitely making me more anxious to get to thailand. it's rained for the past 17 days straight here. it's some of that not quite freezing weather so its raining but still super duper cold. today i FINALLY got a sweet view of toyama's mountains, but the photos can't do them justice.

my readyness for vacation is made worse by the slow schedule this week. each day so far i've taught 2 class and the next two days i'm teaching NONE. that means a bunch of sitting around the staff room planning for thailand. of course, half the sites i want to use are blocked so i really can't get anything done. today one of the teachers said "kelly, do you like sushi?" i said "sometimes" she goes "mmm. let's enjoy sushi someday. together. do you know together?"

tomorrow and friday the parents are coming for individual conferences with teachers. i told one of my co-teachers that if parents were complaining about their kids' english grade, he should send them my way. i'd give 'em a piece of my mind concerning their own role in their children's lives* of course, i'd give 'em a piece of which they'd have zero understanding.

i'm off to do some laundry, vacuum my apartment, and make something for lunch tomorrow. i said no to sushi bc it would cost 2,000 Yen, which is basically 20 bucks for lunch which i don't even love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all oyasuminasai*

i have a cool life

every weekend i do something fun. whether it's karaoke, dancing, or eating. i love my friends here and seriously, it's so good to be enjoying japanese life.

[cute tidbit: after my christmas fun class with the special ed. students on friday, the young teacher who taught with me said "thank you kelly. i am fun" :)]

2007 in a nutshell

i feel inspired to re-cap my year thus far. i doubt i will post much more before 2008 begins, except perhaps some thailand photos from an internet cafe somewhere. let's start with perhaps my most important memory of the year...

new years: some of my favorite college friends had a big bash: starting with an incredible ;) new years parade and hike at lauren's house, then heading to loudonville for some good old nelson family fun. then sittig-mohnkern & company stormed boston. for me, this was a beautiful summary of my 4 years of college. it was sort of like a jumping off point... you know, from boston to the ends of the earth. it was also one of my favorite times with matt. it's my most recent memory of matt's love of adventure, friends, and good conversations. as we drove to boston, matt joined right into our silly girl talk. i can see those three hours as clear as day and i'll never forget them as long as i live. <3

january: 1st time as a bridesmaid/ lynz's wedding [the beginning of the theme of my life].

january-may: last semester: student teaching changed my life. it was amazing to see fruits from 7 semesters of hard work. i absolutely adored my city placement and it was influential in my mindset for teaching in the future. i learned a TON and have loads of hilarious quotes from those crazy gangster kiddos. amazing times @ H&S- teaching with sis-fanster and making a difference in some little lives.

may: graduation & myrtle beach-nuff said!! 2nd time as a bridesmaid/ wieder's wedding [sense a trend?].

june/july: an absolute whirlwind of making money, packing, and saying my see-ya-laters. it seems like ages ago, somehow. it was during this time i realized anew what amazing people i have in my life. you are all SO good to me*

august: beginning of life as i know it now. my first time to live alone, my first time in asia, my first time "teaching" english, my first time being immersed in another language. ate some crazy japanese food. climbed mt. fuji. made some rad friends.

september: more of the same, with some japanese study and random excursions thrown in. the beginning of real, quality friendships in this country!!

october/november: the big 2-3; celebration of being a sister; acclamation to an incredibly gorgeous FALL in japan! tons of trips to the mall & starbucks. my first movie in japan: bourne ultimatum, for which i paid roughly the equivalent of 17 bucks.

december: prep for the winter everyone says is coming; detox from my bicycle to which i'm afraid i have become addicted; CRAZY amounts of planning for thailand [countdown: less than 9 days!]; mentally psyching myself up for my first christmas away from home...

already planned for 2008: okinawa with some favs for spring break; finding a job @ home; a hot hot hot himi summer; 1st time as a maid of honor/ ash's wedding; attempting to regain my spanish; putting the pieces of my <3 style="font-style: italic;">here.

cloud nine

[far right= my favorite!!]
[teeny tiniest= hiro-kun :)]

in an attempt to promote international understanding, dialogue will be recorded in the following format. those of you who don't understand romaji-ized japanese, please read the [words in here] because they are my rough english translations. all japanese is summarized, as i didn't have a notebook to quickly jot down hiragana as the day went by.

today was an amazing day, as are all my days at elementary school. i taught all 4 classes AND ate lunch and had recess with the kiddos... talk about cloud nine.

early in the morning, hiro-kun came in to give his routine greetings. he was a bit nervous to come over to my desk, and kept saying "sensei, sensei" which indicated he wanted his teacher to go first. i said ohaiyo [good morning] and he just looked at me with his big ol' eyes. i gave him a star-shaped foam cutout that i brought for my christmas lessons & he couldn't believe his luck! i explained in 5 words of japanese that my mom sent the cutouts to me. his teacher told him basically, [kelly's mom sent it to her from America. now she's giving it to Hiro-kun]. he showed EVERYONE in the office his tiny little star and said "kelly-sensei. mama" haha. so freaking cute*

i ate lunch with 3nensei and they were incredibly jazzed. i can't even fathom how much more japanese i can understand now!!! i remember my first visit there, probably late august. i couldn't grasp a single word when the kids asked me a question. today we talked about all sorts of things, including the nasty fried shishamo (intact fish which i hear are perpetually pregnant and thus have tiny ivory colored eggs inside their swollen bellies) we had to eat, and the complexities of being left-handed. after eating i spent yasumi [basically, free/ rest time] watching kids jump rope and showing off my ability to cross the rope while jumping fast. my absolute FAVORITE little guy at jyunicho was stuck to my side the entire time. he wanted me to jump rope while crossing the room, and said "good-o" [good :)] and gave a thumbs up when i met his challenge. he also said "ready, set, go!" every time i began. his pants AND shorts fell down when he was jumping!! i motioned he should pull them up a bit higher and he followed my suggestion to the extreme. wow, if steve erckle lived in japan, he'd be jealous...

20 minutes into our play, hiro-kun came over with a book he wanted me to read. we plopped down in the middle of the hallway and started to read. my little favorite was there, of course, and my hiragana reading wasn't quite fast enough for his liking. he quickly took over and complained to hiro when he wasn't paying attention ["hiro-kun, look! don't you want to read this book?"] sadly, the time was up soon and we had to start cleaning.

as i walked around, hiro waved me over to his little room. he had a cleaning rag in his hand and was breathing on the glass window. he would grin at the condensation and wipe it away with his rag. he wanted me to breathe on the other side, and a few minutes later we switched sides. i, of course, had to use my sleeve to wipe the glass since i don't have my own personal cleaning rag.

i have to wait MORE than a month to experience today's bliss again. sad news, yo*

holiday here

it's been refreshing to realize that my christmas season this year is drastically different from christmases past. i'm super bummed to not be home with my family. at the same time, i'm content to experience life on the other side of the world.

i can do my work, spend time with my friends, and wrap a few special somethings for my family to be shipped next week. today we had a "christmas party" for some kids of himi. they were super genki but i couldn't help feeling they had no idea what was going on. they were playing games and getting candy, which is always fun for kids. but there's no historical significance, family traditions, or thrill of snow and a big dinner. i can't imagine my life without the celebration of christmas. i can feel myself getting more homesick as i reminisce about the amazing christmases we have had in the nelson home* my parents always make it an incredibly special time...

last year al & i got new p.j.s in our living room at midnight on christmas eve.

this year i'll be on an island at midnight on christmas eve.

if i am kelly

today my 2nensei kids were practicing "if i ____, i will _____" we had them race in teams to write sentences. my teacher picked the beginnings and they ran with it. some examples were "if i am rich..." and "if i am a monkey...." THEN she decided to try "if i am kelly..." [now, i know that's not really good english; you should probably say "if i were kelly..." but hey, i was curious what they would write so i let it go!] i bet you're dying to know, too. well, die no longer! here are the answers from one class:

5. if i am kery [COME ON!!! they still don't know how to spell my name?!], i will be an english teacher. if i am an english teacher, i will teach english. if i teach english, i will study english. if i study english, i will be sick. if i am sick, i will eat chocolate.

4. if i am kelly, i will be model. if i am model, i will be popular. if i am popular, i will get marriage. if i am marriage, i will be happy. if i am happy, i will be pleased.

3. if i am kelly, i will go to america. if i go to america, i will visit N.Y. if i visit N.Y. i will watch a baseball game. if i watch a baseball game, i will be excited. if i am excited, i will jump in the river. [AHHH haha i was cracking up @ that curve ball ending!]

2. if i am kelly, i will be a model. if i am a model, i will take a lot of pictures. if i take a lot of pictures, i will give to my friends. if i give to my friends, they are happy. if they are happy, i am happy too. if i am happy, all world people are happy too. [!!!]

1. [and now, my personal favorite:] if i am kelly, i will go to a bath. if i go to a bath, i will drink ビール [beer]. if i drink ビール, i will be happy. if i am happy, i will watch TV. if i watch TV i will stay in bed.

*these kids must think i have a luxurious life...
watching tv, going to baths, and drinking beer :)

it's official

let's start with engrish, like always:
1. why do you like mother teresa?
"because she has a very beautiful heat"
2. what is your future dream?
"i want to be a beautiful woman" & "i want to become a handball"

some musings from my life...
my crazy teacher stresses me out. i realized today that i am constantly on edge when she's at her desk. when she goes to teach a class, i am instantly calmed and can work effectively and without tension. i'm not sure how i'm going to make it till the end of march, but i'll just go day by day. [the source of anxiety today was the mountain of students notebooks that swamped our desks. they somehow made their way completely onto MY desk, even though she said i should only do them if i had time. of course, she knows i have endless amounts of time since i'm teaching no classes till thursday because of end-term exams]

yesterday was my first day to eat with class 2-5. i always get nervous on mondays about how the homeroom teacher will respond to my eating with the students. this particular teacher has always been nice but reserved. as we all prepared to do aisatsu [greetings, or something...] someone shouted "eigo, eigo de?" and the teacher looked at me... "what do you say in english?" i was on the spot and didn't want to disappoint the kids by saying that we say nothing before we start to eat, so i exclaimed "LET'S EAT!" :) i was so flattered and grateful at the effort of that teacher* she could easily have ignored my presence and made no attempt at communication. she carefully chose to include me in the class and to encourage her kids to use english.

upon arrival at that same class today, i sat down in the empty seat designated as my lunchtime spot. the kids were lined up to fill their trays at the front of the class. one of the genkier/ braver girls flicked my dangling earring to get my attention. i turned around and she just smiled and waved. haha! i guess that's a start. it's better than nothing. as we were finishing our meal, the girl behind me picked something off the back of my sweater. i couldn't understand what she said it was-- apparently the word for random fuzzy things on clothing hasn't been included on their vocabulary lists yet-- but i appreciated it all the same.

yesterday i bought my first article of clothing with engrish* i think that means i have officially adjusted to japan...

walking nobly

mandy sent this quote to us last weekend. it still hasn't lost it's appeal to me...

"My mother is very sensitive to fashion. I can't reveal her age because she is mind about aging. She isn't so much young. Still, she is wearing miniskirts [insert hand-drawn picture of miniskirt here] and walking around crowded street nobly. Her way of life is ageless, so I respect her in terms of this. She has not cooked so often, but she is trying to cook as long as possible lately."

on that happy note, it's the weekend. i'm thrilled to sleep in tomorrow and then spend some quality time with cool people. tonight, before ann came over to watch a movie, i booked 3 nights of hostels and this amazing kayak tour for THAILAND* in exactly 3 weeks time i will be on my way to osaka. and 24 hours later cassie and i will be on our way to bangkok. it's definitely sinking in and i'm totally jazzed.

this morning i had a spectacular view of toyama's mountains. if i can get myself up early enough tomorrow i'll have a photo shoot from my balcony. seriously, i know now why himi people are so crazy about this place we live!

pursuit of trivia

i like random facts & details. it's one of my favorite way to know and be known. the nitty gritty of people are what makes us whole. and the nitty gritty of my life here continues to bring me great joy and fascination. i am definitely in pursuit of trivia.

i decided it's much easier to eat salad with chopsticks than a fork. i think i'll eat it that way whenever possible after leaving japan.

sometimes i think something is hysterical. and i laugh and laugh. and even minutes later, in the middle of teaching pronunciation, i laugh and laugh some more. it happened today when a kid said "the united station" instead of united states. my class was in stitches at my uncontrollable laughter :)

last night i rode the train home across from a super old lady who lives in my neighborhood. she has barely any teeth and consistently sucks her gums/ lips.

sometimes kids make me fall in love with them. and they have no clue they're doing it. [for example, the little tyke in the red shirt below!]

one of the things i miss most is english magazines. they cost about 16 bucks at the book store here. i just can't splurge.

every night i sleep with a hot water bottle at my feet. it takes the chill off my bed so i can fall asleep in my frigid apartment. the hot water bottle reminds me of being little at grandmom's house, for some reason.

many days i don't eat all of my school lunch. i'm no longer a polite guest of hokubu chugako.

i always want people to start a conversation, but i can very rarely understand even a tiny bit of their first sentence :/

i had no idea how strongly i felt about fall foliage. if winter never starts i'll be a happy camper.

4 exams

thanksgiving [yesterday for me] started out pretty sad. i was in a horribly lonely mood and wrote the following during first period at school.

... for as long as i can remember, the first snow was something worth celebrating. i'd go out, catch the flakes, make a wimpy snowball or two, and dance around like a kid. here there's no such luck. despite feeling and being treated like an ignorant child, i am a grown-up. i'm expected to sit solemnly at my desk doing nothing of consequence. all while my new world is being covered in white. when i was little, i'd have killed for snow on Thanksgiving. because even though it's meaningless here, today is Thanksgiving... i continue to be a walking contradiction. i teach my kids to speak English, but except on wednesdays, i make little attempt to learn the language which surrounds me. i hate feeling like a kid but i'd much rather hang out with students than teachers. i treasure the beauty of this place, but often feel trapped and somewhat stifled. some days i'm bored and underused; others i'm working like crazy from start to finish. and while i live for adventure, i desperately long for home...

the day got much better in the afternoon. my crazy teacher was asking me a question about my future goal of teaching elementary school. she said "in japan, it is not easy to be a teacher. we have to take a test. there are many people who want to be teachers, but they cannot." i said "oh, yeah, in new york it's difficult to be a teacher. you have to take a test, too." she said "but you cannot be a teacher when you go back to new york... you have to take a test to get certifications..." i was like "yeah, i can be a teacher immediately." she looked doubtful, so i explained "i have already taken 4 exams. i am certified to teach in new york. as soon as i go home next year i will be able to teach." she was SHOCKED!!! she told my other JTE and he was surprised as well. they both said "wow, you are very smart!! that's wonderful. wow!" [i was like, DER you crazies... i've been telling you all this time that i am a certified teacher! perhaps i should be irritated that they have refused to understand up till now, but mostly i was just glad. i'm glad they recognize i'm a well-educated, capable human being. i'm glad they see that i'm serious about teaching and am not just here for kicks. there may not be much change in how they utilize me in the classroom, but i think it makes a difference in mindset.]

* it was beautiful to be a part of virginia thanksgiving today. i talked to nearly all my extended family! <3

soon i'm off to a major thanksgiving-ish food fest, for which i attempted to make pasta salad.

how about it?

on tuesday, my crazy teacher was driving me to a demonstration lesson. she had to present in front of a bunch of teachers, and was really nervous. she started applying more makeup than she was already wearing, and we had a short conversation about the "use of cosmetics". i casually mentioned that my face has been breaking out more now that it's winter. without flinching, she said, "how about taking a shower?"

10 things i [love] about [japan]

10. cutie face kids singing & dancing around in costumes
9. nearly all adjectives in japanese end in the "i" sound [amazing!]
8. the mountains of my prefecture!!!
7. insanely gorgeous fall leaves
6. ethnic food in our capital city [nepalese, specifically]
5. the way my lack of a car encourages exercise & fresh air breathing
4. cute guys, whose ages i cannot determine unless they are wearing uniforms. in which case, they are way too young and i should be put in jail if i looked at them*
3. only getting stared at 1/2 the time on the train, instead of all the time
2. an amazing old-navy-esque clothing store called UNIQLO
1. my bike being left at the station, with the key in the lock [accidentally], and still being there more than 24 hours later!!!!

[want more evidence of my beautiful life? see "a few more photos"]

their true thoughts

... here are some more of my favorite excerpts from today's 3nensei diaries...

"i don't have a brother or sister. i'm a little lonely. i want to have cats or dogs. but the family opposes it."


"i went to AEON. i saw kelly. she was very cute!" <3

"my dog is full of energy. but i am tired and have no energy to do anything"

the next few are from the same guy; he's amazing! --the last is my absolute favorite. it made me want to die! i was cracking up and crying at the same time...

"I had a leisurely bath"

"I'll introduce my friend. my friend's name is Mr. Yubata (3-5). I'm friendly with him. And he's wise as an owl"

"I had a dog. My sister named her Purin. She was very cute. But she died in September 4th. I cried with grief. Purin, Thank You Very Much!!"

!!!!!

sashimi, please

[before...][after.]
[master of the demonstration!]
[me trying to avoid eating the lovely soup they made for us out of the chopped off fish heads.... mmmmmmm.... oishi.... & meanwhile, i'm wearing an apron that went to about my belly button]



soooooo today was the day i prepared you all for with yesterday's blog. please enjoy the photos from today's sashimi preparation time! [i'm leaving for manyo in a few minutes; i'm not sure how well my stomach is going to do after spending an hour cutting up my own giant fish this afternoon!]

as i read through the prepared speech for an elementary school teacher, the following line caught my eye: "i think we must help old people because they are dangerous"

one of my own students wrote this in her diary: "today i cuted a forelock. i was sad, but my friends said 'it is cute!'!!"... yep...

*i like*

i had a pretty positive day in the area of my school life.
["let's enjoy school life!"]

i spent hours upon hours preparing a diversity lesson for 3-nensei. it was sort of a conversational review, but my goal was to have the kids see names and faces from around the world. my co-teacher, mr. takehara, seemed a bit unsure of its effectiveness, so i started the day a tiny bit discouraged. but then after the first class, he goes "i think we taught that class really well. the activity was good for them. they had good motivation! :) it feels great to put hard work into something unique and have it recognized as quality.

i taught the special ed class by myself this afternoon; as the teacher walked with me to class, she said in japanese that she was sorry, but she had to go to toyama for a meeting... fortunately, i had an awesome activity planned. the kids were SO into it that there was no silliness or behavior issues. i brought pages from two american magazines. they had to make collages using pictures of the things they like. they then presented their collages, saying "I like ______" all 3 are super creative and really like doing art-based stuff. what a HIT*

tonight my phone rang [a rare occurrence here!] it was my fav teacher, ms. himashita. she is absolutely cute and always super sweet. PLUS she's a solid teacher who works hard and can communicate effectively with foreigners. anyway, she called to tell me that tomorrow afternoon, her class is having a special fish cooking session. "can you join us?!" she said that we will be cutting sashimi so i should bring something to cover my clothes... "there will be a lot of fish blood. it could be very smelly" :) -what a darling-

in class this morning, i was giving out stickers to the students who stood up to read their answers in english. i gave one funny guy a light purple mini mushroom and he goes "i like purple very much" i was like "oh, really?!" and he said "it's a joke", with a big grin! <3

i love this crazy tragic

jam packed weekend.

essie & abby came to sleep over on friday night. we wandered the streets of himi and had an awesome photo shoot at the cutie playground. we also caused quite a ruckus in sunstage apartment building with our wild dance party.

yesterday i did some solo shopping. i ended up with two awesome things: 1. brown, warm, incredibly high knee socks, so i can look like a japanese schoolgirl. well, at least under my jeans. 2. cool beads, earring hooks, and all sorts of tools to begin my new hobby: jewelry making! i decided as i looked around the craft store that this winter will be far more tolerable if i have something to occupy my evenings other than hours of facebook stalking. the ladies at the store were incredibly sweet... they explained that a start up kit was much cheaper than purchasing two individual tools. they also patiently helped me fill out a shoppers card which saved me about 15 bucks! :)

yesterday afternoon, my favorite toyama girls and i began a relaxing overnight at our friend rebecca's house. she lives way out in the boonies, sort of in a valley amidst the mountains. last night was filled with hilarity of engrish. mandy brought some essays her students wrote and we had a gigantic laugh fest. you seriously wouldn't believe some of the quotes... one student, for example, wanted to trade places for a day with a gate at disneyland. another wanted to change lives with ann sullivan so she could "fight helen keller" [!!!!] we decided she must mean fight for helen keller, but that make the quote any less hysterical*

today, as you can see from the first picture above, we got a glimpse of beautiful fall in japan. it was thrilling to be outside, far from busy city life, and see some traditional ways of life.

after visiting the gassho houses, the girls initiated me into real japanese culture: the onsen. i've sort of been putting it off because i was sure the relaxation of hot springs could not outweigh the awkwardness of sitting naked in water with a bunch of other women. i was wrong. the whole thing was beautifully peaceful- we had a gorgeous view of the mountains and the water was piping hot like a cozy bath at home. there was no awkwardness about it, after the initial fleeting feeling of weirdness. i left feeling warm and refreshed. and proud of myself for taking hold of another japanese life experience.

*summary of my weekend: while there are things in my daily work life which drive me nuts and make me want to holler in frustration, i truly love it here. japan is absolutely gorgeous at this time of year. there is such a rich culture and appreciation for the beauty that surrounds me. i'm also incredibly blessed by my friends; it's great for my emotional health to swap work stories and laugh with them about the pure ridiculousness that IS our lives. this year is truly going to be one of my grandest adventures...



[if you want even a taste of the ridiculousness i hear/read every day, please watch this video. it's absolutely NUTS!! :)]

----> chan

i must be weaseling my way into some hearts here... the last few days i've noticed hints of a change in the way some people at school interact with me.

1. one of my favs is a man who i don't think teaches anything. he sits in the staff room with everyone else, but i'm pretty sure he does all the maintenance, repairs, garden stuff, etc. he also serves up teacher's lunch trays. so he always says "kell-san, dozo" as he hands me my tray but LATELY he has been saying "kelly-chan, dozo" instead. i guess that could be b/c he has realized how much like a child i am in this country. but i would rather assume that it's because he has realized i'm a pretty nice person, not a scary foreign monster.
2. the same guy was coming out of the staff room as i was going in. i paused outside the door and said "dozo" so he could go through first. he walked out, said "dozo" and slid the door shut before i could go in. i cracked up! i was shocked but obviously thrilled* we exchanged grins and i continued feeling content that he knows i'm not a scary foreign monster.
3. on my way to eat lunch with class 2-1 today, the teacher said "what do you think of my class?" i was really impressed with his effort. he's a super quiet man and really doesn't have much to say in japanese, let alone english. i think he probably practiced that phrase for 5 minutes before we walked to lunch. [*i'm honored!*]
4. i was leaving a class today and maeda-san showed up in the doorway. lately i haven't even been getting a smile out of her, so i'm never sure what to expect. i gave my usual greeting. she grinned, and grabbed onto my hand. i didnt want to let the moment pass so i said as much random english/ japanese as i could. basically, asked in both languages if she was genki. she nodded, smiled again, and let go of my hand. amazing how 7 seconds can change my whole day around.

it's getting to be quite cold here. this morning i wore my winter hat to school and i've been wearing gloves for the last week. i realize snow will make my routine a bit more complicated. i obviously can't ride my bike if the streets are covered. maybe i'll have to give up my addiction to the one grocery store that [every once in a blue moon] sells glorious wheat bread...

my heart beats for kids

i had an amazing, kid-filled day. i spent hours at jyunicho, which included eating lunch with san-nensei. i could actually communicate a little bit with them because they speak simple japanese. after lunch i played soccer with some boys. they were wicked sweet and always passed to me and said "SHOOT!!!" then cheered when i scored. of course, the goalies weren't doing anything really, so it wasn't any great accomplishment to get a goal :)

i absolutely adore elementary days. the school is just so peaceful and kind-hearted; the staff attempt to speak english and are understanding of my imperfect japanese.
THEN when i arrived home i had a bright red envelope in my mailbox. i recognized the handwriting and grinned with joy. i could hardly wait till the elevator got to floor 6 to open it up. eleanor and gordon sent me a cutie card, with their little names signed at the bottom. YAY! :)

i'm from america, but i live in toyama-ken

here's a taste of my weekend sightseeing. check out the photo blog for more :)

cassie and i attracted a ton of attention as we toured kyoto on saturday. people always said "where are you from?!?!" i stubbornly replied, "well, i'm from america, but i live in toyama-ken" everyone seemed shocked... "OH you live in Japan?!" YEAH, take that, clueless.

some random highlights of the past 3 days:
-hanging with nate at some of his fav kobe spots
-being interviewed for a local news station [talk about pressure!]
-successfully getting around via train and bus [;) cassie, thats for you]
-hints of gorgeous fall colors on my bus ride home today
-THE OCEAN!!!!
-talking to students of my friend mandy on the train. *kawaiiiiii*
-a girl saying "hello" to us, then putting her finger right in cassie's face and stating: "you have blue eyes!" then she wanted to pose with us for a picture. like i said, clueless. but still cute :)
-speaking english
-an incredibly needed break from my routine at hokubu. last week i was pretty miserable at school so this weekend was a perfect getaway.

down side of the bell curve

today, like almost every other day, we had a change in the school schedule. i am particularly sensitive to schedule changes lately; for some reason they really irritate me and bring extra stress.

first of all, i never know the schedule changes at the same time as everyone else b/c i can't read the white boards all around the staff room. and of course, the teachers are running around like chickens without heads so they don't think to explain the unintelligible kanji. second of all, it always seems to be stupid, formal, and horrendously long assemblies, for which i can see no purpose. [they must explain the purpose in japanese. der]. thirdly, it means i get to see my students even less than i already do. schedule changes usually mean i don't get to teach all the classes. like i do on a normal day. if that exists. thus i spend more time alone at my desk, sneakily reading a book for fun or practicing japanese flashcards over and over.

*however, i was incredibly and joyfully surprised by today's reason for the change. it turned out to be a musical performance by a talented duo [video below]. the woman was from tokyo, and [if i understood her japanese correctly] has lived in seattle recently. the man was from columbia. it was awesome to watch them interact. they are both bilingual, with English as their common language. the woman told the man "oh, these are the third year students. they will understand your english". i laughed out loud, the felt sort of guilty. apparently it wasn't a joke.

they would stop to talk between songs. she would ask him a question in english, he would respond in english, and she would translate into japanese. he spoke some spanish, which i could understand [!!!] and taught the kids a bit about life in columbia. he explained the materials used to make his instruments... none of them were purchased, all handmade. he talked about some things being near extinction. he talked about his own ethnically diverse background.

!!!!!-- i felt like this was an absolutely fantastic opportunity for my students. they got to see English as a real, active language. they got to watch people from completely different backgrounds communicate and work together. they got to hear that there is a world out there which isn't so grossly homogeneous as their own [black-hair-brown-eyes-dull-colors-wearing] world.

toward the end, the man was telling in english how much he has loved japan so far. he said that last night they went to a restaurant and he ate delicious sushi. then he joked about how he drank too much sake. i was the only one who cracked up! all the teachers looked at me, clueless, because they hadn't gotten a japanese translation yet.

this is terribly bitter, but it felt amazing to be the one who got the joke. for once.

maybe now those teachers have some clue what my everyday feels like. but probably not.

kids will be kids. sometimes.

[two of my fav boys :)]
[CRAZY excited san-nensei girls]
[kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!]
*i attempted to dress like a rock star b/c i was teaching about american music. i guess the kids bought it ;)

well, i just completed my last of seven full days of work this week. hokubu had its annual school festival all day today, so i have worked long hours every day, including saturday and today. it's been quite exhausting, but the final product of today was great. it was wicked fun to see the kids able to be kids, for once, instead of military participants. they had a blast playing games, eating snack foods, "trick or treating" in the international room, and showing their families around school. they were all wicked excited to say hi and tons asked me to pose for a picture. even at 4pm when i was on my last wind, they were genki as they cleaned and put back furniture.

as compensation for these past two days, i have tomorrow and friday off. tomorrow i'm going to the toyama airport to get my re-entry permit. why, you ask? because i'll need it to get back into Japan after i go to THAILAND for christmas!!!!!!!!! yep, thats right... cassie and i bought tickets on tuesday for our 8 day trip to thailand in december. if all goes according to plan, we'll be at the beach in this scenic island south of thailand on christmas day :)

one of my JTEs has been driving me crazy lately. i guess when you spend seven days straight sitting next to someone, it can easily get old. BUT there are two things she has done lately that absolutely make me clench my jaw in frustration: 1. she is super o.c.d about how she puts a circle on students papers when the sentence/ word is correct. she tried and tried to show me how she does it a few weeks ago. [i decided she should probably drop it, especially since i do the majority of her grading while she is messing around at her desk busily being inefficient.] THEN when i thought she had let it go (b/c who cares anyway?) she said to me this week: "we japanese make circles like this. we start from this side" i said "well, it doesnt matter what you japanese do. i'm left handed so my brain automatically makes me start from this side" [and in my head said YOU NUT CASE, ITS A CIRCLE!!!!!!!]
2. today she was attempting to explain some kanji. she told me 2-3 sentences in english and then asked what the english word was for that. i said there wasn't just one word, you can't explain that in one word. she got frustrated, said "WHY?!?!", and kept saying the same explanation over and over again. since she was so stressed i just picked the best word, which i thought was exempt. she wrote it down, but then looked it up in her electronic dictionary when we got to the staff room. IT told her that default was better, so she crossed off my word and wrote default. default totally doesn't make sense with what she was explaining. well, good, i'm thrilled to be spending a year in this crazy country when my job can so easily be done by a dictionary.

AHHHHH... if it weren't for the kids, i don't know how i'd cope...

[check out my photo blog for more cutie pics from today's festivities!:)]

the laughter never stops

Do you like Mother Teresa?
No, I don't.

Why?
Because she is old.

HIRO-kun

[peaceful bike ride home from my fav-o school]
[ragamuffin but tasty meal. the package SAID yakisoba...??]
["twins" @ our joint 23rd birthday bash!!]


i had the most beautiful day at elementary school today. i could seriously work there for the rest of my life and be a happy girl :) first of all, the kids were wicked genki in both of my classes. then during lunch i got a lot of attention... students a few tables away kept turning to watch me eat. i guess they are STILL shocked i can use chopsticks, 3 months into life here. later the kocho-sensei told the staff room in japanese that all the students were looking at me during lunch b/c i am left handed. it's quite a spectacle, apparently.

i came in from the morning run and my friend who speaks english [i think his job is curriculum development or something... not quite sure, but he LOVES the kids!!] goes "do you know he is so cute? he has a handicap. his brain and body grow slowly. he is growing step by step" ..... about the cutie little special needs boy i mentioned a while back. i learned that his name is hiroki. they call him hiro-kun and he is the school favorite :)

after lunch i watched ni-nensei kids play their homemade carnival-ish games. they wanted me to try, so of course i humored them. they said "YAY!" every time i "caught" a soda can fish with my magnetized fishing pole*

i then went over to the piano bc hiro-kun was trying to play with another little girl. without words, he told me to play with them. then he got down off the piano bench and beckoned me into his little classroom. he showed me around, looked at photographs, then he sat at his miniature desk and pointed to a seat in front of it. i sat down and we practiced numbers 1-3 with flashcards and then drew on the white board with markers. he is absolutely DARLING!!!!!


SO, i got sick on friday [what a special present!]. i'm better today but things are still stuffed up and painful in my head/ throat. i went to the grocery store this afternoon, armed with a picture in mind of what medicine i needed to buy. much to my shock and confusion, the medicine aisle was blocked off and the shelves covered with thick canvas material. WHAT? who in the world closes a medicine aisle in a grocery store?! and what are the odds that its closed the very first time i need something?! AHHH, this country drives me crazy sometimes!!!

why do you like mother teresa?

i like to start my posts with funny quotes.

today i was grading student exams. the crazy teacher had the 2nd years memorize what they wrote about their fav photo and write it again on the test. apparently one student memorized MINE instead because he wrote: "this picture was taken when i was twenty-two years old" [i started cracking up when i read this! poor guy, he's back to the future!]

when asked to start a conversation with compliments, one student wrote "you look nice in that bag". if someone was IN a bag, i doubt they would look very nice.

at lunch today, three girls were whispering to each other and i knew they were trying to figure out how to express what they wanted to say, in english. finally, one said "kelly! nice body" hahaha!

as i rode my bike home this afternoon i reflected a bit on the changes in me since i arrived about 11 weeks ago. the biggest change is obviously my acquisition of japanese. i remember my first day at hokubu when i had to introduce myself in the staff room in japanese... i got too nervous to say i would do my best. now i feel confident using casual phrases and speaking in broken sentences. obviously, it's my goal to speak proper japanese by the time i go home, but i'm making pretty great progress. there's definitely something to be said for immersion. i cant imagine making such significant headway if i weren't constantly surrounded by native speakers.

another huge change is my ability to be alone. i'm an extrovert to the max, but i think these past couple months [and the 10 still to come] are really going to do wonders for my confidence and emotional stability. i find great joy in coming home to my quiet apartment and creating my own evening's schedule. of course there are days when i long for conversation with someone who understands every single word i speak. and of course there are days when i wish i could be living with people who care about my heart of hearts. but most days, i am content.


when asked "why do you like mother teresa?", one student wrote "because she is very easy" [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] oh, holy smokes :)

eating the menu

this morning i made a classic error. i was hurrying to cut some paper into tiny pieces for class and wasn't careful of the cutter. i brought it right down and sliced open my thumb!! it even broke through the nail. of course, i am clueless about medical things and didn't know what to do. i also didnt want to make a big scene. i rinsed it in the sink and applied pressure with toilet paper. when it didnt stop bleeding after about 3 minutes, i asked kohashi what to do. she sent me down to the "'nursery room" with my toilet-paper-bound thumb and i came out like this ------>
haha. what a scene after all :) the nurse clicked and clucked, made sad faces, poured on some disinfectant, and just kept wrapping and wrapping. my thumb was about 3 times its normal size and about 37 times as clumsy. i got a lucky break, though, because the lunch today required a spork, not chopsticks as per usual.

at the end of the day, i saw a girl who had been in the nurse's office when i arrived. she said "oh, kelly-san, daijobi desu ka?!?!" i grinned [because i could understand her japanese!] and said yep, i'm fine.

before i left, kohashi gave me a message from the nurse. they must know i'm alone here without a momma because the nurse requested i come in tomorrow morning to have her take care of me. she wants to "disinfection" my injury :)


[during lunch, the teacher whose class i ate with told the students "today, only kelly can speak japanese!" he then proceeded to speak a ton of english to me and to the class (i cant believe he's been holding out this whole time!!!), including the following question "can you eat this menu?" hahaha, i thought he asked if i could read the menu, so i said yes, i can read hiragana and katakana. he was wicked confused till i realized my error and said "OH, yes, i can eat all this food. i just dont like natto. everything else is ok!"]

10 weeks down

[4:45am to 6am][our soba sensei observing the thinness of noodles cut]
[an entire store dedicated to hello kitty?!?!]

highlights of my weekend...

*at the kito-kito festival in himi this afternoon, we stopped to talk to the owner of a local bar who is super friendly and knows all of our names. a guy at her tent said "OH geigin!" [which means foreigners!] and came over to shake our hands. he asked how old we are and held ann's hand and then my hand up against his cheek. [kind of a funny combination of customs... not touching cheeks, not kissing the hand, not just shaking it...]

*we were taught the fine art of soba making at the festival. it was quite a challenge to knead the dough and even more of a challenge to slice the noodles finely enough for our sensei's taste. it turned out to be quite a spectacle and more than one random visitor stopped to take pictures of the geigin making soba. ann and i are cooking ours together tonight so we'll see how the fruits of our hard work taste.

*i made a lovely new friend at the JET event on saturday night. we'd only been talking for 10 minutes when she said "tomorrow we are celebrating my friends birthday. do you want to come?" :) haha. i said no, because we had soba making class, but mostly bc i think its so bizarre to invite someone random to a friends birthday. [however, since she's my friend now, i invited her to my own birthday shindig on friday!]

*my friend who shares the same day of birth greeted me last night by saying "kelly, YAY! our birthday is on friday. WOO! wow, you're sweaty!"] hahaha...

*there was a big dance party at this brazilian restuarant last night. the last train to himi leaves at 10:41pm. ann and i decided that was far too early to go home so our only choice was to stay up till the first morning train at 6:06am. it turned out to be wicked fun bc after the party we went to a restuarant and had great food and fun with some fellow JETS who i dont get to see very often. then we discovered the train station waiting room was closed so we laid outside on the grass in what seemed like frigid temperatures. mmmm was i ready for my cozy bed at 6:32!!

i'm always grateful for these kind of experiences bc they remind me why i chose to come here this year. i am young, independent, and adventurous. now's the time to do those kind of goofy, semi-crazy things. and i dont need to do them again any time soon :)

big sister-dom

yesterday as i was celebrating allen's birthday from across the world, meliss left a facebook post of congratulations... its been 18 years since i became a big sister. what an awesome point of view :) i considering big sister-dom to be the best opportunity in the world. its a great job, a huge responsibility, a heck of a lot of fun, and a wild adventure!

i begged and prayed for a little brother... when he arrived i probably wasn't quite as excited since i had to share my parents, my dog, my space, and my heart. but i cant imagine the past 18 years of my life without al. of course there have been days when he made me mad or wrestled me too much, but seriously, i would be nothing without him. i would be much less spontaneous, less adventurous, less of a listener, less funny, and less creative. i would have had millions of car rides with no meaningful conversations, and millions of dinner times with just my parents to keep me entertained. my musical interests would be terribly narrow. i would have no clue how boys work and why they do the things they do. being a sister has been and continues to be an incredible honor. i wish every girl could grow up with a fun, musical, and hysterical brother like mine.

here's to the past 18 years. ハッピーバースデー アレンサン

kids say the darndest things

i would like to enlighten the far sides of the world with some sentences my students wrote on their worksheets today. i burst into laughter multiple times as i checked them for grammar and spelling. please enjoy :)


"i don't think Nazomi is Japanese"

"i don't think Kawata is human"

"i don't think that Takuro is sexy"

"i'm afraid he thought i would die with laughter"

"i'm sure that he is demented"


anddddddddd my absolute favorite of the year so far...

"i'm afraid that Masuro is constipated"

days like today

days like today make me anxious to be a teacher in the states SOON. it also makes me excited for future kids of my own. i just absolutely adore the children i know.

at jyunicho today, i played outside with the kiddos for a wicked long time. at first i wandered over to the monkey bars bc it was younger kids playing there and i wanted to introduce myself even though i dont teach their classes. they all wanted to show me tricks and a bunch told me their names. later, i watched some girls practicing riding unicycles. then, the best part of the afternoon came when i started playing tag with 3 little ones. our group eventually grew so big we had to have two taggers. i learned some valuable japanese such as the term for who is "it". we ran around the giant sandbox a million times, laughed a lot, wrote our names in the dirt, and i worked off that big bowl of rice i had for lunch.

[speaking of lunch, the kyoto-sensei asked me before we started eating "kelly-san, hashi daijobi?" haha i wondered how he thought i have survived in japan for 9 weeks without using chopsticks!]

days like today make me a bit dissatisfied with my work at hokubu and also have me chomping at the bit for a classroom of my own. i feel like i can genuinely make a difference in the lives of children if i am working towards their whole education. teaching spelling and "conversational" english the kids will forget by tomorrow aren't nearly as satisfying...

in the last 4 days i...

...

*shook hands and posed for a picture with a local sweets chef

*visited an awesome art gallery

*caught crabs by the sea

*saw a bunch of my boys on the train [they were going to a handball tournament!!!]

*played hide-and-seek with 4 little japanese cuties

*spent 3 hours straight on skype!!!!

*had my favorite starbucks drink [and ordered it in japanese]

*played dutch blitz!

*taught a special ed class which was "very very enjoy!!" :)

*visited my first "recycle shop"

*made a great new friend [mei-chan!!! "no licking"]

*got some hugs*

*learned a bunch of new japanese words/ phrases

*sang and danced to under the sea

*read 2 books straight through

*missed my brother like crazy

*laughed with some favorites

trivia

i have a ton of random excerpts of humor and just straight-up bizarre happenings. here goes:

*the difference between the japanese words for cute and scary are just the slightest lengthening of the last sound. i'm pretty sure i have exclaimed to multiple parents how frightened i am by their adorable child. i know the difference, but just can't master the pronunciation under pressure :)

*at school, everyone runs everywhere. teachers run from their desk to the window sill shelf, to their classrooms. students run into the staff room, back out, down the stairs, and to their classrooms. i am constantly amazed by the running, which only saves about 1/2 second since its not really a long hike to the window shelf.

*i have been incredibly cautious to put my cell phone on "manner mode" every day before i leave my apartment. i realize after 8 weeks that its completely unnecessary bc everyone answers their cell phones at work. they are always startling me out of boredom with hip, youthful ringtones. oh, japan, you and your technology!

*a few weeks ago i was at my elementary school and there's one story that absolutely epitomizes the wonder of that place. it was still really hot outside so i arrived at school sweaty. about an hour into the morning, my fav man there asked me if i was cold. i said no, i'm great. i was surprised he asked me that since like i said, it was still super hot. later that afternoon he said "kelly-san, you keep coughing. i thought you were cold because you were coughing" :) AH i didnt even notice i was coughing!!!! golly, see why i love it there?!

*japanese people cannot stop saying "sumimasen" [sort of used as excuse me or i'm sorry, depending on the circumstances]!!! ... its an absolute trip to listen in on a conversation between a hokubu teacher and someone they call on the phone. ann does a hysterical imitation, but i cant do it justice and nobody outside japan would understand. basically, they are just attempting to be as polite as is humanly possible. it turns out hilarious, though, when you translate it into english. basically any time someone talks to me, they say "sorry". haha. like "sorry, this afternoon we will have 2-4 and we will do page 46 in the textbook" or "sorry, can you tell me how to say this correctly in english?" i'm getting used to it, i guess. i even have caught myself doing it too!!!

**this morning i had a moment i think every teacher dreams of. first, a little background: there's a student in my special needs class who never says a word of english. she doesnt really even speak japanese either. i think she is emotionally disturbed, but thats only an uneducated guess. her name is Maeda. i always call her Maeda-san, hoping that the hint of japanese will get her. i have been working creatively and consistently ever since i arrived to have even the tiniest bit of communication. last week i taught the class the names of some farm animals and she was thrilled with the tiny pig, chick, horse, and cow i let her play with. i knew i was making some progress but wasnt sure of the extent. this week she finally waved to me, and i was on cloud nine.

SO this morning i walked into school a little tired and with my usual uncertainty about how the day would go. as soon as i came through the front door, there was maeda-san with the school nurse. she nurse said "kelly-sensei!" and maeda-san grinned. i said "ohaiyo gozaimas!! good morning!!!" with a huge smile. i walked over to them after changing my shoes and maeda had this tiny little pink sign with the words "good morning" written in english. she waved the sign at me and smiled again!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was the most absolutely darling thing. i got tears in my eyes and told her i was coming to her class to teach english today. the nurse translated into english and maeda-san grinned while the nurse said "YAY!!"

:)

check out photos from my day today :)
[link on the right]

already october

["street dance"-- totally rad!]

[a mexican song and dance]



"kelly-san, today you had much free time"

...yeah, no kidding. i sat in the staff room for 5 hours doing nothing of consequence. why didn't you have me go to my elementary school where at least i would have been seeing students...

i was feeling pretty grouchy by the time i left school at 4:05 this afternoon. there are TONS of things on my list that need to get done, but none could be accomplished at school.

the only class i taught today was the 3rd year english elective. fortunately, that was super fun and the girls were wicked chatty. my teacher asked me to please not talk to them because they needed to write :)

the pictures above are from an international fest i attended yesterday. there were mostly japanese people as spectators, but they had some variety in terms of performances... i met some filippino guys who are in takaoka for 3 years training for their company. the one i talked to was super nice and i wished meliss was here so we could hang out with them together.

currently i am thinking about what christmas gifts to buy everyone, how best to decorate the international room for our school festival in 3 1/2 weeks, and what to put on the bulletin board about popular music in the u.s. my teacher seemed THRILLED with my music idea; now i just have to figure out the logistics and get some cool photos!

other than a wet ride to school [it ONLY poured while i was riding my bike; the entire rest of the day it was just cool and cloudy; what are the odds?!?!], i am absolutely LOVING fall here! i noticed that some of the leaves are changing already and the cool weather makes me :)

[i have added a photo blog; the link is on the right of the screen. check it out if you like!]

peace in the quiet

i'm sitting in my apartment, alone with only my itunes, after a flurry of weekend so far. last night rebecca came for a visit and we had sushi and tons of girl time with ann. the 3 of us get along great and it was fun to catch up on each other's lives. even though ann and i live about 100 feet apart, we often end up doing different things on weekends so we don't spend much time talking.

this morning was japanese class, which i loved. the teacher is super helpful and i feel energized and motivated to study every time i leave. i also feel like i'm learning practical japanese; knowing how to read hiragana hasn't really done much for me so far. its nice to know some REAL phrases!

after class we had a breakfast party for 8 here in my apartment. ann made french toast while i made eggs. our friends contributed fruit, coffee, and juice and what a feast it was* we all stayed around sitting on my floor chatting till at least 2:30pm. some of us went exploring on the beach after that and i found some beautiful sea glass... my curiosity got me in trouble, however, when i tried to closely examine some glass and my left ring finger was all of a sudden bleeding. i was an absolute wimp and wanted mom, haha. it turned out fine; stopped bleeding pretty quickly and i washed it when i got home :)

soooooo those are the factual details of life lately. here are some random tidbits from my mind and heart...

*the sound of this sea makes me feel like nobody can see or hear me. its beautiful when i want to be alone to cry or talk out loud...

*i'm shockingly different now than was in college; the thought of spending a saturday evening by myself, doing nothing of consequence doesn't seem terrible at all...

*smiles are the universal language; when i see kids and desperately want to talk, i feel like we can perfectly understand each other as long as smiles are exchanged.

*we have a korean [?] lady in our japanese class who is probably about 28 years old. she and her japanese husband ( at least 55) have a brand new baby. she barely speaks japanese, so i wonder how they communicate. while i'm terribly curious, i probably dont want to know the details of their story. i'm guessing it's a sad one.

*i'm off to visit the grocery store; i hope they have wheat bread and chicken this time!

i don't wanna be that teacher

lets start on a funny note... my first class of today was 2nd grade... they have a bunch of goofy guys in that class who are good at speaking english but hate to write it. our key sentences were "what do you think of my (english)?" and "i think its very (good)"

my teacher was having the students do variations on these sentences-- starting with "what do you think of Kelly?" i got the usual responses "i think she's cute/ beautiful/ nice/ very very cute". i laughed and bowed and said thank you very much. then came the clincher. she told the students to ask me the question... "what do you think of my___"

the first kid stood up and said "what do you think of my face?" [i almost fell over laughing]
the next kid had to one-up him so he said "what do you think of my body?"
next "what do you think of my muscles?!"
-- after i recovered, i managed to give responses that were kind but clearly not-interested. seriously, these kids are hysterical*


as i was washing dishes a few minutes ago, i thought about the kids that i most frequently talk to at school... i walk through the halls saying hi to everyone but i think i give the most attention to the "popular" students [all very smart, cool, friendly, & cute]. i was startled by this conclusion for the following reason...

i was definitely not cool in high school. i'm fine with this fact now but i can clearly [and somewhat painfully] remember the teachers who were hip and made friends with the popular group of students. even in college there were staff who everyone liked and wanted to hang out with, but who chose to devote most of their attention and their true friendship to the good-looking, athletic, funny, and outgoing kids. its awful. i remember always being envious/ disgusted as i watched from afar.

NOW i am in the position of a movie star and am realizing i tend to do the same thing. it's a terrible feeling! SO i make a commitment here and now to avoid heading down that path. i would hate for students to remember me as "kelly, the alt who spoke great english but saved most of her time and energy for the cool kids... too bad i'm quiet and didnt ever get any attention". thus, i will make a conscious effort to give my focus and my questions to a different student or group of students every day.

let it NOT be said of me that i was one of the cool kids*

highlights

[we're foreigners so people expect this kind of behavior ;)]
[all for you, daddio!!]
[sweet camera, huh?!]

on a paper i graded today, a 2nd year student wrote "hiroki showed kim his life" i have no clue what that was supposed to mean, but i cracked up just the same. [isnt it just so darling that all these kids want to show dad their valuable possessions?!?!]

today was the most eventful lunch time of my year... i was leaving the class right before lunch and a student was bringing a bucket from the kitchen to her classroom. she pointed to the box, made a gross face and said "natto!!" i immediately got nervous-- natto is the japanese food all the students want to know if you can eat; apparently foreigners hate it. i haven't met a single non-japanese person who thinks it's tasty and even some natives can't stand it. i told myself i would try natto, just to be patriotic but that i didnt need to keep eating if it was gross. well, rumors are accurate... natto is horrible. it's these tiny brown beans stuck together with something resembling bubble-gum-on-a-shoe in appearance and resembling nastiness in taste. i valiantly tried two bites but couldn't force down the whole package... some days i really miss sandwiches.

after lunch onigiri-sensei leaned over my desk and asked "did you eat natto?" i smiled and said "i tried.... 2...." he said "2 beans?!" haha i laughed and said "no.... 2 bites...." :) he laughed and said "nice try!"

today i finally had a hint of fall. i wore my fav baggy khakis (i decided they are my classic pants to wear when i go watch my friends play intramural soccer. pure autumn wear!!), sneakers, and a long sleeve zippie. it was wonderful to not be sweaty!!

this weekend i'm having my first house guest and also my first time cooking for others!!! my friend rebecca is visiting for the weekend and we're having brunch here in my apartment on saturday after japanese class!!! YAY*

oh, i forgot to mention that on monday we went to a bbbq at this traditional japanese house. it was wicked cool and our new friends piled our bowls with food from the grill-- squid and pig intestines :)

[and, i think i need a japanese housewife bc i dont iron my clothes...]

rwc ---> osaka

[who cares if i got stung by jellyfish my first time in the sea. they're still amazing!!]
[corner wall outside the entrance to osaka-jo, some famous but semi-boring castle]
[okonomiyaki and yakisoba: two of my fav japanese foods!!]
[crepes, shopping, college buddy: perfect weekend combination :)]

i'll try to sum up the last 5 days with a few random blurbs. that will be easier and more interesting than typing a detailed excerpt about my adventures!!

- friday @ school i had a ton of hilarious quotes to write down. in a second year elective english class the students had to say "my name is.... i like...." the first boy stood up and said "i dont like yupi" the next said "i dont like yupi" i said "what is yupi?!" they said "HE is yupi" and pointed to a kid in the front row. haha, ALL the boys said the same thing (except yupi of course) and then the last boy said proudly and loudly "my name is ___ and i like kelly!!" bahhhhhh hahaha i almost died.

-later in class that same boy said "kelly is cute. she looks like a panda" [haha, a panda?! what?]

-later, in another class, the kids were doing a worksheet which included giving gifts to my family members. they had to give or show something to kim, nancy, or allen. one guy wrote "takehara showed kim his girlfriend"....... !!!!!! i didnt have the heart to tell him dad wouldn't approve of a girlfriend in 8th grade ;)

-i took the express train to osaka after school on friday [every new train trip alone is an adventure of its own. i always seem to ask a million people in japanese: "is this train going to ___?" haha] . cassie met me at the station and our FUN began. we went to the aquarium (TOTALLY amazing), osaka castle, the tennoji zoo, and about a million shopping centers.

-i enjoyed starbucks, basil/ tomato pizza, and subway :)

it was incredibly refreshing to spend time with cassie. we laughed a lot, treasured the chance to speak english, and observed/ photographed cutie kids. i think we also found courage in each others company as we attempted to speak japanese and find our way around the city! i can't wait to see her again*