ten things i hate about you

dear japan,
how do i loathe thee? let me count the ways...

10. knowing two whole sets of your lettering still leaves me 85% illiterate. what's the point?
9. your bathrooms have no hot water and often no soap
8. your teachers work weekends with no pay. and some of them actually WANT to be at home with their own families instead of bossing around someone else's kids.
7. your non-plowed sidewalks are hazardous for bicyclists and the elderly
6. overpriced set menus at parties
5. crappy overpriced set menus at parties
4. J-pop music isn't pleasing to my soul
3. your snacks often taste like three day old rotten fish
2. your lettuce goes limp in two days or less.
1. nearly every day some type of wetness falls from your sky

i guess i seem bipolar since just 48 hours ago i was raving about the connections i've made lately. but some days, living in this place is just a bummer. and today's just one of those days.

connections

strange afternoon... i arrived at takaoka station, intending to come back to himi around 4:12pm. however, i met my friend heather at the station and she told me the next train had been cancelled. when she asked the reason, she learned that they were ALL cancelled today due to incredibly high waves that [may or may not have] washed onto the tracks. [SO crazy! i've never ever heard of that happening!] in the extra time waiting, we visited the brazilian food store AND a cutie cafe under the station. it was fun to have heather with me bc 1. i like her company and 2. she can speak japanese FAR better than i so it helps me to make connections with people. the owner of the cafe told me my shirt was cute [the one laur made for laur's wedding with all our stick figures in bridesmaids gowns :)] and also asked if we knew a bunch of people, all of whom i did. i LOVE meeting new people and having mini conversations.

these kind of situations really inspire me to take advantages of casual interactions once i go home. cafes, small shops, and restaurants are all great places to strike up conversation and get to know people. thanks, japan, for being so cute and jogging my memory... <3

to make the story even better, heather and i were heading towards the buses after learning all the trains were cancelled. a lady came up who works at a school heather visited ONCE! she said she was picking up her mom and could take us to himi in a few minutes. we saved 3bucks, a bunch of time on a bumpy bus AND had another awesome connection on the car ride home. freaking awesome*

true story: a few months ago i saw diced tomatoes at the lame-o foreign foods store in himi. i thought something like "oh, i should get some. just in case" and they've been sitting on my shelf ever since. but at the brazilian food store today, i saw cheese ravioli and got inspired. combining my portuguese [haha, not really, just my spanish and guessing powers] and heather's japanese, we found some tomato paste. on those happy notes, my dinner was amazing.

looking forward

Q: How does Ms. Hamashita come to school?
A: She comes to school by UFO.

[i nearly fell over laughing when i read that. i had tears in my eyes and totally interrupted my co-teacher as she was explaining a point. she humored me & the kids cracked up. pretty great feeling]

i'm getting adjusted to winter. this week we had about a foot of snow and i haven't ridden my bike in about 10 days. everyone tells me it's going to be spring soon. at the end of march the cherry blossoms start to bloom. but wait, what about winter...?

i don't have anything new or profound to report from home sweet himi. but in the next 30 days i have much to look forward to... MOM's VISIT [24 days. not like i'm counting]!!! then spring break- beach lounging, western food eating, good times sharing, suntan [burn] receiving! :)

lately i've been craving NY style pizza. and ice cappuccinos. and hugging a baby. and college dorm life. and camp. and heart&soul. and my friends.
[now THIS is the kind of thing i truly truly miss]

love around the world

days like today make me consider staying in japan. well, not really, but days like today are wonderfully therapeutic after one of your best friends leaves you alone again in a foreign country.

first of all, it's valentines day. everyone was curious about american v-day, bc they know it's so different from japan. they are all surprised that families and friends give presents. here only the girls give chocolate & only to their "favorite boy"... it made me happy to share my culture. even the consumer-focused, materialistic culture that it is.

one shy teacher started a conversation with me that lasted about 5 minutes. she asked me to teach spanish to the leader of her homeroom class. she tried really hard to get her point across and i was so grateful!

my crazy teacher was absent today so i got to teach the elective class all by myself. we played games the entire time and it was fab. the 12 girls were incredibly into my "dating race" [two girl japanese icons had to compete to win a valentines date with a popular boy band] and adapted version of classic fruit basket upset. i even had to sssshhh them from screaming of enthusiasm. when i left class, i was sweating and grinning.

ann&i made fudge the other night so i passed it out to all the teachers at the end of the day. i pretended to study japanese afterwards, but i could hear my name being uttered around the room as they told each other who the chocolate was from. nearly all of them thanked me in 3 languages-- japanese, english, and body language.

on my way home i walked with two 3nensei girls. one is incredibly sweet but her english is terrible. for some reason, it was better outside the classroom. we traded sweets [my fudge for her gum] and secrets before i had to walk fast to catch the bus.

what started as a funny question- from one of the sweetest 1nensei girls ["kelly, how do you go home?"]- turned out to be perhaps the highlight of my year so far. the same girl came in again around 3:50 and asked "kelly, when do you go home?" i replied "4:00" and she smiled and left the staff room. as i was leaving at 4, she ran up, ushered me into an empty classroom and put a tiny package into my hand... "present for you. shhh... secret. :)" it turned out to be a miniature chocolate chip muffin she made herself. ohhh, be still my <3

oh, and twice this week a teacher told me he couldnt live without me. and called me a walking dictionary. i was kind of flattered*

inability

i can't summarize the way my heart & soul feel after 10 days with lauren. hopefully the pictures i just added to my photo blog will give at least an idea of the fun and adventures we shared <3

not so quiet and lonely

laur's jetlag is still messing with her. she zonked out before 9:30.

we spent an eventful 1.5 days in tokyo together... had an absolutely glorious reunion in the subway station near our hostel, missed a few trains, ate some delicious food, saw a few classic sights, and went in a million vintage clothing shops. we also hung out with hiro [thanks, pierce family, for the japan connection!!]. he took us around the area where he works and showed us his studio. we ate an amazing lunch, went to a sweet independent gallery, and THEN hung out in a coffee shop owned by a tree house building company. phenomenal!

today i spent a lonely and anti-climactic day at school while lauren explored the beach and took some awesome photos. we braved the elements [thanks to ann's bike!] and went to my grocery store. our culinary attempts weren't quite as smooth in a japanese kitchen as they are in oneonta or loudonville... but tomorrow night i'll attempt my fav food- yakisoba. i hope my chef taught me well all those weeks ago...

everyone at hokubu is excited for laur to come to school this week. i hope she will still be my friend by the time friday rolls around*

pictures from tokyo: photo blog