gomen

i'm flying out on JULY 21st. not june 21st. sorry for any confusion!

7 weeks

i never thought i'd see the day where my voice was recorded [singing!] on tape. but yesterday, i saw the day. that's right, folks. kubo elementary school now has in its possession a tape of me singing the frog song in english. it's unbelievably goofy.

at my other elementary school, i ate lunch with a 2nd grade class. toward the end, they said "do you know....?" and started singing B-I-N-G-O. they knew all the words and got the claps perfectly. THEN, they sang it in japanese. absolutely amazing. i am in love with japanese "B-I-N-G-O, kawaii ne"!!!

some other randomness from these past few days...
i went to the office yesterday planning to ask for my last 5 vacation days to be used at the end of my contract so i could go home on the 30th of july. before i could even ask, my supervisor said he hoped i could leave early so the new girl could move in... "is june 21st convenient?" AHHHHH as soon as he told me, the bittersweetness settled in. it's SO perfect to get an extra 10 days in the states so i can get over jetlag and start on some teaching interviews. but at the same time, thats 10 less days in this place i utterly adore... so now my countdown is 7 weeks left.
yesterday i figured out that in an entire year, i've spent about 60 dollars on transportation to&from work. it's only that high bc i had to ride the bus for about 3 weeks this winter and i just paid 10 bucks to replace my rusted/broken bike chain. argh, i dont want to get a car next year. if i have my way, i'll work and live right near train stations. i'll save a giant load of money AND the environment at the same time.

i'm doing what i always do. when i near the end of an era, i start checking out emotionally. i've noticed it a million times this week. because my mind is in transition mode [trying to look for jobs and get prepared for next year in the states AND invest in my friendships here, travel a little bit more, and attempt to do my job well till the very last day], i train myself to NOT think about it. since monday afternoon i've watched 9 episodes of grey's anatomy and become a [harmless] internet stalker of a friend of a friend whose family i envy and want to copy some day. today at school i was writing, to keep myself from going crazy with 8 hours at work and not a single second of real work to do. it struck me that i have no idea what the next season of life will bring. today is guaranteed. i'm here now. i need to start living like it.... himi knows its gardens

eggs for breakfast

i'm always hungry by 10am. school lunch is served at roughly 12:45pm. as you can imagine, this causes some trouble with my stomach. i've tried bringing some cashews or another random snack to eat at school. but then i decided on the solution: protein for breakfast. aka eggs for breakfast.

so i buy eggs, tomatoes, cheese, and some orange bell peppers. imagining i'll make an omelette every day and get myself into healthy morning eating habits.

but every time, i eat 5-6 bites and all of a sudden my colorful healthy creation tastes terrible to me. i just can't finish it. maybe i don't like eggs that much. maybe i can't eat them unless someone else cooks them for me. i don't know.

but did i mention that one summer at camp, i scrubbed all the egg pans one morning bc i was the only LDP in the kitchen...?? that might have something to do with it :)

rumbling hamsters

on this tiny island in okinawa [miyako-jima] we went to hear live music at a local place recommended in our guide book. the bartender was super friendly and started chatting in english about where we live in japan. he's like "oh, toyama-ken. do you know takaoka city?" we're like "YES! mandy lives there" he said something like "really?! i'm going there with my band in may"... 10 minutes later "oh, do you know himi city? our band is playing there on may 24th".... "AHHHH we LIVE in himi!!! we're totally coming to watch your band play!!!"

fast forward two months...boro borons. aka: rumbling hamsters!!!irabu-san [seriously, thats his name. we thought he was telling ann "i love you-- i rab u" but apparently not.] getting interviewed about his home on miyako. where we went.

ann,mandy,sara&i walked in the pouring rain to the other side of himi to hear this music fest with an okinawa theme. our friend irabu got interviewed, made an inside joke with us from the stage, and rocked out with his band. afterwards, he was SO happy to see us and invited us to the after-party. we bought autographed copies of his band's cd, ate delicious yakitori, and made a million new japanese friends. even though i KNOW it's not true, i enjoy people telling my my japanese is nice. i've said it a million times, but it will always be true.
doesn't get any better than this, folks.

changes&goals

i changed the style of my blog for the 375th time since i started it a year ago. i cant decide if its a character flaw or personality strength that i crave diversity...

anyway, as i near the two-months-left mark, i have a little list of goals for my remaining time in japan. here are some ideas as of now.

eat tempura [check!]
go swimming without being stung by jellyfish
visit koya-san
watch my talented friends perform in the charity show which has robbed them of weekends for the past few months!
one final par-tay weekend in tokyo
watch sumo [!!!]
hear live okinawan music in himi [tomorrow!!!!]
play frisbee with random genki japanese people
stay in a love hotel [please don't wikipedia! haha it sounds totally sketchy in context but would be hysterical with a group of my friends all staying together]
himi beach BBQ

funny/oh so strange: today on one of the 240 something exams i checked, students had to fill in the blank " Oh, ____ _____?" the correct answer was "Oh, did you?" one kid wrote "Oh, come on?" and another wrote "Oh, Disneyland?" :)

lessons learned

i'll probably do this again before i leave japan, but tonight it struck me [as i was washing my dishes] that i've learned an incredible amount these past 10 months...

food packagers don't market to single people. as hard as i try, sometimes food spoils before i can eat the entire package- be it chicken, salad fixings, or spaghetti sauce. if only i had a few other people around.

i am becoming japanese. proof? i shuffle my feet. i say "mm...mm...mm" when listening to a story instead of just smiling&nodding to show i'm paying attention. my teeth are rotting from eating white rice in school lunch nearly every day. i say "naninaninani" instead of "blahblahblah". no, seriously, i do! i buy drinks from vending machines whenever i travel. i even buy bottled water and dump it into my nalgene, then throw away the clear bottle in the appropriate container. i sometimes shovel hard-to-grasp food into my mouth with my chopsticks.

spoken language isn't the only way to communicate. sometimes a wave, a smile, a puzzled look, or a laugh makes everything perfectly clear.

wheat bread should never be taken for granted. it's precious.


i know at the end of july i'll come back to the u.s. and people will say "oh, welcome home. how was your trip?" its inevitable. as if i just took a quick flight across the world. as if japan wasn't home. i'm trying to prepare myself now to respond calmly instead of angrily. and to say "it was phenomenal. now how much time do you have...?"

weekend hiroshima

my trip to Hiroshima this past weekend was significant for the following reasons: 1. i got to hear the story of a lady who survived the atomic bomb attack, 2. i boosted my confidence in traveling alone and my confidence in speaking friendly Japanese, and 3. i was reminded [for the millionth time] how much I love this country and its people.

to sum up the weekend, i spent many many many hours on the train, ferry, and streetcar. i also walked what felt like a hundred miles around the city itself. The peace memorial park is gorgeous- the museum incredibly well made, complete with graphic photos and realistic recreations of the events. perhaps most effective were the photographs of children- i couldn’t help but imagine my own students’ faces among the destruction...

hearing the survivor [Okada-san] speak gave me a much deeper understanding not only of the A-bombing events, but also the aftermath and recovery period. she talked about her recent travels to poorer countries where she tells children about the dangers of nuclear warfare. sometimes kids have never heard about the attack on Hiroshima [?!?!?!]. what broke my heart most significantly was when she told us about some correspondence she’s attempted with the U.S. President. now, i’m not really into the current political situation and i get tired of the endless president-bashing which seems to abound lately. but i was devastated to hear that Okada- san sent a letter requesting the President visit hiroshima this summer after the G-8 summit in hokkaido. The request has been refused on the grounds that the schedule is too packed and a trip to hiroshima is impossible. it would probably be a 48 hour or less added on to what will already be a long journey. hour hearts become so hardened that we don’t desire to acknowledge our past? who doesn’t have 48 hours to acknowledge and understand your own country’s history? and how can someone who makes laws about the american education system miss such a chance to be educated himself?

on a lighter note, i have two crazy stories-

first, i was sitting at a picnic table innocently eating my lunch and reading my book. i heard a group of young people walking behind me and all of a sudden a guy sits down next to me, saying “HEY!” amidst the laughter of his friends. i said konnichiwa and he asked [of course, in japanese] where i was from. i said toyama-ken and everyone was shocked!! “MAJIDE?! toyama-jin desu ka” [REALLY?! are you born and raised in toyama?] i said i was an english teacher and asked where he was from. he said Hiroshima; their group of friends was going hiking for the day. i asked about his hat [one of those giant straw-ish rice planting hats] and he said we should trade. i gave him my hat and put on his. he grinned, i grinned, and the group cracked up and said i was cute. then my new friend asked what we have in toyama and before i could reply [nothing!] his friend told him about our famous glow-in-the-dark squid. he was pretty surprised and impressed, i could tell. basically, they ran out of questions and the conversation stopped because they just kept talking to each other in rapid Japanese I couldn’t grasp. I said mata ne [see ya later] and headed off down the trail, acting [on the outside, at least] like that wasn’t the most amazing part of my entire day. i LOVE genki japanese young people!!

second, as I lounged on the beach reading my book, there were millions of mangy, non-Bambi-like deer wandering the area. junior high girls on a school trip caused some ruckus as they screamed frantically any time a deer was in sight. i rolled my eyes and basically ignored the scraggly creatures. after about 20 minutes, a deer came close and took a bite of the map i was using to keep my bum off the wet sand. i stood up, moved away a little, and let him eat the map. as he ripped the map into two pieces and focused on one, i bent over to pick up the piece he left behind. apparently he wanted that for dessert later, and he wasn’t going to let me decide it was garbage. he kicked my leg with his hoof [?!] and butted at me with his head!!! i now have a tiny red abrasion behind my right knee as proof that I was attacked by an ugly japanese deer!!

all in all, Weekend Hiroshima was a gigantic success*

no joke

please do not use it for the product and the human body, etc. that absorb the glass, a mirror with the cloudy stop seat, a wood manufacture, and a joint of the tile of the bathtub in the paper product, the plastics product, the fabric product, the leather product, the marble, frosted glass, and the modular bath made of the resin, walls, the resin coating products, and unglazed potteries and tiles and other oil.

please peel off politely slowly when the product is taken out of the package and when the pasted product is peeled off so as not to cut. please use it in the place where the hand of a small child doesn't reach to prevent the wrong use. please avoid keeping in the place where direct sunshine strikes and the place that becomes 40C or more in close contact with the in the car and the fire. it transforms, and it begins to melt. it is not food. please do not put it in the mouth. please wash in lukewarm water when becoming dirty. please do not use it except an original use."

BEST engrish ever?!?!

sure am blessed

yesterday my friend asked me “why do you get to go all these cool places?!?” [referring to Thailand, Okinawa, and my upcoming weekend jaunt to Hiroshima] i replied that it’s the season of my life where i’m just responsible for me and that i have the money to spend on traveling because i’m only one person. But that’s only part of the answer… the rest is that ’im really blessed.

it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this year is an incredible blessing. Apart from all the fun, adventure, and new friends, i make a good salary, get my rent subsidized by the city, and live in a cozy apartment that doesn’t cost much in utilities. my parents made great financial decisions which helped lower the amount of college loans i have to pay back now that i've graduated. if i taught in the States this year, i would probably be paying a lot more for rent. i’d probably live in the suburbs where a car was required to get to work. and i’d surely have to pay taxes on all my hard earned dollars. i consider myself so blessed by my current living situation- it means I can live really comfortably AND have freedom to make my travel dreams a reality.

not to mention I’m pretty blessed to get to play with these rad kids…even if they do throw stuff into the muddy fields and ask me to tromp thru in my boots to retrieve it...

here's to you

on this mother's day, i don't even have words to express how much my mom [nancy kelly nelson] means in my life. since the task is impossible, i'll just give a few tidbits about my love.

first of all, mom is beautiful. her smile radiates joy and compassion. her fashion sense is totally rad; she never looks like she's trying too hard. she knows how to find a good bargain. and, fortunately, has passed that gift on to al and me. she puts up with me wanting to take funny photos. she is patient with my long stories. she makes me laugh. she is incredibly generous with her time, energy, and love. she loves my daddio and puts him before herself. she supports him, encourages him, and challenges him. she helps him to be kind toward his children when we deserve to be given a whoopin; :)momma, you are the best in the world. i'm so grateful for you.

top 5 reasons i love himi sunstage 602

last night i was sick to my stomach for the first time since i can remember. it was perhaps the worst thing in the world to be sick in the middle of the night so far from home. i havent wanted my own family as much in 9 months as i did last night. all that to say i stayed home from school today. truthfully, i would rather be at my boring bummer of a jr. high instead of home feeling the way i do. but since i have to be home, i might as well celebrate the arrival of my new camera [!!!!!] AND the details about my apartment which i absolutely love...

number 1- my down comforter. seriously, its amazing. both lauren and cassie commented on the wonderfulness [i have 2] and it made me realize i take it for granted. number 2- my toilet room. perhaps the smallest place with the ability to hold a human being that i have ever seen. someone said it was "stylish"... i'm not sure about THAT, but i spent a fair amount of time there last night and i'd say there are worse places to hang out. number 3- my balcony. it provides lot of sunlight, is a big storage space for kerosene containers in the winter, and makes for a great clothesline. number 4- the coziness. evident from the moment i walk in the door. sunlight streaming in, doors which can close out the noise of the clock at night, and a rad heated table.number 5- the view. seriously, every time i look out my window, it takes my breath away.

wish i could tell you

at my elementary schools, i work with 8 different teachers. some of them are great, some are not. but the most frustrating thing is not being able to communicate effectively... their english is typically bad and my japanese is horrendous. since i can't express all my concerns and irritations to them in person, i have to get it out of my head somehow. this is what i would wish they would all understand...

i'm quite well educated. despite the fact that i am nearly deaf, mute, and illiterate in your language, i know how to teach. i have a four year degree. in elementary education no less. and just because i ride my bike to school doesn't mean i'm incapable of being a grown-up.

i love when you model an english conversation with me!! it's great evidence to your kids that english is possible and that foreigners are people too. they gain confidence when they see their teacher accomplish the [apparently incredibly daunting] task set before them.

i care about the kids, too. why else do i run around with them at recess, allow them to climb all over me, and try my very darnedest to understand their mouths-full-of-food japanese? why else do i walk around whenever they are in the hallways and twiddle my thumbs with restlessness all the times i can't hang out with them?

my heart absolutely melts when your class claps as i enter the room to eat lunch :)

you can't teach english like you teach every other subject. there's no foundation laid unless you and i lay it ourselves. students wont remember new vocab if they repeat it four times as a whole group [or 80+ students] and then move on to new material.

and speaking of 80+ students, why do you think its ok to combine three classes into one? and give those 80 kids a 25 minute english lesson? there's nothing ok about that.

it's not a compliment when you say "OH, so young!" after your students ask me my age.

you have no reason to be scared of me. look around. there's one of me [the golden haired one] against the 200--450 of you [the black haired ones]. if anything, i should be petrified of you.

long time no see

i may have mentioned how much i ADORE living in a small town. it's so so so wonderful when i see my students and co-workers at the local family restaurant or in the grocery store. but the absolute best is the kind of thing that happened today. let me share the story....

my girl friends and i were having lunch at a cafe in takaoka, which is the closest real city. it was stunningly gorgeous today, so the cafe door was wide open and i could watch people walking past. i saw a bunch of boys in uniform and said "oh, those are my ex- students". one of them looked in the cafe and saw me, then shouted "oh! kelly! kelly!" to his friends. they all trooped backwards and started shouting and grinning as i walked out to chat. they hollered their fav line "yo!" and gathered around to answer my questions. yukie snapped this photo; it absolutely warms my heart to have evidence of the fun*
3 hours later, we were on our way [via car] to the mall and i saw those goofy boys trekking back to the station after their shopping trip. i yelled "hey" out the window and they all turned to look. one shouted "KELLY, I LOVE YOU" and the rest waved like champs.

then, 2 hours later, i walked off the train in himi, out of the station, and towards my apartment. who do i see, but that gang of genki hooligans getting their bikes to ride home from the station. my fav-o guy, kazuki wanted to talk more so he showed me his purchases from the mall. we said our "see you"s and parted ways.

it's days like today that make me think i could stay in japan... if only they were so energetic, cheerful, and loving when i have to grade their piles of essays and correct their terrible pronunciation. not so much. i'll just relish the special, heart-warming moments i hope will fill these last three months*

my kindred spirit

one of my friend's students wrote the following gem:

I have a narrow escape from death!

When I was born from my mother's stomach, my heart was stopping. My mother's and mine umbilical cord twined around my neck. My family and doctors worried about if I am alive. Doctors take care of my very much. They did heart massage repeat. So I came back to life. My family and doctor were relieved. I am alive, so I want to live with a gratitude feelings. Thank you gave birth to me. I want to live ever.

-awwww, i can sympathize. my first few moments of life were quite similar.

little

it's the little things in life that make up my days...
.i learned a new japanese phrase yesterday: なんだ. it basically means bummer, or what a letdown. it's quite handy. you can use it in many situations. for example, you are a japanese girl and you go up to a japanese guy and ask where he's from... he says "himi". you can say なんだ because you are disappointed he's not foreign. of course, if said guy was interested in you, it might hurt his feelings. but if he wasn't interested, no harm done. you can just search around these boonies for another guy to try. chances aren't so good he'll be foreign. but you can try.

.i bought a camera on eBay and am anxiously awaiting its arrival in my mailbox!!!

.as i was leaving school today, i heard two young maintenance guys say "pretty" in japanese when i walked awkwardly past them down the stairs. thats the kind of thing i'm so happy to understand.

.at lunch a 3rd grade boy said to a girl [about me] "she has white eyebrows. ちがう [different]" that's another kind of thing i'm happy to understand :)

.i have had the same sheet on my bed for far too long. it now has chocolate and toenail clippings on one section. but the cheap-o zipper is broken so i cant get it off my futon. dang it!

.if anyone had told me a year ago that i could plan the same [really sweet!] lesson and have the actual classes be polar opposites, i wouldn't have believed them. but it's true. the homeroom teacher's attitude toward and confidence in english can make or break my efforts. i am my same creative, genki self in every class. one teacher's class always bombs. the other rocks.

this blue guy, doraemon, was created in takaoka. he's famous in thailand, too
with mandy on our showa day adventure!! japan is sooooooo gorgeous in spring!!