How is the weather today?

I decided that since it's been nearly a week and I have a request - I should really update my blog:

"sara my love, i need a new blog its like the only thing i look forward to these days!!" -remaining anonymous to protect the innocent.

Ok, so here it is! Here's my typical day for the past week:

"Good Morning Class"
"Good Morning Miss Sara"
"How's the weather today?"
---no response

You might wonder why no one has answered me for the past week. It's because it's rained straight for the past week. It's like the question "How are you doing today?" They can only answer "I'm fine, thank you". Even if they aren't fine - they say they are. Hence, the past week there has been no sun, so the students don't want to answer "It's raining." Honestly, they know the words for hungry, sleeping, angry, hot or for raining, cold, windy, etc...it's just that they are most comfortable with answering "fine" & "sunny". If you single any of them out - they can answer raining - but for the most part - you need to bribe with stickers or hope there are a few brave souls.

Rain. Just a bunch of rain. That's what little Monou town has provided me with. Brian and I looked up the monthly average of rain for September and it says seven inches. Seven!!!! In one month!

My weekend

Friday

Friday I taught in Elementary School again - I was completely unprepared for this. Why? Well, I was just really busy on my free time last week preparing my students for their speech contest. Besides, in the fax that they sent me - they said things would be prepared for me - in which they surely were not. I only had one class that went really well. Thankfully for this one too because all the kiddies Grandparents came and watched our class. The teacher and I played Snakes & Ladders with the kids asking questions and using the board game up on the blackboard. It went really well. Other than that - there's not too much to report.

I drove myself halfway to Meghann - where she picked me up - in the town and we headed out to the Ish for a good evening of fun. Example one of everyone knowing the Geijan in town. I was in a cheap store looking at some stuff and this woman was following me around the store - she finally approaches me and we have an extremely broken conversation. Now - keep in mind- we've never met before but she knew my name was Sara without informing her. I was twenty minutes away from house - in another town and people know my name. It turns out her son lives somewhere in NY - I couldn't fully understand where but she was trying to tell me about him.

We get to the Ish a bit late - and our group of what we thought was 5 was like 10. We went to dinner at a Korean BBQ. Now - for all you omnivores out there - I think you would have loved the place. I really enjoyed the experience even though I only could eat a salad - but it was cool to see nonetheless. Example of how Japanese people don't understand vegetarianism. I gave the waiter my vegetarian card (it explains vegetarianism in their language). The waiter was completely clueless - I was trying to tell him just to leave the bacon bits off the salad and I'd be golden. He just did not understand - lucky for me - one of the girls with us speaks really great Japanese and explained how to prepare my salad. I also ordered edamame' or soy beans. When the waiter brought out my edamame - he asked me if it was okay to eat. Then, when he brought out my salad - he asked me if it was okay if I could eat corn. I mean - this concept is just so bazaar for them. The poor guy - I wish tipping was customary in Japan because it's times like those when people really go out of their way for me that I'd like to thank them.

After dinner - our large group broke up and Dave, Meg & I headed to this cheap drinking place famous to all cheap, western teachers such as myself. The place is called the fishbone and it's all you can drink for $10.00 for two hours. Can you go wrong? The owner is really nice and speaks pretty good English. Word on the street is he runs a shady business and has shady connections - but for $10 - I don't care - I'm drinking there. His friend had just passed away the day before so a lot of their friends were in there drinking as well. I ended up trying to have a broken conversation with one of the old dudes who just consistently told me how beautiful I was. The night ended with me dancing my traditional dance drunk - and the man asking for my number. Of course - I gave him the wrong one =) Poor guy - he was just miserable with the death of his friend and probably just wanted some ass from the white girls - but hey, that's not my style, thank you very much. After the bar - we caught a cheap taxi ride back to Dave's to crash on his floor. Before heading in we roamed to the river across the street from his apt. It was a really cold night and the sky was absolutely clear. It was really peaceful. We took a small stroll to the bridge where there was a sole being fishing off the bridge at two am and in the cool evening air. From the bridge, you could oversee the river, some lights in the distance and the outline of some hills. Thanks for taking us there Dave =)

Saturday
The next morning, free of hangover - Meg & I went on a small shopping trip before meeting up with the new crew to go camping. We checked out a $1.00 store where I picked up some teaching stuff I've been wanting to purchase but not waste my money on when I knew I could get it at a dollar store. From there we went to this mega cheap veggie & fruit stand that Dave informed us about. I got two apples, a pear and bananas for $4.00! Niiiiiice. I think it was the first apple I've had since being in Japan. After that we scurried to the train station to meet Dave and the rest of the crew. We were also meeting up with Katie and her boyfriend Akira who live on the outskirts of the Ish. All 5 of us were to go camping. We got some lunch in the city at a nice, cheap ramen place. Then, did some grocery shopping for our camp trip and started the drive. The campground is located right in Ogatsu where Meg lives. Unfortunately...

"Hello everyone"
"Hello Miss Sara"
"How is the weather today?"
"It's raining, of course"

We were rained out - no big surprise - we were only praying for a beautiful day - which alas, did not happen. Mutual decision - let's just crash at Meg's apartment. Meg gave us the grand tour of her apartment complex which is much different than anyone else's apt I've seen yet. She lives in a dorm like complex. She has her own room, and kitchen. However, she has to share the bathroom and laundry facilities - and there is a huge kitchen for all to use. There are a lot of empty rooms that she could turn into hers if she wanted to. It's only her, another male teacher and her Vice Principal that live in there. After the grand tour - she wanted to show us around Ogatsu a bit before the sunset.

Ogatsu is so beautiful. It is smaller than Monou but makes up with it's serene beauty. Honestly, I would give up my larger population for the scenery Meg gets to wake up to everyday. Ogatsu is kind of squished between these mountains. Then, when you drive through the mountainous area, you reach the coast - the Pacific ocean. It's so spiritual. Across from her apartment complex is a river - so you walk outside and you just hear the water rippling down the next to the street. Truly, of all the places I've been to in Japan - I would most certainly choose to livein Ogatsu first. She has this astounding park just a few minutes drive away and that is where we were hoping to camp out. Jealous, so jealous of her!

We were driving up this one mountain that she had never been up before just to explore. On our way down we saw this inlet and looked like something was there. The curiousity in us decided to stop and check it out. Thank goodness we did because we came across this ancient temple. Ancient and new at the same time. We walked up and came to this new gate - looked brand new - all lit up and brand new looking. We continued walking straight through it. To our left was a small pond with large goldfish - heading straight was some prayers maybe? They were these large circles that you can move around and if you can read Japanese - it tells some story. It's kind of like those toys at doctor's offices that are designed to keep toddlers occupied. However, these were much older, larger and more meaningful. Then to the left of the doctor's office toys were some more stairs. Needless to say we walked on up - and came across a temple, a zen - like garden, and so many interesting statues. The stones were raked in circle patterns, the temple looks quite old and the animals were pigs, tortoises and lions. According to Akira - he said that this was very much influenced by the Chinese or Nepalese religions. You can detect this through all the ornate animal structures. He said Japanese temples, don't generally have animals like this. Akira said at this particular temple - a person would come here to pray to have their bad luck removed. It's nice having a Japanese person with you to explain all the questions you have about their culture that you could never have answered really otherwise. The trees leading up to this temple were approximately 1,000 years old. They were my favorite - Cedars. So thick and tall. It's crazy to think that these trees that are still standing preserving a sacred piece of ground in Japan is older than the United States of America.

We also headed up one path which led us to a cemetary. Akira wouldn't go in with us because he is afraid of ghosts. He claims to have seen one last year and firmly believes he did. He told us the story and to be honest, I'd need more convincing than what he told us - but I'm sure it has a lot to do with their culture and religion that I could never really understand. It's really awesome to hear the story though - just to hear, and not judge it - you can really appreciate differences in cultures.

When we returned back to Meg's - we had an awesome dinner - over drinks and great conversation. For the rest of the evening, we hung out, drank, chatted, learned Othello from Akira, got my ass kicked in the game twice - and really thoroughly just enjoyed being in the presence of others. I held a decent conversation with Akira which felt great being able to semi understand him and have a small convo with him.

Sunday
Meg drove me back to Kohoku, where I left my car. Again, walking these streets, a little boy screamed out SARA SENSEI. Gotta love the celebrity status. I made it back to Monou okay and it felt good to be home after a few evenings away. I really just wasted my day away. I talked with my predecessor for like two hours and some other folks from home. In the evening, I had wine and crashed onto my futon.

Monday
Respect for the aged day. Or for me - I don't have work today. Apparently, this holiday is where grandchildren give their grandparents presents and honor them. I'm not really too sure. I do know that my town played this really horrible music for the ENTIRE day. It was on repeat and it was sooooooooooooooo annoying. I only went out for a run and cleaned my house a bit. Brian came over for dinner and hung out for a bit and then he headed home. I practiced some of my Japanese and continued on reading Memoirs of a Geisha.

The Week Begins
Tuesday
Teaching at Monou Junior High School. Wow, frustration indeed. I had a really nice schedule as in I taught 4 classes in a row and then had the afternoon to myself. My first two classes were horrible. The first class I thought was bad until I experienced the second class. The next time I teach that class they are getting an internationalization lesson on American Discipline. I have never encountered such rude students in my life. Even as a substitute teacher I received more respect from them. I really only taught the first half - and then Mitsue was doing the second half. Its hard to control a bunch of monkeys because monkeys don't understand you. That's the best analogy I can give when trying to control a bunch of jerk junior high students without knowing their language. After class - Mitsue apologized 100 times over and said that is how they always are and she hates the class because she can't teach them anything and how horrible it is for her to go in there everyday. I feel for her - I really do - those kids are in for it. I don't know how since it's illegal to remove students from classrooms and it's not really atypical to move them around the classroom. I need to find a disciplinary system where I am going to absolutely humiliate the kids that continue to be rude. To be honest - if my discipline doesn't work after a month I'm going to tell them I'm not going back in there because it's a complete waste of my time. They can put me into a classroom where kids want to learn. These kids should be locked up for a week in zoo because that's how they act - like animals. Devil kids!

My last two classes of the day went really great. I am glad I had a better end to my day. My favorite punk kid was in one of my classes - i love him - he was showing me his "bad boy" ear piercings. haha. He either thinks i'm cool or really trusts me but either way he really is eager to learn English to talk to me - so I think it's great. Funny story: Today - I was teaching and all of a sudden - THUD. uuhhh, what was that? My JTE freaked out and ran to the other side of the room - so I went to the window and what was it? A bird - about the size of a seagull, laying dead in it's own pile of blood from crashing into our window. It was disgusting. But, the scary part is that bird was only about a foot off from actually flying INTO the classroom. If it chose the window to it's right - it would have flown right into our room! The kids got a pretty big stir out of this and we had to let class get a little crazy for 5 minutes until someone came to pick up the carcass. NASTY!

After school - I headed to Brian's agian to head into the Ish for Japanese class. Not bad - I made it there perfectly fine. Compared to last week - this week was not so bad as far as returning from Brian's. I got lost for about 3 minutes, but no police, random door knocks involved. No worries!

Which brings me to today! I taught JHS in Kanan today. I drove there myself today which is an accomplishment because it's placed up on a steep hill. I got lost this morning but I don't think I'll make that mistake again. I was 10 minutes late to school but no biggie - I didn't miss any classes. My classes at this school went smoothly. I really enjoy working with the one JTE - whereas the other one, I don't like it as much simply because he's intimidated of my English I think.

Lately, I've felt a bit like a mouse trapped in it's mousehole because it's too scared that if it leaves it's home the cat might eat him. That's kind of how I can summarize how I've felt here. I am a bit disappointed in myself - feeling that I've been really chicken in going out and doing things because I feel restrained due to my car, or not being able to read or talk if I need help. Although, I'm aware I've come a long way since getting here now like 6 weeks ago - I still feel completely lost. I thought I would have known more of the language by now, I thought I'd be able to drive perfectly by now and I can't. Since I never truly set goals to be at these points in 6 weeks, I didn't work hard for it - I guess subconsciously I had these expecations. I find that I am not as far along as I'd like to be and I'm a bit frustrated with myself. I guess with navigating around Australia as I pleased, finally figuring out and understanding public transport and how hostels work and the cheapest places to eat and drink; I had high expectations that I'd catch on this quick in Japan. I'm a far cry from my travel skills I had in Australia.

My new goals - get out there! Do something! My first 1.5 years at Plattsburgh I was really uninvolved in the campus community. Once I put myself out there - I met a lot of people and really met some of my best friends. I am going to try to do all the things I love and additionally start learning the things that I have said I wanted to pick up while here.

There is this community center in Kanan where I hold my English Convo class with Brian. They have these really nice studying facilities there. While at Plattsburgh, if I ever wanted to get any work done, I'd have to lock myself into the Learning Center (how I actually miss that place) and the Library. I could NEVER study in my room or lounges. I just have too many distractions. Just like here in my own house. I think after work, I'm going to head to the community center to get my Japanese studying in because I just don't feel like sitting in my study in my house and doing it. I also will get to have some interaction with people at the community center. In addition, they have a work out facility - that I think I am going to check out the prices and their machines and stuff. If I could make this like my "Angell College Center" & "Memorial Hall" of Japan - maybe my life will start to get some order in it. I never realized how great I had it at Plattsburgh - how easy access everything was, how a part of the community I really felt and how blessed I was to have amazing friends.

I'm pretty psyched because I feel like I can really do that. Other than that - I paid my $20.00 to run in the 10k marathon on October 22. I was running 5k in the summer - and measured out two 5k routes today - one on my bike and one in my car. I hope I can still do 5k like I was in the summer - otherwise 10k might be too much to get to in a month. I was doing a lot of biking when I first got here but now with classes starting and with trying to learn my car - I haven't really been doing too much exercise. I'm starting to put on all the weight I lost when i first got here - which is good and bad. I've got other motives to stay in shape - Lisa's getting married in EXACTLY four months! YAY! That means, I'll be home for a brief visit in exactly four months. Crazy. Even better than going home is seeing Tim in 6 weeks! Yeessss!!!! Tokyo for my birthday with my crazy cousin.

Alright everyone - hope all is well with you and sorry for taking so long to update!

Love you all.
Sara Sensei