Welcome to my life...in the city

Ishinomaki City. Yes, the actual city this year. That what I call home now. As mentioned, I live in a tall white apartment block. In fact, it's the tallest around in comparison to all my neighboring buildings. I have a back balcony in which I seem to spend no time. My front doors opens out to a hallway. However, it's not really a hallway because it's just open air out there. I live on the second floor.
















From my back balcony, I only get views of rusty, old homes(see photo to the left). From the front open area I can see the Kitakami River. This is the longest river in Tohoku, or Northern Japan. It is also said to be the cleanest river. And, it flows right in front of my apartment practically).

I have a pink bike. This bike has a handy basket. My bike is 3rd hand used. I bought it for about $40 USD. The breaks squeak uncontrollably and it sounds like the chain will fall off at any moment. However, the bike shop I had look at it told me it's fine, just noisy. I should survive the next year on it.









Across from the area that I park my bike is a soy sauce or miso soup factory, I forget which(see below picture). So, sometimes my apartment smells of that. When it's not smelling of that, it's gagging me of the smell of fish. And, I mean fish! Somedays, it's so gross, you can't leave the glass door open with out feeling nauseous. This nasty fish smell is a result of the fish factory in town. I think it smells a lot more like catfood than fish though.














As mentioned, I live with 4 other English teachers in the same apartment block. There are two guys whom I see occasionally. The first is Brock, who has been here for a year already. The second guy is Azrael who hails from Singapore. The other two girls and I have become good friends in our short two months of being neighbors. Allow me to introduce you with the below picture.

Ruth, the stunning young lady in red is my direct neighbor. She lives right next door to my apartment. She's from Scotland, her town is where the writer of Peter Pan grew up or something like that. Before Japan, she was finishing up her law degree. She lived here four years ago doing a gap year. I'm learning all sorts of British/Scottish slang from her. We like to fool around a lot. Like me, she has an older sister and a younger sister. Not only are we both the middle child of an all female family, but our birthdays are only a week apart.

In the middle in black, is Jane. She lives 3 doors down from me. Jane comes from Chicago and spent time doing business before coming here. I like to think Jane keeps Ruth and I grounded sometimes. I love both my neighbors. This year in Ishinomaki, we have a bunch of women. It's lovely. I'm sure with time, everyone will slowly be introduced to you through stories.

Last year, I taught at nine schools, this year it's eight. I've adjusted to being spread thin between my schools. So, it doesn't bother me anymore. The breakdown is nearly the same. I teach at two Junior High Schools, five Elementary Schools and one kindergarden.

So, welcome to my life in Ishinomaki City! Still so much more to write, but one day at a time!