My Big Adventure

Well i should really have blogged at the time, as now itll be a very summerised version of events, but there are lots of pics, again out of order.

Sorry. its not my fault its the puter!

It started when i caught the Bullet train to Nagoya after an all day staff meeting. Scott was flying in form Aus, and i met him at the Nagoya station. We got there almost the same time. It took about 3 hrs on the Shinkansen from Koriyama to Nagoya, with only a brief change over in Tokyo. It was a smooth trip and i got a few winks of sleep after a long day in the big meeting.
We checked into our rooms at the hotel. and set out to find some food to no avail. So we had a Konbini dinner and went to bed as it had been a long day for each of us.
We awoke to the lovely sound of pouring rain. Decided to check out nagoya a little. i showed off a few places id seen last time, the castle, Sakae. then put of by the rain and exhaustion from busy schedules previous we went back to our rooms for an afternoon rest. That night we were meeting some very good friends Hiro and Sayuri. We had a really nice dinner, lots of drinks and some terrible (me) and some great (everyone else) karaoke. It was a long night, but a really fun one. Was great to see the girls. I cooked okonomiyaki myself and did a good job!

the next day hangovers prevented any major action. A little sightseeing and some rest again. Seeing as we had a big few days coming up it was decided rest was best while it was still available. We enjoyed another nice dinner with the girls then said goodbye and headed off to another early night.

We awoke fairly early, and caught the bullet train to tokyo. We found, somehow (my navigating skills while mostly have been exceptional in japan, were a little affected by my lack of energy) but we did it, and every day after we found it too, usually getting lost first and coming froma different direction each time. shinjuku station is huge!!!!!
Central looks like a tiny country platform compared to any of tokyos major subway stations!
So we dropped of the bads and headed to Asakusa for lunch, then Shibuya for a looksee, tehn back to the hotel for a rest. we had dinner and had an early night.

The next day was disney. this time i got to ride everyride bar only one or two. It was amazing. Dinsney land is soooo wonderful. i love it!
After disney exhausted again, off we went to bed.
The next day was a sleep in, then off to Ramsays restaurant in Shimbashi. this was sooo delicious. Yum. check the pics, again all out of order, but the food was sooo nice. And the place was relaly pretty.

By this point we were experts at navagating the subway system in tokyo

We went home for a nap, then went to akihabara but it was not happening much so we left, had some dinner (not much we were pretty full) and went back to our rooms.

Next morning bright and early we headed to the meeting point. We jumped on the bus and went to Fuji. Now this was the second time ive seen fuji, i saw it last time i was in japan (jan). on approach it was cloudy and i was glad last time i got good photos of it with no clouds in front cos it was clear that wouldnt happent his time.
We arrived, had all the safety talks and last minute rush for gear and we were off.
we were heading to the seventh station for dinner and a rest (we were walking form the 5th station, the bus dropped us there)
We arrived a bit tired at the seventh station a few hours later. the first part of the walk was kinda like walking uphill on gravel. i was glad i had hiking boots.
the second part was rockclimbing, so i was enjoying that!
We arrived, had a nice curry dinner, and went to our bunk beds, boys on one girls on the other, they were one long bunk holding bout 20 people on each. crazy. needless to say i slept NOT a wink.
they "woke" us bout 11pm, and off we went towards the summit. It was cold, it was hard, adn it was slow.
I love that i climbed fuji, but it was hell!
We finally saw the sunrise (bout 4.30am) just a ways from the top. We then spent bout another hour to the top. we were exhausted and struggled to appreciate the beautiful view.
We couldnt get down fast enough. Problem, gravel again, all downhill, steep!
it took about 3 hrs to get down. it was uncomfortable, painful, slipping, sliding, rocks, dust. ergh. GET ME OF THIS VOLCANO DAMMIT!! thats all i could think. i refused to stop for a break cos that would mean it would be longer before i was off the damn thing.
We got down, slep for half hor (passed out for half hour) on the bus. and arrived at an Onsen. We stripped off! YUP u have to be totally nude!!!! Boys and girls seperate. You have to wash first in the washing area. then in you go.
the outside spring was soooo warm and perfect for my aches and pains that Fujisan had inflicted.
i onsened for about half an hour. its all i could handle, im not used to so many naked woman in one place!!
Back on the bus, we passed out again back to shinjuku. checked back into the hotel who had kindly kept our luggage.
went downstairs for dinner. went to our rooms, passed out again from exhaustion.
Awoke earlyish. Had a nice breakie, and went over to Odaiba, and checked out some cool things. a rennaisance (i spelt that soooo wrong) themed shopping mall, a 20th century china themed shopping mall. everything. was nice. we then headed back, grabbed the luggage and headed to the airport. Scott flew home, i caught the Shinkansen back to Koriyama slept a whole day, then was back to work

ahhhh so in a nutshell that was the holdiay. check out the pics, mum ill show u more and in order when i get home

As for Fuji, it was amazing, im so glad i can say ive climbed fuji. but id never do it again! it really was hard! Ok so i might be a bit of a whinger, but it was uncomfortable!

xxx

Ok ive been super lazy on the blogging front, and im sorry. mum, im really sorry. You guys are the ones who mostly see this to see what i have been up too. I also add photos to my facebook, and update regularly there all my activities and all my friends see them there, but i sometimes forget about putting it all here where you can see. Lucky i regularly email huh, but i have been slack getting pics up for you to see, so im sorry. Here is a bunch.

This blog is as promised about bessie. She is my fabulous Pink Bicycle!
I love her to bits, she takes me to the station and back everyday. she carries my groceries, she is just wonderful.
so here she is!

this is Bessie at the station.
You can see all around her are other bikes, these are her friends she talks to each day when i park her here to go to work.
I buy a ticket for 50 yen from a vending machine and i wheel her in here. I hope that the lower racks are available so i dont have to lift her, but often they are not. lucky she is light!

i pull down the metal stand/ramp, put up her front wheel, then wheel her on up. I lock her using the special lock on her back wheel, then i put the sticker on her spokes to say ive paid. i push the ramp back in and she is safe til i get back.

its so convenient and easy.

there are pics of her parked all freshly uploaded in my album. all out of order tho i dont know why but it all mixes the order when i upload, so ull see the sun risen on fuji too before u then see it reverse down.

All Bessie pics are labeled BIKE

bye bye

xxx

so here is a little more about what i do.
My classes generally start in the afternoon to evening. Usually around 5pm, altho there are earlier and later starts occcasionally. I visit four schools over a month. So tuesday to saturday at a school. then sun, mon off, then the next week at the next school, on a rotational basis. The 3 weeks out of the month im not at school, a japanese teacher takes the lessons. So basically each month the kids get 3 weeks learning english from a japanese teacher and one week with a native english speaker (thats me)

So as i said i have 4 schools. Ill tell you a bit about their locations:

Motomiya is about a 12 minute train ride from my home. (the Koriyama train station is about 5 minutes ride from my house) its two stops from home. After i get to motomiya station i have a short walk to the school, its only a few minutes. Motomiya is alot smaller than Koriyama, altho the central area where my school is located is not neccersarily isolated. But it doesnt have alot. I pass a small local radio station, a tiny family run veg shop, which is pretty much run out of the garage, but is super cheap and i love to get a bag of snap peas here for 150yen which is about $1.80 or so. They are delicious and so sweet you can tell they are straight from the picking. Also i have a 7-11 across the road. A few little restaraunts too along the way. its small compared to koriyama though. it costs me 230yen each way (about $2.50 maybe) Motomiya is a good school, and i have lots of lovely kids here who are so energetic and palyful. I really like this school.

My second school is Nihonmatsu. its about 20 minutes on the train and in the same direction as motomiya. its 4 stops from home. Nihonmatsu is also a very quiet area. I have a much longer walk at this school. It takes just over 15 minutes to get to my school. Its all straight along one main road, and i pass a few service stations, and a dennys restaraunt too. Its pretty quiet though. I dont see alot of people around but it is fairly built up. Again its not like the part im in is surrounded by rice patties, but compared to Koriyama its very small. Nihonmatsu costs me 400yen each way. Nihonmatsu is also a good school. I havent any kids that really cause me any grief, and ive heard some horro stories. The only problem with Nihonmatsu is that the times i finish my classes are not very good compared to the train times. The trains run hourly at that time of night, and i usually finish only 23 minutes before the train is due to come, so if i miss it, i have to wait a full hour, and at 10 or 11 at night thats the last thing i want to do. So i have been getting good at leaving super fast. I always wear my jogging shoes to Nihonmatsu, and i hoep and pray the kids are picked up on time, then i close the classroom in a minute or two, and run like all fury as fast as i can manage to the station to get the train. I am getting quite good at this and have decreased the time to get to the station from 15 minutes to 8. And im less and less puffed each time i do it. its exhausting, but it saves me sitting there for an hour in the wind at night.

So my third school is the school i went to today. Its called Dai2 Sukugawa (pronounced Dai Ni, ni being the japanese word for 2)
This school seems to be a very new classroom. The area is in the opposite direction to motomiya and nihonmatsu, and again only 2 stations away. it is 230 yen each way like motomiya. the difference here is i have a 25-30 minute walk to the school from the station. there is a bus, however, it costs 170yen and by walking i can get excercise and also still claim the bus fair, thus making money by walking. Also i have to walk back anyway after class as the bus doesnt run that late at night. its a fairly pleasent walk and its much more built up that the other schools. it has a mcdonalds, several malls, convieniece stores and many other major stores. So its not too bad. i have only had one calss here so far. and only one kid came, (there are only two in the class) so i cant comment on the children really as i dont know them yet.

my fourth school is called yubuki. its in the same direction as dai 2 sukagawa, but its four stops from home. i havent been there yet so i cant tell you about it, but it also has a bus that i will most likely not catch to save the money and benefit from the excercise.

Well thats my schools. here are some pics so u can see what a classroom is like..

so thats what i usually teach in, i have more tables and lots of storage space too. each classroom is different in size, and some have more posters and decorations, thats all up to the japanese teacher teaching there.

Today i got bored as i got to class very early so i decorated the whiteboard

Its pretty things like this that make it nice to walk to the schools instead of catching the bus

Well thats it for now. Soon ill blog about things in my area, ill also add pics of my bike and ill definatly have stories from my upcoming vacation to fuji

oh one last thing, a pic for you mum, the beetroot was amazing, here is the burgers

Ok so its been, well forever since i last blogged. ive been busy i swear. ive prettied up my apartment, and ill add some pics of that now. I have got some nice stuff to make the place feel alot more like home.

here is the new rug in the kitchen sooo pretty

the kitchen with all its hanging gadgets

the main living space complete with new rug

my winter gear ready and waiting

bed with new side table and the new rug

my new brown chair. this is really cool, it has hinges so it folds in half u can use it to sit up higher or for heaps of different things. i love it.

So thats the updated apartment. I hope you like.
Ive spent a fair bit of time, and a little money on getting it nice, but it makes a difference to be able to come home to a nice feeling place instead of an empty square box.

Ok so thats it for this blog. I have to do alot more exploring of Koriyama, and post some pics of my area. i intend to get right onto that. There are alot of parks and shrines and things aroung that i can ride to on my bike.

Currently my days consist of sleeping late, cooking some food, going to school, getting homelate, using the internet, watching a movie and bed, repeat. so i need to get into a better routine. although i have started to excercise a little more to get ready for fuji. thats right, Fuji, on July 11 im going to climb it. its going to be amazing. Ill have 3 days in nagoya to visit old friends, then 5 days in tokyo, including a visit to fuji. So ill post all about it after the fact. untill then.

Laters
xxx
Bella

Here is the photographic tour of my aparto...

Here we find ourselves at aparto 304 or san maru yon for those playing at home...

Welcome, come inside...

Sorry folks, dont know how to turn it, will work on that, maybe for now just turn your head to the right
This is the view from inside the front door.
To your left you are soon going to see the laundry facilities followed on your right by some other very important facilities..the water closet...

laundry..ahhh corner

ahh yes the ever important throne..this one comes equipt with a heated toilet seat for those balmy winter mornings

next is also on your right as u enter the aparto..the bathroom.
this was soooo boring until i added some lovely touches from the hyakuuen store (thats the $1 shop) You cant see in this picture but i have installe da lovely plastic storage system in the corner for all my storage needs.

next you will recieve the kitchen tour, brace yourselves it could take...well a second to explain..blink and ull miss it..

so this is it, to the left of the pic u can just see my single gas burner, then we have the sink, 2 cupboards beneath that, the shelf above, and the fancy white wire hanging system, which is handy and dandy. Thats the kitchen, did u catch it all???

just incase you need a little more time for your eyes to really take in all my kitchen has to offer heres another angle, this one you can see the other appliances, my toaster oven and my bar fridge..ahhhh yes, a chefs dream kitchen i know, but alas its all just for little ole me, seems such a waste of space...

ok moving on...

you now find yourself peering out from the kithcen into the left hand side of my living space...there is a temporary cardboard shelving unit in place until i can find some cheap furniture, and far off in the corner the tv area which ill give u a close up later to ensure you get the full in depth detail in this tour...

so same angle, except now the right sid eof the living space...my sleeping quarters...the lovely futon, adorned with my blanket of kittens..ahh so snug looking...you can also see off into to far distance the place i stand to write to you, the computer area, or the study as i like to call it, this area has to be elevated for technical purposes, i cant get the wireless unsecured network without the height....

We are now taking in the living space from an alternate angle, this view is from the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony..here you can see off in the distance the kitchen area where we have just spent so much time, and u can see from here i have quite the cupboard space, which is a big pluss as its the only area i have to store anything...see the pretty doorway too in case i want to shut out the view of the kitchen...

ahhhh yes, a close up of my sudy, here is the computer, atop a set of storage shelves, with a pretty pink storage unit to house all my technical supply needs, cords, ds, camera and such, quite organised already i am....

the most decorate and least used part of the living area...the tv. i cant understand a word they say and prefer the comfort of my laptop with my new fav website, project free tv where i can watch lots of tv shows..standing up of course to ensure i stay connected to the wireless. I think i have decorated this area the most to compensate for its uselessness....

i have installed a little of my home spirit into the lighting fixtures....

This is my balcony, bet you never would have guessed that if i didnt tell you, that long pole is for hanging my wares to dry, and the silver thing on the floor is to escape down when the tax man comes knocking at the end of my stay in japan....

lastly is the view, but quite frankly, its a crap photo...mind u it is midnight....

goodnight. hope you enjoyed your guided photo tour, you can pay by credit card, or direct deposit into my account..thankyou