My Big Adventure

Holidaying

2009-08-11T17:21:19Z

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

Holidaying remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Lazy Lazy Lazy

2009-08-11T16:55:12Z

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

Lazy Lazy Lazy remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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School life

2009-06-16T16:10:51Z

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

School life remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Opps sorry for my slack blogging efforts

2009-06-16T15:39:42Z

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

Opps sorry for my slack blogging efforts remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Apartment tour

2009-05-28T14:50:40Z

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

Apartment tour remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Moving Day

2009-05-28T14:29:20Z

So the day arrived when it was time to move from my temporary digs in Hongo, nagoya and to move on up in the world to my own place. Out of the training apartment and into my new home. So i boarded the lovely shinkansen and headed off to tokyo at top speed....oooh i should mention there were some packing issues, i had it seems accumulated far more possessions (ok shopping) than i expected and again my baggage was not able to tolerate the quantities of shoes, clothes anf other goodies i had aquired. Quick last minute emergency dash to the shops for yet another bacg to load my possessions into...okj back tot he bullet train, so off i sped to tokyo, now i had had a fairly good nights sleep before, so i was surprised when i found myself waking up to discover i was 10minutes from tokyo, the 2 hour journey sped by as i somehow managed to drift off to sleep, i didnt even get time to eat the obento i packed for myself. oh well there was always the next train trip from Tokyo to Koriyama. So i switched platforms and embarked on my next journey that was to be the final journey too. Shortly upon leaving the station, again in my super duper speedy bullet train, or shinkansen, the business man next to me started to unpack his obento...and wow, what an obento it was. he had a container with rice, with the customary pickled plum on top, a container with fish, one with some kind of radish and vegetable mix, and then one with something else too that io couldnt quite see without obviosly staring at the poor man. After he devoured his lunch he then proceded to take out his last container from his nifty insulated obento bag...this one contained some fruit..ahhh desert.
Well did i feel inadequate as i opened my pink obento lunch box from the 100yen store to reveal some pieces of fruit and some crackers....hmmmmm

well i arrived safely after an hours journey aside the bento man and was greeted at the station by a chap by the name of Ian who is to be my ps for the next year...(ps means he is my manager i guess u could say)
He showed me on the walk to what is to be my new home, all the places along the way. its about a ten minute walk but its quite nice. the more i saw of my new home town the more i liked. Its not too small, its not huge either, but its pretty good. kinda like the three bears u know, one bed too hard, one too soft, well Koriyama is the just right bed.
So we arrived at my apartment complex and Ian showed me the way to room 304..(he lives in 504, emma in 405, and the other NT james in 202)
I stepped in to a pretty much empty room, and was kind of..well i cant say disapointed as its exactly what i expected, i guess it just was this big empty space and i was looking for a home, and it didnt feel like one, well i made quick work of that..... more on that soon

so we set about doing all the administritave tasks required, move in paperwork, registering as an alien, getting information on where to shop etc
then it was time to clean..and the cleaning still hasnt stopped 3 days later. its surprising actually. this apartment is so small but i feel like its taking forever to get clean. You see it was preciosly tenenated by a young man by the name of TJ and i believe Tj and i have very didfferent standards when it comes to apartment cleanliness. As a requirement all teachers vacating apartments must ensure the apartment is clean. I have no doubts Tj walked away thinking, yeah it looks clean to me, im sure itll be fine, i dont need to do anything else....in walks Brandy...and well lets just say, as i mentioned, three days later cleaning the place...thanks TJ the pother guys got brand new apartments not previosly used by peppy, so their places were proffesionally cleaned, and all their appliences and furniture, BRAND NEW!!! i got ripped off. Oh well, its nearly done now.

Well ill set about getting photos asap.

xxx
Bella

Moving Day remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My temporary Home...

2009-05-14T12:56:06Z

13 may
Ok so since the zoo I haven’t done much. Just teaching and clubbing at ID in Sakae with my friend Hiro. So I thought I’d put up photos of my training apartment so you can see how I’ve been living this past few weeks. It’s a pretty nice apartment, and it’s big compared to what I will be in when I get to Koriyama. My main area will be just one room, where I’ll sleep, and do everything in, and then I’ll have the kitchen coming off that and then a bathroom, that pretty much it. So here it’s a bit luxurious aside from having to share a room, tho Chris leaves this Monday so ill have the place to myself for a week before I head off to my new home on the 25th. I started a little packing already tonight, and well, it’s going to be a tight squeeze, even with the new suitcase I bought....yikes.

14 May
Today i found Vegemite. YAYAYAYAYAY im so excited, itll be vegemite sandwiches for lunch, vegemite toast for breakfast.

I also found a really cool record store, and there is a shop here called Tokyu hands. It has everything imaginable and it is all sooo cute. I got a pattern for a monkey and fabric for a monkey, im going to sew him (ill take photos when he is done mum, so u can see my handiwork!)

Im gettting more comfortable with teaching. Soon i will be in my area and i will be all on my own, so im taking advantage of still being able to observe others and to learn all their games and ideas. some classes are easy to teach, while others can be quite challenging. Depends of the curriculum and the kids themselves.

This weekend i might go back to the zoo with chris and ride the duck boats on the pond. ill pack an obento for lun ch and take a book to read in the gardens. It will be fun.

well here are some pics of my aparto..and the zoo...enjoy

i made hamburgers

My temporary Home... remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Life in Nagoya

2009-05-04T05:09:46Z

I have been back in Nagoya for 2 weeks now. The first week was pretty much all working, mostly in the office doing not much at all, shredding paper, organising files, random menial tasks that were used to just keep us busy for our allocated office hours. I did get the chance to do some team teaching. So I went to schools and taught one of the classes and then observed the teacher teaching the others. I usually work around 5 to 730 each day, I mean it varies depending on the school and the classes, but that seems to be about the average at the moment. It may be different in my area though.
I haven’t done too much since I have been here. We did have one night where we went as a group (with several staff from the company) to a place called Miami beer garden, it’s in Nagoya. (I live about 20mins by subway out of Nagoya at the moment in a place called Hongo) The beer garden was fun, 3000Yen for all u can eat and drink until 10.30pm. That was fun. We then went to a place called hub, it’s a pub. It was pretty good, and then we did the traditional Japanese thing and went to karaoke until the subways started again at 5am. I didn’t sing, but was funny to watch others. At karaoke u pay for the room, its 1500yen per person and it was again all u can drink, so was lots of drinking that night.

The other things I have done while I’ve been here are going clubbing with my new friend Hiro. Its golden week here so I’m on holidays at the moment. At the beer garden I met a girl called Hiro who was friends of some other employees. She said she would take me clubbing this week. So Saturday night she met me at Sakae (Just 2 stops out of Nagoya) and she took me to a place called club id, it was 5 floors, you have to pay 3000yen entry but u get 4 drinks included so it’s not so bad. It was a really cool club and lots of fun with my new friend. Before the club she also took me to an izakaya for dinner and we had some yummy Japanese food. It was a really fun night.

On Friday (sorry it’s a bit out of order....) I went to the Higashima zoo and botanical gardens, I’d like to go there again and explore the gardens some more, but the zoo was a bit sad. There was so many animals there, everything u could imagine, I saw anteaters, rhinos, hippo, elephant, giraffe, monkey, koala, so many types of bear, farm animals, everything, but the sad thing was its so different to back home. Their cages/enclosures were so small. There were even 2 polar bears and they just did not look happy. It was a little depressing to see, but it was a nice day out. I guess our standards back home are much higher than here. All around the zoo there were young children, maybe about 10 to 12 years old all sitting by the enclosures, making sketches and paintings of the animals. These kids were so talented, I tried to have a look at many of their work and it was so good. Some of those kids are great artists, in fact most of them were! I think it must have been some sort of art class, or school subject or something. There were so many children there. Oooh and I had a shaved iced treat too, it was so lovely, it turned out to be quite a warm day and it was such a nice treat to have. Yum.

I think the rest of golden week for me will be lying low, the internet cafe a bit some cleaning, maybe the gardens again. Lots of reading and watching movies and preparing for my classes next week.

One thing I guess ill mention cos its driving me nuts is the rubbish situation over here. All garbage must be sorted into certain categories, burnable, recyclable (there is a few kinds) plastics, bottles, cans ergh its frustrating me, gone are my days of just throwing out the trash, now I have to rinse, sort and carefully examine everything I throw away to ensure I’m not making a mistake. It’s all a very big deal too. You can get in all sorts of trouble if you are not doing it right. Certain types of rubbish get disposed of on certain days at certain collection points. Oh it’s such an effort. I guess that maybe Japan has a good system in ensuring rubbish is effectively dealt with, and I imagine its necessary with the number of Japanese people that there is, but for me, coming from such relaxed standards at home it’s not fun. The most annoying thing I think is when you are walking along the street and u just want to throw out some rubbish u are holding, maybe ur chocolate wrapper, empty drink, anything and nowhere in sight is a bin. You have to hold onto it, and take it home. Most convenience stores have bins out front and also supermarkets. These bins have become my friends. You see some rubbish I just don’t know what separate area it’s meant to go in, is it recyclable? Plastic? Sometimes I’m not sure. Or sometimes I just have ten different types of rubbish all in a row that I’m sick of seeing it, so my latest thing is every day when I leave the house I take a bag of rubbish with me. Mixed rubbish generally (although not burnable, I’m good with the food scraps one) and I deposit it into my favourite bin at the convenience store. The ‘others’ bin this is the best bin. It’s the only bin u can put whatever into, and they are not everywhere so u have to find a convenience store with one. Once u've got that Ur set. So now I try and do my best to sort my garbage, but the others bin at the local konbini is suspiciously full these days and I think it’s because the several other foreigners living in my building have cottoned onto my scheme and are appreciating the others bin too! I don’t blame them, all this sorting is stressful business. I’m told the trouble u can get into if it’s not done right is quite extreme, including eviction, it’s a very serious matter. So I prefer my system, at least this way someone can sort my stuff the right way and there will be no errors. Oh I love the others bin!

ferris wheel in sakae

the easter bunny came to Nagoya

a little bit of oz in sakae

general direction of home..

central park in sakae

roof top waterfall in sakae

me on said waterfall

Well I’m off to bed; I shall upload this tomorrow at the cafe. Oh I’m so missing having the internet!!!!

Xxx
Bella

Life in Nagoya remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well this is a long one...

2009-04-29T07:36:13Z

Ok so...where did I leave off...I often ask this because now that I am back using an internet cafe, I write up these entries at home and then just copy them across when I’m at the cafe, saves time, which saves money and that makes me happy as I’m running low until I get paid in a month. Ok so I think I’m at Kumagaya still, just after Tokyo. So it was back to training on the Monday a little worse for wear. But ready to go. Just back to Ageo School so nothing new/exciting there.

After that it was off to two more schools to observe and then also to teach some lessons. So firstly I went to Kurihashi School. This one was a little further out. It was pretty rural where I ended up after the train rides. Trying to think of some things that I saw that stood out...umm oh right so on the train I was looking out the window and I saw this guy, I guess he was exercising, he was running really slow, kind of power walking I guess, but his arms were moving like he was running the fastest race in his life, and he looked very funny, especially in his funny hat and the location which was the middle of nowhere. Hmmm doesn’t sound so funny when I write it, but when I saw him I laughed. The other thing that happened here, was I got really excited when I saw some orange fanta at the supermarket(I mostly only see grape flavour and I’m not a fan), so I bought a can and took it back to the classroom . I made my sandwich (ham mustard and salad, yum) and I cracked open the can and took a sip, and then I suddenly spat it out...ewwwww I thought what’s wrong with this fanta, is it off??? It was all gooey and had well...only way to describe it is to say...it had jelly like stuff in it. I read the can to find an expiry date or something, then when I inspected closer I discovered by deciphering some writing, that it was in fact jelly, and that it was fanta with jelly in it, it was meant to be that way. So upon discovering it was ok to drink I tried some more, and strangely it actually was pretty nice. Hmm was a bit of a shock and a little scary at first tho.

So after that came fukaya Kita, and well, I had been to Fukaya Minami earlier in the training, so this was easy to find, however it was on the other side of the tracks...hmmm and its everything u imagine when u hear that phrase, well I mean it was still safe and no dodgy people, but it seemed like every building was in some kind of condemned state, or if they weren’t condemned that should have been. One house was built and it was made out of what I can only describe as scaffolding and sticks. I liken it to the house made of sticks by one of the three little pigs!! I have photos, check the balcony out...I know I wouldn’t stand on it.

I have noticed that a lot of people have very ugly houses (sorry, but they are real eyesores) But they always have beautiful plants all the way around, so many pretty flowers and other plants everywhere here. Especially since its spring  I must note too, everything is so green, and not even like at home when we get a bit of rain and things green up, this green is unlike any green we have ever seen at home, it’s so bright and shiny and happy green, I really like the green 

I guess I really should mention how the teaching has been going since that’s what I’m here doing, it’s not all holidaying and sightseeing. So here goes:
The kids I teach range from 2 and a half to about I’d say 13 years old. There is a pretty set curriculum, but in general it’s up to you how you want to teach. Some parts of the curriculum are mandatory, certain songs/chants, but other than set sections and topics it’s pretty open to interpretation. For example, I may have to teach the children how to ask and answer the question: How are u? I’m fine/great/ok/ thankyou. There may be an activity in there textbook which introduces the idea, so I start with that so that they understand the concept, and then I find a way to make it fun. So in this case I could do something like say.....play a game of tunnel ball. Line the kids up, have them roll a ball thru their legs, and then the person at the end, runs to the front with the ball, and before they roll it they have to ask the person that is second the question (or if they are learning to introduce themselves they could do that, whatever the topic) then they roll the ball and continue the game.
For the ABC Phonics section, the goal is to practice alphabet for one class, so I do a variety of activities, I could show them a letter of the alphabet to only one student, they write that letter onto the palm of the next persons hand with their finger, they pass it down til the last kid has to shout it out, kind of like Chinese whispers, I could have them use the chart that has abc, where some of the letters are on a yellow square and some on blue, then I get them to sing the abc and every time the letter they say is on a yellow square they have to jump, then next time I get them to jump and clap, then I keep adding to its too hard and gets silly. These kids love silly.
Another mandatory thing is when they arrive you have to check homework, they stamp their book to show attendance then you do a picture card check. So the children have their own set of cards, they choose which two they bring to class to be tested on, and they work through all the sets throughout the year. So upon arrival one by one I check their cards and drill them on them. So the challenge is to find creative ways to make it fun. Changing speed, silly voices, tricking them is all good!

The younger ones like a lot of high fives, and the older like games where they can win tokens. Lots of songs, and games and moving about are the secret, lessons straight from the book are not popular. So being creative is really important. Making the content fun, otherwise ull have a very boring lesson, and also you may find the kids get silly and naughty. On that note ill mention the kids here are very cheeky, often rude and disruptive. I hate to generalise but that is what I have encountered so far. It seems to be the norm here. It’s not fun. But I have found the only way to deal with it is to be firm from the start. And to also set rules and to make the class fun so they don’t act up. I have also perfected a look, which recently whilst observing a class that was being very difficult for an experienced teacher, came in very handy, those poor boys that were beating each other up and yelling and being rough and noisy and rude, well by a few minutes in the lesson they would start playing up, and the teacher would try to stop them but they ignored her, then they turned to me, and with just one look, they stopped. Now I think it was a combination of the" if looks could kill look" I perfected, but also the fact that I was a new presence on the room, that stopped those boys in their tracks. But whatever it was whenever they were being silly I just watched them and after a short time they would look to see if I was watching and when they saw I were they stopped. Was pretty impressive. 

Well ill leave the kids there for now. Maybe more again soon.
So we got to Saturday in Kumagaya, and after a week of having no kitchen in the hotel I was getting frustrated and craving home cooked food. So I was pleased to hear only a few days til I was back in the training apartments in Nagoya with a kitchen (when I say kitchen it’s no way near back home, but its 2 gas burners and a convection oven, so it’s better than nothing, but still hard to cook in) Problem was I was getting a kitchen back in Nagoya but id lose my internet in the room. Back to cafe’s  so I had been frantically watching TV shows on a site called project free TV which was really cool. Saturday we set off to Saitama office to take the test and complete the final day of training. It sure was a relief to be over. It was quite an intense schedule for 2 weeks.
Sunday I chilled in Kumagaya, we all did, although the other 3 had gone to Tokyo again Saturday night although I declined their offer to join. I felt like a realaxy one after the training was complete. So Sunday while they nursed hangovers, I went for a walk around Kumagaya as I hadn’t seen much.
I went for ages, I found a river, and I walked along for what seemed like forever, then I walked past these kind of small swimming pools, which I was curious about, they were fairly clear water, and they were only the size of spa baths some of them, others smaller, and also bigger ones too. I soon discovered they must have had fish in them, and I think it was sort of like a farm kind of deal, people were paying to go in, and to go fishing, and there was a small crowd by one of the bigger ones. Was pretty interesting as so far I hadn’t seen many people at leisure and this seemed to be one Sunday activity. As I strolled on I soon discovered more. I found loads and loads of people playing what can only be described as putt putt golf, but on big fields, with markers placed on for each area. There were so many people; there were cars and push bikes everywhere. And all this took place by the river, was quite the pleasant Sunday stroll. As I passed the mostly middle aged to older people playing golf I received many friendly smiles and occasional ohayo gozamasu. So I continued on, and I came across boys playing soccer, here I received many smiles also, but this time I got hello’s to which I smiled and hello’d back. Then I got, some I love you's much to my surprise from 15 yr old boys, was quite funny, I laughed at them, and they laughed back, then as I continued to walk ( with a little faster pace) I received many goodbyes yelled in my direction. Was quite funny and a little embarrassing too. I next came to some girls playing soccer where I was met with hellos and giggles when I said it back and waved and smiled at them. Lastly I crossed the bridge and I discovered a game of...well it was baseball, but it had no bat, they kicked the ball. It was pretty cool to watch, this was an all girls game, there were 4 matches going. I came right at the last few minutes which I was quite disappointed at; I would love to have watched a whole game. I guess back home the teams at the end usually shake hands, and sometimes thank the coaches and the parents watching. Well here at the end, they all lined up, they bowed to each other, then they ran to the opposing teams side, they lined up and bowed to the coach (all the while they said something but I was far away and only caught the arigato gozaimasu at the end..) Then the first three in line step forward one step closer than the rest of the team and they bow to the coaches again, they then swap sides, they bow to their own coaches, and the first three again bow to the coaches separately for the second time, then they all bow to the parents and onlookers. Then they could go and pack up and go home. It was very very formal, but was really cool to watch.
So I headed back to Nagoya after that, and watched some more TV, and made the most of the last of the free internet for a while, and then that was it. On the train back to Nagoya Monday morning. Checked back in and here I am. Wow, this was a lot of catching up.
And I still have more to come. I’m almost up to date. Have some pics to add, and some more to write but I’ll get to it all soon. I’m sure u need a break after reading all this.
Well till next time.
Xx
Bella

Well this is a long one... remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Tokyo Desu Ka

2009-04-21T07:20:38Z

So i think i left off with Tokyo...

We finished our first week of training and decided since we were in close proximity to Tokyo that we would take a weekend trip and check out the place. We booked the hostel, (still no capsule as it was full again, ill get there eventually) and we set off. Our first stop was Shibuya. Here we decided to send the boys off and meet them later. oh i should add that it was my training group who went together, so Emma, Aramatesh, Alex and myself. SO Shibuya we sent them off and promised to meet in an hour, well the shopping was amazing. Its lucky we had arranged to meet theboys or else i would owe the credit card company many $$$. But i was quite restrained and ony bought 2 thins, boots...well i just needed them ok, and a top which just happened to gowell with the boots so of course i needed that too. Anyway so i dragged myself away and we headed to Akihabara to check out manga and electronic heaven. We did find some very questionable manga, and also fond some of that electronics heacven too, so much stuff, ahhhh but overall it just hasd a pretty cool vibe.　　　ｈｍｍ　side note, getting a headeache, anm in the internet cafe, NON SMOKING section, but its right next to the smoking section, adn the smoke is hurting me, anyway back on topic, so after aki we checked into the hostel and got ready to head out. Next stop was Shinjuku, where we found some yummy dinner, then off to Roppongi where we found and danced all night at a very cool night club called Midas. At 6am we went back tot he hostel and got a couple hours slepp before heading home on the train a little worse for wear...thats the weekend ina nutsehell....of course there are many awesome stories, buit ill keep those for another time and place.

WEll after that it was business as usual, back to training, and busy busy, viusited a few more schools so will add infoon them and some weird photos soon.

for now,

ta ta
bella

ps i apologise for any typing errors but these keyboards are just...well...gay.

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Training continues

2009-04-17T05:13:46Z

Well im still in Kumagaya, its been a super busy week, the days are all so long. Im either in the training classroom, or at classes, and when im home im preparing for the next day. Its pretty full on and tiring. Im looking forward to training being over.

I think ive mentioned before but if i havent, after training ill be going to Nagoya again for one month until my apartment becomes available. So its still another month before ill be settled. Its a little frustrating becasue i just want to get into a routine.

so a few new areas i have been to (part 1):

Fukaya, this was a bit surreal, heading out to the sticks on a train that clunks, clatters and crashes you from side to side, at each station it struggles to start up again leaving me to mutter "i think i can i think i can" under my breath much to the amusement of the locals altho i dont think they understand what im saying, more so they think im a nutter talking to myself. I passed all last traces of surburbia, then had to change trains at a medium sized station with some resemblence to a town....then off i went again, seemingly back in the direction i came (i am really comfused here, i seem to go backwards sometimes but end up in a different place, these trains and subways are so full on!) Any way i ended up in a very small place called Fukaya. I was here to observe today, no teaching but just get a feel for what the lessons are like.

I walked to 20minutes from the station to the school, and was amused to find it was have rural half urban, so ull pass huge apartment complexes, then u get a farm..it was quite different to what im used to of course. but made for a nice walk.

So i got to the class, observed, and headed home exhausted. On the way home i passed this guy, with a very big nose, so he makes it in my "interesting things about the towns i visit catagory"

check him out, he was on the side of a building a restraunt maybe i think.

Ok so where to after that, well then came Tokyo. The next post will be about tokyo

Until then.

xxx
Bella

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Kumagaya

2009-04-09T13:35:46Z

so its day 4 of training done, today i had to do a demo lesson, well let me take a step back, ok, so we have been at classrooms in groups, mine is the Saitama group. There is 4 of us: Myself, Emma (Aus), Armatesh (Can) and Alex (Can).
We go off to a classroom each day, there are no classes during the day, they are usually afternoons, so we have the use of the classroom all day. We have been shown how to teach the various lessons, and today as i mentioned, was our first demo day. So we had to demonstrate a leson using the other trainees as the kids. I think everyone did really well for a first time. I wasnt so scared as ive had a lot of experience with kids, so it was just remembering the content that is my challenge, but i think i did pretty good.

During lunch we wandered around. (the classroom is in a place called Ageo, its about 25mins on the train to get there from our hotel, and approx $7 each way on the train, ill never complain about brisbane public transport again. p.s we do get reembursed the following month for commuting costs) So around Ageo i found a few interesting things. Its kinda a small place but i want to try and find some cool things at each place i visit, so here is Ageos.

This is a very beautiful view

Check out this super thin building!

Well thats it for Ageo, i told u it was small, im excited i found 2 things. Oh also, the first day we had indian for lunch. A tiny indian restrant was nestled in the back of some buildings, it was really good, but kinda surreal to be in this little bit of india in the middle of Japan.

Oh cute note,

i take my Saru with me everywhere(he is my monkey travelling companion) and at the hotel housekeeping make up my bed each day...check the picture, Saru loves it..see his smile:

well thats it for now, i have to be off to bed, tomorrow i visit my first actual class, just as an observer but looking forward to it.

Night

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Heading to Saitama

2009-04-09T13:43:33Z

7th April.

Wow i really feel like i am quite the traveller now and i really am looking forward to when i eventually get to settle in one place, sadly that is over a month away at this stage.

So I am writing to you all now from the Shinkansen, we have just wrapped up the second day of training in Nagoya and now we are off to Saitama to continue the training with lessons in the classroom.

It has been a long two days, full of information which has been a little overwhelming just in the way that it is alot all at once and hard to digest. However now the really full on part begins as we learn how to actually teach the lessons and we will start to actually teach some from this week. So that is a little daunting but i guess with my previous child care experience im not too concerned, all tho this is a little different with the language barrier.

As i mentioned we are on our way to Saitama, so its a little north of Tokyo basically. I am pleased to advise i will be staying in a hotel, in a normal bed (my back hasn’t like the futon in the training accom very much and i haven’t slept well) and also breakfast is included. So im hoping that means bacon and eggs. Also the point that completely excited me is that we will also have wireless internet in the rooms, so that is very exciting to me.

I have also uploaded photos from the Sakura festival, the various shows and the Geisha i saw, so they should be pretty cool.

county and western band

so pretty

something to eat on a stick..we have it all!!!

Geisha

Thats it for now. Night all, Im exhausted.

Bella

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Nagoya, Day 4

2009-04-04T01:11:07Z

Ok so where to from here:

A few more days around Nagoya, but I think ill mostly just chill now and save some $$$, then on Monday training starts in the nearby training centre. After that, Tuesday morning, Half of us go North to Saitama for training (Emma is coming there with me, the other half go to Osaka) We train there for two weeks, then I don’t know my fate, I believe ill travel around a bit until the 25th may when ill get to go to my very own apartment in KORIYAMA, which is in Fukoshima prefecture. It’s going to be cold... But till be ok. I’ll need you to send some of my warm things mum, ill email you with some details 
Good thing is, I now know Emma, and she will also be living in Koriyama, so that’s pretty cool. I won’t feel so far away from home with another Aussie.

So im here at the cafe, uploading all these blogs finally. Sorry its taken me so long. I have not been able to get on my computer on line. Now its done though. so im all up to date. Today, is 4th April, Saturday, (im losing track of what day is what at the moment) Im having a quiet day, im not sleeping so well as my futon is not very comfortable at all. But its only for a few more days. Hopefully i get a more c0omfortable one at Saitama.

Ok this is it for now, I’m sure you have had enough reading since I’m doing this all in one hit!!!
More as soon as I can promise.

Xxx
Bella

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Nagoya, Day 3

2009-04-09T13:39:01Z

3rd April
So today I awoke to a knock at my door, and a girl was standing there, she introduced herself as Emma, and I got so excited to hear she had an Aussie accent. Turns out she is from Sydney, also works for Peppy (new like me) and there are other trainees in another apartment block down the road. (Another Aussie and 2 Canadians) So we headed off to the other apartment and discussed what we could do for the day together. They wanted to see several gardens, and also Nagoya castle, well I hadn’t seen the gardens, and I wouldn’t say no to those cherry trees again. So off we went, and we all seemed to get along really well. It was a long but beautiful day. We went to a Zen garden; it was solo wow, no words for it. It was pretty simple, but so peaceful. And in the middle was this cherry tree, it wasn’t big, but it was the most beautiful one I have seen. The colours, such a hot bright pink, and a clean crisp white all on one tree. Wow.

That’s all I can say really.

It was a pretty nice day all round, and after an hour at the internet cafe on the way home where I dumped alot of photos to facebook and here, I headed home, made my Vietnamese spring rolls, and am writing this to catch up on how slack I’ve been. Not because I wanted to mind you, I’ve been dying without internet.

Nagoya, Day 3 remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Nagoya, Day 2

2009-04-04T01:00:55Z

2nd April
Today I went on a mission. Here in Nagoya, I’m not sure if anywhere else, there is a card u can get where u can ride the subway as much as u want (certain lines, but the ones I needed ) all day. So I purchased the pass and set off firstly for Nagoya Castle. Nagoya castle I chose because I read it is home to over 2000 cherry trees, and I was hoping that they were blossoming. Well I got there, and I must say, I am quite the subway pro now, and am quite proud of it. I arrived at the castle, and my goodness was it just so amazing, all those trees were blooming. Those who know me well know it is my biggest dream to lie beneath those cherry trees, and here I was finally doing just that. It was almost surreal. The colours, the types, wow. I can’t even describe and the hundreds of pics I took do not do it justice. But I will say this; it was everything I imagined and so much more. And if I had to leave Japan today, I would be happy to as my dream has now come true!!! Well after I tore myself away from the trees (oooh I collected some fallen flowers and took them home, they are wilted now, but still oh so beautiful.)

Cherry blossoms symbolise transience to the Japanese people. They are so beautiful and delicate, you couldn’t even imagine how much until you actually see them.

So after then beauty of the trees all in one place (I have seen many more since, but not so many at once, they are all over the place spread out a few each street, but to have so many together is something you simply must see to truly appreciate the beauty) Umm yeah, see I can’t even stop talking about them, but then I headed to the Aquarium, said to be Japans biggest. I arrived during a dolphin show, and it was sooo amazing. Ive seen dolphin shows but this really was cool, I watched from beneath the water in the underground observation area, and they had the dolphins do things under the water too so we didn’t miss out, and we had a TV to watch the above water stuff. The rest of the exhibits were just as amazing, so many big tanks you could just look straight into. Made me a little sad, I wondered if some of the animals really had enough room and could be truly happy, but they did seem that way, and they did seem well cared for.

After the castle and the aquarium, I was pretty tired so I headed home and made some pork with apple sauce made from an apple) and some roast veg for dinner, before studying some more Japanese. (I’m aiming for 5 new Kanji a week, small number but I’m trying to learn other stuff too.) This week’s kanji I have already fairly well mastered, and today I even recognised some on signs around the subway stations and was excited that I knew some of them, felt really cool)

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Nagoya

2009-04-04T01:00:07Z

Nagoya. 1st April

I left Asakusa in the morning, checked out of my hotel and headed to the Subway, Erinn had helped me purchase my Shinkansen ticket earlier in the week, just to be sure, as with spring break we wanted to be sure I could get a reserved seat, specially with all my luggage. So I knew I needed to get to Tokyo station and id be right. I had a few options, but I chose to catch the taxi rather than the subway from Asakusa to Ueno. Here I was lucky for the most part to have elevators...one part was stairs, but only down, and with my luggage on wheels I was able to slowly push it down step by step. At Ueno I got a subway to Tokyo, and it was still the end of peak hour, so a little full and I contemplated waiting for the next one, but a nice Japanese man hopped off, lifted my luggage on and made it fit, so I jumped in shouting “Arigato...” to him as he disappeared into the sea of people jammed on the subway. I only had a few stops and was grateful to get off at Tokyo. Here I had to navigate my way around to the Shinkansen, which I managed fairly well, I found the right area, wasn’t so sure of the platform, so I asked. “Sumimasen....ahhhh...Shinkansen....Nagoya... (I thrust my tickets in his direction....platform????” “Ahhhhh Nagoya...oh, no 11:00, not ready yet....” oh yes, I’m early, I know, but what platform please? “Ah so, yes, platform 19 (something like that, can’t remember now).” “ahhh Arigato Gozaimasu!!” Smile, walk confidently to platform. Yep I was an hour early, but I made it, and I was in the right place, hard part over, now sit and wait for train, have a drink, a snack....oh wait....My jacket, my black jacket, big fur trim and hood, my only warm jacket..Yup, it’s at the hotel in Asakusa.  No time to go back.
Anyways I made it to Nagoya in a little over an hour, I found the subway line, I transferred to the station I needed, and I trundled my huge suitcase up the street to head office which I also found thanks to erinn's directions. Filled in some paperwork, and headed off in the car to my digs for the next ....almost week. I got settled, and checked out the place. Its two bedrooms and I am meant to have a roommate (I’ve been here 3 days and still no sign.)
I unpacked a little, set up my futon (this one is old and is not so thick, and I feel the floor. It’s not nice, and I’m glad it’s only a few days longer cos I’m getting sore)After that I checked out the area. So I’m in Nagoya, in a place called Hongo. I checked out the neighbouring area, called Fujigaoka, there are the internet cafe, and also a macca’s, some stores, and a 99yen shop, and a few grocery stores. I hit the internet ( I have now discovered if u pay slightly extra u can have a private room, and use your own laptop, so I can now, as u may have noticed, upload ) So anyway after the cafe I got some grocery’s as I plan to eat in as much as I can this week to save some dollars.

I came home with some goodies and did some Japanese studying then went to bed as I was exhausted!

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Heading to Tokyo.

2009-04-04T00:58:10Z

30th March
Ok so next was Asakusa, those who know, I had planned to stay in a capsule hotel, well this plan was changed as I needed different nights because of the Utsonomiya and Nikko trip unexpectedly, so I tried to change the nights but the ones I need were fully booked, so I had to switch to a whole new hotel, one in asakusa. So I didn’t get to see Akihabara, again, and I never got to Harajuku either,
31st March
But I did get to Disneyland, and it was amazing. I can’t describe the amount of people there (Its spring break at the moment) but this may give you some idea: lines for rides were on average: 2HRS!!! Some even longer! Yep, crazy, needless to say I only went on 2 rides, and saw one show, and then just looked at everything else that wasn’t crazy, I went in the Swiss family Robinson tree house, I went on a raft across to tom Sawyers island and explored the bridges,, caves and forts, I drove a f1 car (sadly not really as exciting ads it sounds), I rode the pirates of the Caribbean boat ride, I saw a show called one man’s dream, a show of Disney through the years, I saw the daily parade, and the night time lights parade, both of which were the highlights. I had pizza in the shape of Mickey’s head, and a lunch box set which was toooo cute 

It was a super long day. Oh on the way I had to catch 2 subways then a JR train, well I got off the second subway and then I realised I had left my pre purchased ticket in my document wallet at the hotel, so 2 subways back, and off I went again, fortunately here in Japan, subways come every few minutes, so it wasn’t too bad.
The other things ill mention for anyone planning a trip to Japan, or Disney in general: Pre purchase your ticket, at a Disney store, or check other places on the Disneyland website for purchasing. Do this because if you don’t, the line up is a million people long and that’s hardly exaggerating, also if it gets too crowded you may have to either wait a bit or get refused entry, which would suck. I pre purchased and sailed right through the gate. Even if you are warm enough or worried about carrying too much, take a blanket or towel, and even a small cushion, or be prepared to buy them. The night time parade is by far the best past, but it gets quite cold, and u have to sit along the parade route, standing is not allowed, and u sit on concrete, its super cold. Thankfully I bought a winnie the pooh cushion fairly cheap and a cheap towel as I wasn’t prepared enough. I didn’t even take my coat as I forgot it would cool down at night. I just had my jumper.

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So where am I up too....?

2009-04-04T00:50:49Z

So where am I up too....?

Ok so you have heard all about Mito.
28th March
Did I mention the trip to Utsunomiya?? Ok so we headed off to Utsonomiya which is about 1 and a half hours or so north of Mito on the express train. Erinn’s friend Phil, who is all a Peppy teacher, had some friends (some Peppy) who were having a 70’s party. So we went to the Family Mart where everything is 390Yen and found racks of clothing which actually fit the description of 70’s hippie. So for a cheap price we were all costumed up and we headed to Utsonomiya.

We arrived, manage to lug my now VERY heavy luggage (Just to give you an idea, my Guess carryon bag....well the strap has broken at the point where its sewn to the bag, and the suitcase, bulging!!!)Into a cab, then dropped it at Phil’s place. Then it was off to the party. I was a little unsure at first as I knew no one, but as I arrived I knew it would be fine. The party was in full swing, with about 17 people (I think we hit the 19 mark at some point) and the Martini’s were flowing. Those who know me well know its best I don’t martini it, and I had had the foresight to purchase some whiskey at the konbini (did u guess? Convenience store) before we arrived. Johnnie Red was the only option other than Suntory. So I stuck to that with coke. The party was likely, and noisy, with lots of crazy music, men at work, enter the dragon soundtrack, Abba, there were dance offs, and they were between 2 American guys, and they were both quite impressive busting some wonderful 70’s moves. Lots of afros, and peace signs, tie dye even. It was alot of fun. I actually think I’ve blogged on this subject already so ill move on now...but I felt I needed to write more, and if I haven’t, well now I have. (Reason I’m unsure, I’m writing back in my apartment, with no internet, and ill upload at the cafe tomorrow, so apologies for any repeats.
29th March
After the party the next day, we awoke, some not feeling so good, but not me thanks to only half a hip flask of Johnnie, we got a groggy phone call from some other party goers...Matt and his girlfriend and Andrew, and we all met at Dennys for a good old American/Japanese Breakfast/Lunch. It was decided we would head of to Nikko.

Here we saw Monkeys, real live ones who tried to eat our faces off, well it felt like it when he screeched at us and we all jumped away. And we saw a waterfall, I ate grasshopper, it was kind of weird, nut no real taste, just crunchy and sweet (It was covered in like Molasses) we saw some bridge with some historical meaning...ooh I have mentioned this

So where am I up too....? remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Seventies stylin in utsunomiya

2009-03-30T03:14:07Z

So i have been in Utsunomiya for the last 2 days..well actually got in last night and leave monday. anyways took a train from Mito to get here, about 2 hrs it took. We are in Tochogi prefecture...i think i got that right..yeah so Erinn has a friend here phil, who asked us to come and stay with promises of a 70`s party, and some sightseeing. So as i want to experience as much of japan as possible we took him up on that offer. So, we arrived, dumped my super heavy suitcase at phils and headed to the party.

Was quite funny, lots of afro`s, seventies music on a record player, and lots of really nice, interesting people from all different places. america, canada, aus (me) a brittish guy, french, japanese...ummm im sure there was more too. But was quite good. everyone mingled and chatted and drank alot of martinis. i stuck to some johnnie red and coke, and only a few, so i was a little toasty but pretty good. and im glad i did, some people were not feeling so good the next day, but i was in tip top shape. so the party raged on, we left at 3am, managed to do something that is obviously universal, the 24hr maccas beer munchie run! yep, but best thing is, the maccas is soooo much better. still junk of course, but alot better than oz for sure. so home to bed then we slept in a little and then dragged ourselves out of bed to head to dennys for breakfast»lunch. After that, one of the other peppy employees who has a car, offered to drive us to Nikko.

So we piled in, 5 of us into this little honda and headed off to see Nikko. We stopped on the way to get some nice photos of the mountain there that is volcanic and the lake at the base of it.

After that we moved up further heading to see a really good waterfall, but along the way we got distracted by some monkeys and stopped to have a look. they were so cute. 2 adults and 1 baby. he was so cheeky, running and jumping and playing. but someone got too close to the adults and one screeched at us and beared its fangs, so we all jumped back in unison about 10 feet, and watched froma distance. i got a few good photos i think.

We then headed up to the waterfall, i really cant remember the names of the places, but its in Nikko and i have photos of some of the signs to jog my memory later. But this waterfall was soooo beautiful, was really calming. At the waterfall there is a shop that sells grasshoppers, and we decide to try some, so they are coated in some malases type stuff and i did it! photo evidence to prove too!

After we washed down the grasshopper with lots of water it was off to a temple.

on the way we stopped at a big red bridge. It has some historical importance, something to do with a young guy on one side a young girl on the other and some raging water in between...yeah i know im not giving you much here, but really it wasnt the history that made it awesome, it was how cool it looks, and how tranqual the clear clear water was running beneath it. Besides, i cant do everything for you, you gotta do some things urself. try wiki, or google nikko

So we wandered around the grounds of the temple, it was really cool. Ok i got my guidebook handy, ill do some of your homework for you..it was....Toshu-go Shrine. Coolest part was the pagoda, i took photos. ill add them all soon. The pagoda is 5 stories high and ech storie represents an element...so earth, fire, wind water, and heaven...with these powers combined...ooh sorry flashback..ok so they go up in ascending order..heaven at the top..but anyways, would be cool to live in!!!! Most of the actual bulidings were closed, but we could see the outside and that was cool enough for me.

Oh and i just found out, its Shinko bridge over Daiya river!! Apparently the dud originally crossed the river on the back of two giant serpants, bridge seems a much smarter and safer way to me!Thats enough facts for now.<

We headed home cramped in this micro mini honda, and headed to a korean bbq for dinner. was really quite delicious. Then home to phils place and i watched a movie on my laptop then it was sleep time.

This morning phil is making crepes, then this arvo its off to tokyo to check into my hotel. Disneland tomorow! Rock!

Ill add pictures real soon. promise, there is a great grashopper eating sequence i know you will all love!

sayaonara for now...

bella

p.s apologies for grammer and spelling errors...this laptop im using is german, i cant find half the puncuation marks i need and i have limited time and was too lazy to capitolise where capitals are required. ill do better next time..promise...

Seventies stylin in utsunomiya remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Monjayaki

2009-03-27T10:29:58Z

So todays entry is fairly food related also.
After our night at the Izakaya last night we had another sleep in. So we got up at around midday and got ready to go back to the okonomiyaki place for lunch with some more of Erins friends. this lady worked for Peppy also and she brought her teenage daughter along.

We had okonomiayaki again, this time a cheese one with mochi in it, and a meat one, with beef, bacon, chicken in it. Both were sooo good. But this time we also had "Monja" for a full description check this site:

http://www.sakuratei.co.jp/en/monja-yaki.html

But briefly, it was simular to the okono at the start except instead of cooking it into a pancake it stays kinda runny and gooey and u eat it off the grill with a timy metal spatuala....confused...yeah maybe check the link above for a better idea. Its hard to describe. It is however very yummy. We had a meat one here too.

After our very filling meal, we decided on desert too. Erinn and i just had icecream altho it was of course presented beautifully. The young girl got some sort of parfait..and it was beautifully decorated with fruit, but she didnt eat it. She said "i dont like fruit" so she ate only the icecream. She was really funny. she has 4 keitai (mobile phones), she says incase the battery dies on one people can still contact her. Her english was not too bad for a 16 year old.

After lunch we said goodbye, Erinn and i headed for Mito station. She was off to work and i needed to check back at the Livin as i saw some good, flat, slip on shoes there the day before and they were also on sale. Ivve learnt very quickly that slip on shoes are much more convinient than my boots! so i headed of there. I was also on a mission to find myself a few warmer clothes as i underestamated the weather when i was packing. I expected slightly warmer. silly aussie i am. i also need a suit coat because i again didnt pack a warm business coat and i need ot have business ttire for several of my training days.

so off i went and it was quite succsessful. i found the jacket for 3000 yen (approx $50) and its a really good jacket, so i was stoked with that. then i found the slip on flat shoes, on sale 500 yen ($8 approx) i then went to another department store calle muai or something like that but its also called 1010. There was a Gap in there (the store "gap") and i got 2 jumper/tops for 900 yen each. so i was overall pretty happy with my shopping considering there was so much more i wanted that cost alot of money, but i only stuck to what i need.

On the walk home i noticed they had hung lanterns in the cherry trees ready for celebrations.

So im back home now. showered and warm, waiting for Erinn to see what we might have for dinner. id say we might stay in tonight, maybe chuck on a movie. tommorow we are off for a Hanami festival (a cherry blossom festival) in a neighbouring town. i cant remember the name, but ill be sure to add an entry afterwards with all the pics and locations etc.

And in a post soon ill put info about my new home town. but for now im off for a snack and a whiskey....mmmmm

Bella

Monjayaki remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Lake Senba, Mito Ibaraki

2009-03-27T08:59:05Z

Today i headed off a little earlier...and went for a walk down to lake senba. It was a lovely cherry blossom lined walked and only about ten minutes to the lake. I walked around the whole lake which took around an hour. Its spring break for the kids here so there was alot of soccor games happening, frisbee, teenagers giggling and playing with their keitai (mobile phone), People of all ages riding bycycles. It was a really nice feeling walking around surounded by cherry trees (still not in bloom) and all the local people and wildlife.

The cherry trees here may not bloom for another 2 weeks as its been a little too cold (have i mentioned that already?) Anyway i am going to a cherry blossom party tomorrow night i think they call it hanami or something close sounding to that. we will just have it without blossoms. but thats ok.

So after i got to the halfway point i sat to eat my apple, and a very friendly swann wanted in on that action. he was a very curious guy. but i was having none of it.

OOOOOhhhh have i mentioned that the fruit here is a hundred times better than in australia. fruit actually tastes like fruit. strawberries are pink right through. apples are crunchy not floury. Oh its so nice to enjoy good fruit.

After a chat with my swann friend i headed off in search of the livin where we had grocery shopped the night before.(oh shoot, have i mentioned we went grocery shopping. it was really good. i can feel safe now knowing i wont starve here and i can get comfort food if needed. i took a few photos of some of the products erinn reccomended)where was i.....oh yeah, I was in need of a pair of new sneakers and i noticed some on sale at livin for 1000yen, so about $17, well i got a great bright red pair, and when i went to pay i discovered they were half price, so only 500 yen. bargain. I also got a bag...a very cute one with little charactors on it for only 1000 yen as well.

Then it was a bit of a walk around Mito exploring a bit further. I found a starbucks where i got a hot chocolate and then found some american hip hop clothing stores..a whole strip in fact...then i decided i was exhausted and headed home. Im not sure if ive said but since i got here my shoulders and neck have been rally sore. I think i pulle dthem out carrying my overweight carry on baggage. So by this point in the day i was in a fair bit of pain from walking and carrying bags.

i got home had a nice warm shower then when erinn got home shortly after we headed out to an izakaya (pub) for a dinner with 2 gaijin(foreigner) girls that live in Mito. They all spoke japanese quite well! We had quite a selection of yummy food. Sashimi scallops, gyoza, tempura, and crab pizza! (you may notice a theme to my blogs..food!, this will most definatly continue, as those who know me well know i like my food!)
so we stayed out till about 12, funny thing was no one felt like drinking so it was fruit juice all round.

Home to bed after that. a bit of tiger balm and a heat back on my shouder and i was out like a light.

Im not sure if ive mentioned the weather.(gee i really dont have a good memory)
Well its been fairly cold by my standards. when i think spring i think skirts, singlet tops, thongs, maybe something a little warmer occasionally. well not here. spring is cold! 10 degrees when i arrived!

What else...umm so little things like shopping are so difficult now. i have no idea what they are saying and just shrug. i think i have figured out one thing..asking if i want a bag. when i hear it i am recognising it and i can say "hai"
thats about the best i got. and of course arigato gozaimasu at when im done. But ive gotten by so far with the shrugging method, so im sticking with it. I even managed to buy disneyland tickets from a lady with no english, and i got the right day, the right place and the right ticket. i think we were both pleased with ourselves when we were done.

Well that's if for now. ill post more soon. again i dont know if ive mentioned but i know the place ill be posted, but i wont be there till the 25 may, so in the next entry ill give you some info on my new home town.

sayonara
bella

Lake Senba, Mito Ibaraki remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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okonomiyaki.

2009-03-27T09:51:26Z

So we slept in a little the next morning, as we had stayed up late the night before chatting and catching up.

We pottered around the apartment until about 1pm and then we were off to lunch with nanasan (sp) one of erinns colleagues. We ended up choosing an okonomiyaki restraunt as the italian place which has a really good value lunch deal was very busy.

It was really cool, first you choose which mix you want, we chose a seafood one, and a pizza one, then they bring u the batter, so its all the ingriedients in a bowl and u mix it up,

then u oil ur hot plate, which is pretty much ur whole table. Then you pour it on and cook one side, flip it, and cook the other. When its done u can put stuff on top. we added seaweed shreded, fish flake,mayo and all sorts of special sauces before chopping it up and eating it! yum

After lunch i did a little exploring and checked out a department store called excel which had about 7 levels of sho[ping heaven. I retstrained myslef tho, and i didnt buy anything.

Then it was off home to wait for erinn and we had a dinner at home, and we baked cookies. yum!

Then it was off to bed.

For those interested...here is a better description than mine on okinomiyaki

http://www.japan-guide.com/r/e100.html

okonomiyaki. remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Welcome to Japan- You may not disembark

2009-03-25T03:13:24Z

Well ill start by saying im here in Japan safe and sound however it wasnt without its challenges.

The first leg of my flight went well, i had a row all to myself, i had chicken AND rice, not noodles. So that was good. I arrived in Singapore on time and well rested. I arrived at my check in gate early and waited around as i had another hour to kill..however after about half hour i thought, ill just recheck the time i check in and see if i have time for a feed. Well i then discovered that the Fed ex plane had crashed landed at Narita and my plane was delayed. So i had a few more hrs to kill. I had some yummy seafood soup and then learnt they hanged my check in gate, so i scrambled to the other end of the airport...eventually they allowed us to board but advised we would be arriving in nagoya instead of Narita. (About 45mins south by flight from Tokyo/Narita) So we took off, and around 6 and a bit hrs later landed in Nagoya where we prepared to get off..then about 15-20 mins after sitting waiting the pilot announced..ladies ad gentleman the authorities have advised we will not be allowed to disembark from this flight here. We will come back to you when we know what we can do.

long story slightly shorter. we sat in the plane for well over an hour before he advised Narita was opened and we would be taking off again...errggh take offs and landings, i hate them and now i had to deal with them again when i thought i was done.
So eventually we landed in Narita and all went well. I got my bus ticket and that went smoothly.

I must say there were a few small panicked moments but things went well in the end, and im all safe and well so thats the main thing.

It was about ten degrees when i arrived, however it did warm up to 10.1 while i was waiting for the bus.

I arrived in Mito and Erinn met me, we walked back to her place, and she went off to work. I checked out the local area with a walk and found the local Lawson (7-11)

Erinn was home again soon after and cooked me some yummy dinner.

Thats it for now, today we are off to lunch with some of Erinns friends. I have added photos but they are in a seperate section, i think ull find them on the right hand sign of this blog, but ill figure out how to add them in so i can give descriptions and stuff. But for now, im off....

More laters.

Bella

Welcome to Japan- You may not disembark remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Ready, Steady.......GO!

2009-03-22T21:06:24Z

Well, this is it folks, im off. Today i leave for my BIG ADVENTURE!

Please all cross your fingers i make it through the airport without getting stung excess baggage charges

But seriously, today is the first time ive felt excited so thats a really good thing. A few things to do here this morning, last minute clean up and such, then thats it, im off.

Ill fly out at 2:50pm, and it takes around 6 or 7 hours to Singapore, where i have a 3 hr stopover. So ill check any messages there. I then fly off to my new home and am due to arrive at 7.15 am local time. I will attempt to email from the airport to advise of my safe arrival, however it may have to wait til i gert to Mito. I will catch a bus there from the airport, and Erinn suggests that should take about 2 hrs, so on TUesday when you are all starting work, i shall be just getting settled at Erinns place and checking out my new home land

Thats it for now. Sorry for no pictures from the sayonara party but i forgot my camera, but thanks to all that came, and everyone ive seen and said goodbye to the last few weeks, and those i havent been able to see. Goodbye to you all and ill keep in touch online. Look forward to your emails and your visits to Japan when im settled

Much Love

Bella

Ready, Steady.......GO! remains copyright of the author -Bella., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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