Summer camp and Mikatagoko

This past week has been filled with many events. First of all, I did a summer camp on tuesday. The summer camp was unlike an American one. It was a one day event, held at a cute museum in Obama, a small city (more like a big
town) 20 minutes south of here. We cooked Shepards pie with the children (the museum had a special cooking room with 4 free-standing cooking units!--so efficient and ingenious... it was a sink, oven, and burner combined into one "island" that converts into a table to eat on when finished). We were only aloud to speak English to the children who were so cute! Some were very shy, but all were well behaved and helped clean up without one complaint. Then we all talked to the children about themselves, and all were impressed with the pictures of my "Japanese" room at home and with the sculpture studio. And I brought clay for them to touch. None of the children were from my school. Paul did the same camp with me. Sometimes I checked to see if the children understood me by pointing to a picture of dad and saying he was my "mother" and other funny things like that. The day went rather well.

Wednesday I went up to Fukui city for the contract signing ceremony that everyone has to go to. Paul and I stayed with Katie, who lives between Fukui city and our area of Fukui. There as an after party that all JETs were invited to but we would have had to pay for a cab back to the train station and we didn't feel like going. Instead we hung out at Katie's and talked and watched some cool videos she had.

Thursday and Friday I got to go to my school! I corrected lots of summer english homework. The children are not in classes yet but some were at the school and I got to say hi.

On Saturday I went up to Tsuruga for a Japanese calligraphy lesson. The teacher is so nice! She brought us to look at some calligraphy ad then took us to lunch! Next week we will start to do some actual calligraphy. Then in the afternoon I saw my school's band perform. They were so cute, and very talented!

Today (Sunday) Paul and I biked around the five beautiful lakes of Mikata, "Mikatagoko." You can rent bikes at Mikata station. It was great fun! Unlike Fuji, which I will not do twice, haha, I'd do this again with any visitor. It is so beautiful and rigt in the neighborhood! Paul and I both forgot our cameras (duh!!) but here is a pic of them from the internet. Don't worry! It's so close by that I will definitely return frequently, so I'll have some pics of my own soon.



Well, that is it. My brain is fried by the Japanese sun. I have school tomorrow and get to meet my superviser! I think I've written enough for now. Peace y'all!

-Lisa :)

Fuji?!?!? Who would climb that? It's above the clouds!!!

So the Fuji climb! This is a post I've been meaning to do for a week. I think I've needed this entire time to recover!!

Fuji is a very important mountain in Japan. Many artists have depicted it, and it's well known throughout the world. It's shape is absolutely beautiful. It extends beyond the clouds into the heavens.

I climbed at night, and didn't notice until daytime as I descended that the actual mountain is pretty ugly!

Now don't get me wrong, Fuji has a lot to offer. It has beautiful views, really incredible lava rock of all sorts of colors such as reds, purples, and browns, and many friendly posts on the way up and down offering a square of tatami to sip a bowl of soup on. But as mountains go, it's not like there were incredible trees or thngs to look at on the way, but just rock. It is a volcano, which I often forget. (Thankfully it is dormant).

We started climbing at night (all 40 JETS, mostly newbies) in order to reach the summit by sunrise. On the way up Paul and I met many people we already new, and one we hadn't met, Katie. A group of us ended up sticking together by the 6th or 7th station, which was nice. Ok, so Fuji has 10 stations. People start at the fifth, and the summit is the tenth. There are other mini stations along the way as well. You can rest, go to the bathroom, or buy food at them. You can't throw out any trash anywhere on the mountain though, so you are stuck carrying empty water bottles with you the entire route down.

The beginning part of the climb was very difficult, since we were just getting used to the lack of oxygen. We had to stop very frequently in order to catch our breath. I've never felt my heart beat so fast! Between the 7th and 8th station it got easier as our bodies adjusted, but it was time for some hard core climbing. The climbing was either up steep stone paths on on loose rocks/gravel so it was incredibly hard to climb up without sliding all over the place.

By the time we got to the eigth station we were stuck in a line! There seemed to be a million people on the mountain and we couldn't budge. It was a blessing in disguise at first, because we got to slow down and rest, but then it got really annoying since sunrise was nearing and we just wanted to get to the summit. Finally, we decided that a station between the eigth and the top would be good enough to see the sunrise. And check it out, it was beautiful:



So we chilled near the top of the mountain and ate some soup and warmed up as the sun rose. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was a sunrise above the clouds. It was so beautiful.

After we felt rested we continued to the top, to be met with yet more lines!



It took forever to get to the top because of this. Despite our fatigue, Paul, Katie, and I dodged around people to the top. Still, by the time we reached the top we only had 10 minutes to enjoy the summit!



But of course this is time enough to take pics! This one is one Paul took of me and Katie. Check out how the mountain is above the clouds!!

Then the descent came.

I thought the decsent would be easy, but I thought wrong! I had been climbing since 9pm the night before, and it was 7am, so I was tired to start out with. And you can't simply walk down the mountain. You sorta have to slide down, since you are walking on loose bits of lava rock. It was very hard on the knees, and there was no relief from the sun. I would have taken a picture, but I was too preoccupied with how I would ever reach the land beneath the clouds again, much less make the bus on time!

However I did make it down. I was one of the last people to make it and the bus left right after I got there. However, not everyone made it to the summit, so I am happy I made it all the way. I definitely understand the old Japanese proverb now: "He who climbs mount Fuji once is wise, he who climbs twice is a fool." This phrase, to me, basically says that it is worth it to do it once, but that there is no reason to put yourself through all that to see the same thing twice! I'm glad I did it but I don't plan on climbing it again... ever. Sorry if anyone wanted to do this with me during a visit here. Forget about it! :)

In total, my climb clocked in at 13.5 hours, with a few short breaks included. How I ever got up and down again I don't know. But such sweet victory... :)

The quiet before the storm

I just took a nice walk to a vending machine to get tea. Well, I took the walk more to take a walk, and got the tea cause tea sounded nice. It is beautiful and breezy out. There was a light rain shower, and lightning in the distance. I hear there is a typhoon coming in from the south. Whether or not it happens, this night is truly the quite before the storm. I have had a day to relax and be alone before everything starts: the mount Fuji climb, summer camps, teaching, meeting my supervisor.

I am glad I can take this time to rest so I will be refreshed for the things to come.

I'm not in Kansas anymore...

Hmm how to sum up what has been going on? On Wednesday I went up to Tsuruga to a festival. Tsuruga is a nice little city on the water, and they have a beach that is separated from the city by a thin pine forest/park. The beach is surrounded by mountains. I could even see ones in the distance through the length of the horizon. The beach itself is a bit rocky; the sand isn’t as smooth as back home but the water was warmer! Paul and I went in after an initial unease that the water wasn’t clear enough to see to the bottom. But there didn’t seem to be anything underneath besides rocks thankfully!

There were lots of other Fukui JETs there and we had a barbecue. The flag you see on the tree was made just for us by a JET and a JET’s visiting brother. We didn’t need the flag to spot our group though, I’d say we stuck out very easily. I have never been anywhere with so little diversity! Well, I do have to say that there is a lot more diversity between Japanese people themselves than Americans may realize. Though I haven’t seen sizes of people like I do in America, their heights, sizes, and shapes vary quite greatly from each other. However, any foreigner, unless Asian, sticks out a ton. But I think the Asian foreigners have it a little harder, since they are expected to speak Japanese and not do stupid things. A non-Asian foreigner can get away with making stupid mistakes, of which I’m sure there are many.

Anyway, the barbecue food was amazing. I brought some watermelon, lol! I figure if you have too much of something, it’s best to share it. Needless to say it seems everyone was happy. I really like the JETs in general. They seem, among other good qualities, to really care about each other. I feel like if I had a problem I’d have a ton of support.

Pretty much the entire city of Tsuruga must’ve come to the festival. Before the fireworks people lit lanterns and sent them out to the sea. I think it has something to do with the end of the holiday, Oban, and sending ancesters back to the underworld by sea. It was beautiful. The fireworks display started after that, and was amazing. It was probably one of the best and longest displays I’ve ever seen!

Today I bought a broom at a shop around the corner. There is not much near where I am, but I noticed a housewares shop while walking the other day. So I went to get a broom. They only had brooms that looked to be the appropriate height for short Japanese grannies, but I bought it anyway. I didn’t think to look at the price, so when the nice lady rang it up I was shocked to see that it was $14! Ooops… So I bought it, since I didn’t want to offend the lady since I’d probably see her around town all year. The second I bring it outside a little (insignificant) piece breaks off. So much for the phrase “you pay for what you get.”

I think the shops are overpriced because only a few people will go to them every day and will pay for being able to walk there. All the shops are attached to houses, and as I enter there are either chimes announcing my presence or I have to yell “sumimasen!” (“excuse me!”) to get the person from their house. Then the shop owner will open a sliding wood door to expose their husband/wife watching TV sitting on tatami.

I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore…

People have definitely tried to have conversations with me. I can’t wait until I understand more, because I’m sure they’d be interesting conversations if I understood them! The first question I get (and usually the only one I understand) is “Doko kara?” or “Where are you from?” If the conversation is able to go any further it’s because that person studied English in High School, or is really good at miming, lol.

Well that’s it for now. Above are some pics of my apartment. I have 2 tatami rooms (both almost empty, I want to put nice plants or something in them, a nice big kitchen (but with little counter space), and a nice big living room/bedroom. I have plenty of space for visitors!!! So please, come on over! (Just warn me first).

By y’all!
-Lisa

PS: My toilet is amazing! When it flushes water comes out at the top for you to rinse your hands. It has two bidet settings, and heated seats as well. How about that!

First Week and a Half

My first week started with Tokyo Orientation. I didn't see much of Tokyo so I will have to go back. Orientation was long, but I was excited to finally be in Japan. JET lag wasn't so fun the first few days--it took awhile to adjust. I'd have to say that by now I am adjusted, but it took at least 5 days to feel normal again.

One of the first things I thought was cool about Japan was the availability of Tea. There was a hot pot for making tea in my hotel room and all sorts of non-sugared iced teas at the convenience store.





After Tokyo we took a long and beautiful long bus ride to Fukui-ken. Japan is so green! There are mountains covered with forest everywhere. And all the rest stops are so pretty and have good food and nice gift stores. We ate lunch at one and I had nice soba noodles.

One thing that is cool is that they have snacks like sushi or rice-based foods at convenience stores and such, so you can get a more nutricious snack. At American corner stores all you can really get is junkfood.



We spent the next few days in Fukui City at the prefectural orientation. Then we finally got to go to our apartments.

I am truly in the country. I am right by the train station, which is
convenient, but there is not much around besides rice fields and
houses. I absolutely love it. It's a bit annoying without a car,
however, since there's no grocery store near me. I went shopping last
Friday with an English teacher from my school, and am still ok for a
bit. Besides, I've gotten 1.5 free watermelons since I've gotten
here! The half of watermelon from my neighbors, 3 Japanese university
students, who knocked on my door with it seconds after I arrived. The
other half from the cell phone company when I signed up to get a
phone. So I had watermelon for dinner tonight!



I went to this amazing Sushi place today in a small city in the
prefecture. The Sushi goes by on a conveyor belt and it's a buck a
plate (2 pieces of sushi). So I had an entire sushi mean for 5 bucks.
And five plates really does fill you up.

Well, I'm getting tired, and am gonna get going. I'll post more soon!

Getting close!

Four days till I go! I can't believe it's almost time. I had an amazing time with some of my good friends Saturday. They came to my house and ate dinner and just hung out. And last Tuesday I went to Boston and hung out with Sabrina, Diane, and Karley. I had a blast. Sabrina and I ate ice cream and walked through the common and then met up with Diane and Karley and ate at this restaurant in Quincy Market called "Dick's Last Resort." They're rude to you there, and we were so shocked when the waitress was throwing our silverware at us and being all rude. Then she wrote these funny sayings on balloons that she attached to our heads. The pictures are Sabrina and me in the Common, and me, her and Diane with the balloons.

Paul is here this week ad it's so nice to see him again! Today my mom took us out to lunch at "On the Border" and we had a good time. My parents and I played "memory" at dinner tonight--a fun game!

Goodnight for now,
Lisa