Tuesday, July 19, 2005

the convenience store ("conbini") a block from my apt


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Lately I've been thinking about what little things I may actually miss from my daily life here in Japan. I like the onsen in my town, but it's not like I go all the time. I may miss the 24-hour convenience stores that are ALL over Japan, vending machines serving a selection of hot and cold drinks, the 100 yen store (equal to a $1 store), or the Takeo public library where I can take out any Japanese book or magazine for free.

But in NY, I can always go to Kinokuniya,( the Japanese bookstore), get pretty much any Japanese food I want, and even go to Japanese style karaoke. And there are always Japanese cultural events going on at the Japan Society and Asia Society. So I can still live a little bit of Japan, while living the life I want, in NY, and with my friends and family.

And honestly I'm so excited to go home, that the idea of actually missing anything about Takeo or Japan seems impossible. Well we'll see how I feel after being home a few months. Ever since my first trip to Japan years ago, I always felt a longing to go back, learn more about it, or be surrounded by Japanese things. I wonder if this year has killed that longing. Or if it will come back after I'm home for awhile.

row of Buddhist statues on mountain


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

little shrine on mountain


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

onsen area and pretty mountain


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

gate to Takeo Onsen


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


I went to my town onsen tonight for one last hot-spring bath.

happy news!!

TOMORROW IS MY LAST DAY OF WORK! It's the last day of school before summer break, and even though teachers still come into work during school vacations (don't get me started on that) they're letting me finish up tomorrow and have Thursday and Friday free to pack, clean, go to the bank with my supervisor etc. So I have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday free. yay! (thank god I have Harry Potter to keep me company. I don't have THAT much packing to do). Of course they won't let me just go home early, but that's fine - I still have things to take care of and people to see and I don't want to feel rushed. Wow, I can't believe I'm gonna be done with this crap "job" in 24 hours. No more "Ashley, read this. slower. now this. faster." like an English monkey. No more stamping piles and piles of notebooks. No more sitting in this uncomfortable chair, killing time on the internet and waiting for 4:00. No more glares from my coworkers who probably resent me for spending my days on my computer and getting to leave at 4:00. Hey, this is my "job". Believe me, I'm not happy about it either! I can't wait to get a real job where I feel respected and responsible and treated like an equal. And where I actually speak the same language as my coworkers! And am not referred to as "the foreigner". Won't that be nice...

I can't believe I leave Japan a week from today

It just occurred to me recently how scary this all is. The packing, moving, taking my cat on an overseas flight part is stressful enough, but the stuff that comes after is even scarier. In a week from today my real life starts. This past year has been this strange transition year between college and the real world. But once I leave Japan, I'll be looking for my first "real" job, and maybe moving out of my parents' place and into my first real NYC apartment. Every decision I make in the immediate future will be significant in shaping this next chapter of my life - where I get a job, where I live, who I live with, what new friends I make, who I date... It's exciting, but scary.

I had a bad morning. Was feeling very hostile against my annoying co-workers, and the man who works at my convenience store who tried to practice his crap English on me when I just wanted to buy my damn breakfast in peace!!!! I'm so sick of being stared at, treated like a freak or a walking English class, making children cry by smiling at them, or being told I have a big nose by my obnoxious students who should know better!! I just want to belong again! I am so ready to leave.

When I went home for lunch I discovered that my Harry Potter book had arrived! Yay!

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Japanese paper


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Petra's friend had a bunch of this handmade Japanese paper from Kyoto, so she let us each take a piece home. They were all so pretty!

after the festival


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

we went to Petra's friend's house for some tea. She lives in a temple because her father is a Buddhist priest. cool.

girls eating flavored ice


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


a popular summer festival snack.

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

"fireworks" in Japanese is "hanabi" which literally means "flower fire". I like that.

girls in yukata


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

buying yakisoba (fried noodles).

I like how they made a traditional Japanese costume look cool and modern with their hairstyles and earrings. A lot of girls in yukata walk around with their cell phones hanging around their necks which I think is an interesting juxtaposition.

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

mother and child watching fireworks


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

while wearing yukata: summer kimono often worn at summer festivals. The little girl yukata are so cute!

when I spent a summer in Japan, when I was 17, my host family dressed me in a yukata for the town festival. fun!

fireworks over a river


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Last night I went with Petra, Sarah, Nick, and 2 of Petra's Japanese friends to a fireworks festival in another town.

Japanese people love fireworks and there are events like this all over Japan throughout the summer.

Saturday, July 16, 2005


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.



they kinda look alike don't they? Miko sort of has a raccoon eyes pattern on her face. And they both have adorable mischievous personalities. awww.

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

someone just reminded me that the raccoon from Disney's Pocahontas is named Meeko (same pronunciation, but different spelling, as Miko). I wasn't thinking about that when I named her - I just thought it was a cute Japanese name. But maybe it was subconscious, since I'm a Disney lover at heart.

I need my Harry Potter!!

ok, I caved. I was originally gonna wait to read my brother's copy at home in 10 days, but who am I kidding? I can't wait that long! So I just ordered it from the Japanese Amazon.com and it should be here in a few days! yay! A nice distraction for my final week, when I'll be so anxious to just get on that damn plane!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

koi fish at shrine


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

shrine in Fukuoka


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

adorable little boy dressed for the festival


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

festival float


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


on display for Fukuoka's big summer festival

Chinese pop art


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


part of the collection of contemporary asian art at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

Buddha from Angkor Wat at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

I went to Fukuoka today, mainly to see this exhibit on art from Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was really nice, especially because Angkor Wat is one of those places in Asia I want to see, but didn't get to this year. The rest of the museum was good too. It's mostly modern asian art, which you don't normally see in museums in America.

It was the first time in awhile I'd just spent time in Fukuoka, and it might have been the last. (for this year at least).

Friday, July 08, 2005

and of course, a karaoke after-party


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


Ben and Chelsea (a cute JET couple), me and Sarah.

me and Amit


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


a fellow Takeo JET

Saga Jet farewell party in Saga city


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


free food and open bar!
I've always found social situations like this sort of awkward. It's been the same things at various summer programs etc I've done. When you know you're NEVER going to see these people again in your life, but honestly you never even knew most of them that well to begin with, so are all these goodbyes really necessary? And there are always people whose names you STILL don't know, but of course now it's too late to ask, so you just have to pretend. There are people who you have a real conversation with for the first time, and wish you had gotten to know better before, but now it doesn't really matter since we're all going our seperate ways in about 2 weeks. And then there are people who are somewhere in between strangers and friends and you have to decide where a hug or exchange of e-mails is appropriate. I've just never really been good at things like this.
But I'm glad I went - I had a good time with some people who I hardly ever get to see. And I find it really refreshing to hang out in a big group of English speakers for an evening.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

the Sanrio store in my local mall


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


because it's just too cute.
I love this place.
I bought a birthday card for Yuko here yesterday.

me and my recent shopping buddies


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


Yoko on the left and Kohei in the middle. We went to that outlet mall together 2 weeks ago (along with this guy Kamil - a British JET who's friends with them) and then last weekend the 3 of us went shopping in Sasebo. Kohei is the boy who's moving to CA in August and who everyone's trying to set me up with it. He's awesome and totally cute, but I'm just frustrated by my past attempts at dating in this country and it seems so pointless since I leave in 18 days. It also feels a little too middle-school, since I have to hear through his friends that he kinda likes me. Sigh. Well, we'll see. For now I'm just having fun hanging out with him and his friends.

me and Yuko - the birthday girl


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.


Last night I went to this girl's b-day party in a nearby town. She's friends with that group of people I've been hanging out with lately (in the picture above). She speaks great English and we've bonded over a shared love for Sex and the City.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

19 days

I finally mailed off my boxes. (thanks for the help, Sarah!) 6 boxes for about $320. ugh, moving is expensive. Well, the next time I move will most likely be within NYC and therefore free!
Hopefully the rest of my stuff will fit in my 2 suitcases and I won't have to make a last minute run to the post office or something.
I also got all my unwanted clothes over to Petra's (she's gathering all our stuff and donating it to her church.)
I feel better now - my apt is less cluttered and my mind is less frazzled.
I had my last tutoring session with that boy Shohei. His mom wants me to come over for dinner sometime before I leave. That's nice.
Damn, work is boring today.
This week went by fast though.
I'm hoping that's true for the next 2 weeks as well..

Monday, July 04, 2005

Happy 4th of July


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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Last night the Americans in Takeo had a 4th of July gathering at Sarah and Nick's - complete with pie and sparklers. Oooo.

So, the countdown (not including today) is now 20 days total, 17 days till work is over, and only 12 more actual days of work.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

I made it to July!

When I look at those pics in the archives from July 2004, that I posted in the makeshift computer room at the Keio Plaza hotel during Tokyo Orientation, it seems so long ago. I was so un-jaded and the coming year seemed to hold so much promise and so many endless possibilities. Sigh.

Last July I made a list of JET goals in my diary. (10 diaries back. I had a lot of idle time and idle thoughts this year.) I took that diary home to NY in April, but I'll try to recall the goals here and see what I fulfilled:

1) Travel - I had a list of places I wanted to go to and managed to do most of them, which is very good, considering I only stayed for 1 year. I went to Shikoku, Thailand, Hong Kong, Kurashiki, Matsue, Vietnam, the snow festival in Hokkaido, Shanghai, Korea, Okinawa, and of course random places around Kyushu. There are still many places within Japan, and in the rest of Asia, that I want to see, but I'm sure I'll return to Asia. Maybe with friends or family to share it with. I still love solo travel, but too much of it can definitely get lonely as I learned this year, and there is something to be said for having a companion. I'm proud of myself for doing most of those places on my own this year. Sometimes I look back at things I did, like get myself around Bangkok all by myself, I think, "how did I do that?"
Thailand was my best trip overall I think. It had everything - amazing temples (in Bangkok and Ayuthaya), palaces, museums (esp. Jim Thompson's house), beautiful beaches, shopping, fabulous Thai massages and food (in particular the pad see eew at Jim Thompson's and the mango sticky rice at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel - so goood).
Shanghai is probably 2nd - incredible architecture, great chinese art museum, good food, and cheap shopping.
Hong Kong gets an honorable mention for its skyline and shopping.
And Vietnam wins for the best food. In Hanoi my mom and I ate at top restaurants every night (which in Vietnam only cost about $20). And the buffet breakfast at our hotel in Hanoi was amazing - French bread/cheese, Vietnamese pho noodle soup (mmm, cilantro..), tropical fruit that I'd never seen before in my life, etc..
Oh and Vietnam had GREAT shopping too.
And within Japan, I had a really good time in Kyoto during cherry blossom season (thanks for a great trip, Laura!) and my Shikoku/Inland Sea trip last August.

2) Improve my Japanese - HA! I pretty much gave up on the idea of ever being close to fluent in Japanese. It's just too hard. And why do I even need to be fluent in Japanese to live in NY? I don't! For so long I was obsessed with this goal of studying Japanese and I didn't even stop to think about why or what I was actually going to use it for. I know enough to get by traveling and making small talk and I'm satisfied with that.
Also, since I haven't taken a formal class in 2 years, all the grammar has fallen out of my head, so I probably sound like an idiot when I actually do try to speak.
But my listening skills have improved and I've picked up some new words. I've also practiced reading in Japanese a lot this year. I've made good use of the Takeo public library and have read (or read some of) the following books in Japanese: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Charlotte's Web, Matilda, Bambi, A Child Called It, and Peter Pan.

3) Make Japanese friends - this one didn't really work out as I planned. I had a few casual friends who I'd e-mail with and meet up with once in a while. But it's just not the same as friendships back home. As a foreigner, it's very hard to feel accepted and treated as a real person. The Japanese tend to hold foreigners at a distance, and even though they're very polite and welcoming, they never let them in. Which is so frustrating! Not to mention language barriers, cultural differences and the fact that Japanese people work way too much and never seem to have free time. Plus there are so few young people around in my town, compared to big cities. It's a lost cause.

4) Date Japanese men - this one also didn't work out too well. For a lot of the same reasons. But I tried really hard! Which was also frustrating. I miss men who make the first move! I had a random date in November, a very brief fling with Takashi the bartender, kissed that boy Hiroki in Kyoto, dated Katsuya, who eventually disappeared on me with no warning, and lately other random encounters that don't even qualify as dates. But definitely nothing that even comes close to an ACTUAL relationship. Which is maybe a good thing, cause it means I can leave Japan with no messy breakup at the end. And I've satisfied my curiosity and have come to the conclusion that dating Japanese men is frustrating and not worth it. Oh, and this also goes hand in hand with the language thing - One major reason I had in the beginning for wanting to date Japanese men was the invaluable language practice and cultural experience. But eventually I decided that I didn't really care about improving my Japanese or delving deeper into the culture, so Japanese men were just there to pass the time and ease the loneliness until I could return home where there are REAL men, whom I can have REAL relationships with.

5) Save money - This was my first real job and it pays pretty well, so I managed to save a good amount. Traveling was my biggest expense, and I did a lot of it, (and shopped a lot on most trips) but other than that, my rent was practically nothing and when I was around town I spent almost no money. Cause there's nothing to do! haha.

I think there was also something cheesy in there about wanting to "make a difference in my students' English education". Um...yeah, I gave up on that one after about a week of working at my school where they use JETs as human tape recorders/notebook stampers.

Some things I accomplished that were not on the list were: lived alone in my own apt, swam in the Inland Sea, went to a Japanese baseball game, used a rice-cooker, owned a cat, went to Tokyo Disneyland (sort of..) did cherry-blossom viewing properly (in Kyoto), bathed in a green tea onsen, went on a shopping spree in Tokyo's Shibuya 109 building (the mecca of Japanese youth fashion), made a tea bowl on a pottery wheel, went to acupuncture, tried taiko drumming, learned to knit, took tea ceremony lessons, reread all the Harry Potter books (in English), completed about a dozen puzzles.

One major goal that I have yet to achieve is to go to a love hotel !! So my new plan is to someday return to Japan with my future boyfriend/husband and make the love hotel rounds in Tokyo and/or Osaka. woohoo!

Oh, and I never climbed Mt Fuji. But I don't think I really care about doing that. Maybe someday.