Diniwid Beach 

Candice and her cute little horse. 

Security on Crocodile Island. Do you feel safer? 

A cave on Crocodile Island. 

This sandcastle took me ALL day to make. 

At one of our hotels. 

Cock fight 

Candice and I 

White beach, Boracay Island 

It's been way too long!!

I have neglected my poor little blog very badly lately. It's not like I don't have the time, I have PLENTY of time at school these days. I need to write about my trip to the Philippines but I don't really know where to start. I also want to post some pictures, I think I can manage doing that today.

I promise to write next week.

Random crap going through my head right this instant:

Showering in the morning is torture. The water may be nice and hot but putting on shampoo feels like rubbing ice cubes all over your head.

I inquired about going to a dentist for a regular cleaning. The father of one of the PE teachers is a dentist in town, so I asked her for info. The cost is only 4000 yen which is really cheap compared to Canada BUT it would require 4 visits. WTF? I just want a regular cleaning and I have a feeling that with 4 visits they will find something terribly wrong and I will end up having surgery or something. Also, no one in the office speaks any English. I told her I would think about it. I might just have to think about it for a few months...

Recontracting forms have to be in soon. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!!!

Yesterday was a really shitty day so I decided not to recontract.

But the day before was a good day, so I decided I would recontract.

January is such a volatile time to be making this decision! This see-sawing has been going on for months. Good days, bad days, pressure from home, student loans, what a pain in the ass!

I have been using some congestion/cold pills that expired last July. Do you think that is OK? I have been using them for 5 days now. Don't feel congested anymore, but I might be damaging my internal organs or something. Oh well.

Day Off Tomorrow!!

Kaori and I are headed to Hiroshima for a nice, relaxing day of Christmas shopping. The only shitty thing is that we have to work on Saturday instead. Oh well, exam time is usually pretty relaxing. In all my glorious wisdom I decided that all the oral exams should be individual this term. So instead of listening to 130 pairs speaking with each other, I now have to speak with 260 students (one-on-one)! The conversations are only 1 or 2 minutes depending on grade. Oh well, it was my idea.

Candice and I are going to The Philippines in less than 3 weeks but it totally hasn't sunk in yet. We made all our plans so long ago that it doesn't seem real these days. Doesn't help that there is massive flooding and death in the Philippines right now (NOT WHERE WE ARE GOING). Let's just say that I am not advertising my holiday plans to the other teachers right now. I can just hear their gasps and warnings.

Christmas cake in cooking class tonight!! For those who do not live in Japan you are probably thinking "why get excited about cake??"

The longer you live here the more you get excited about things that Japanese people get excited about.

For example, in the Spring cherry blossoms bloom and the whole country goes nuts. Wellllll there are cherry blossoms blooming in other countries, that look just as beautiful. When I first arrived I was like "so what? The blossoms in Victoria are just as beautiful". But NOW the frenzy has worn off on me. Cherry blossoms in Japan are a celebration, a reason to throw a party, take a trip, sing a song, write a poem, or even name your child (I know a kid named Sakura).

Christmas cake is the same way. It is special, but really, only because everyone says it is.

Phantom Kagura 

Ahhhh Magazines!

I found this site (netmagazines) that sends magazines to foreign addresses. The prices are all in US dollars and are pretty competitive. The average English magazine costs about 1000yen here so getting them sent from the states is actually cheaper. Last year I subscribed to Time Asia but I think I would prefer a few women's monthly magazines (which are cheaper) this year. That's makes me sound really dumb doesn't it? I mean trading Time for women's mags. Oh well.
This link will take you directly to the list of magazines that ship to foreign addresses.

Happy English reading!

Stupid Bloody Exchange Rates

The stupid bloody Canadian economy is soaring. This would be a good thing if I were actually in Canada. It is the worst possible time to send money home. It hasn't been this bad the whole time I have been here. As of today I am making $3000.00 less a year, due to the exchange rate!! Of course, I NEED to send money home now, isn't it always like that?

Stupid bloody Canada.

Never Ending Thoughts....

These days I have been thinking a lot about recontracting. The final decision doesn't have to be made until Feb. but it is on my mind CONSTANTLY!! I wish I could just make up my mind and deal with it. I want to stop thinking about it and get on with life. One day I am sure that I will stay. The next day I change my mind. If I could just stick to my original goals then the decision would be easy. Stay, earn more money. BUT it isn't as simple as that anymore.

I am giving a presentation at the mid year conference in three days and I am not at all prepared.

A new English teacher arrived today. He told me he has never taught a conversation class before. How can this be?? He is at least 27 or 28 and has worked at a few high schools. Lucky me, I have 4 conversation classes a week with him. He asked me to "be the lead teacher". No problem, I prefer it that way anyway. I feel sorry for the guy. He was soooo nervous today. He will only have this job until March but he still has to move here, set up an apartment, try to make friends, and to top it all off, he has a mouth full of braces (very uncommon here). He made a point of talking to me today so he's obviously a nice guy.

I made apple lemon spice muffins tonight. They didn't work out due to my stupidity but they will next time. I love having an oven!! Thank you Brad and Stacey!

At the Sake festival a few weeks ago. 

My Gramma, Wylie, and I at Shian's. 

My Gramma kicks your Gramma's ASS!!!

My Gramma bought herself a condo!!! She already has a house with her boyfriend but this is just HER condo, in a seperate city!!! I am so proud of her. I can't wait to visit her again.

It's November??

November already. It looks like it's going to be a busy month.
Last night I had a "Holy shit I'm in Japan" moment. I get these moments only about once a month these days. Last night was the annual Ootoshi Jinja festival. This is a Shinto shrine in my neighbourhood. Travis and I know the shrine-master because we both did home-stays with the family. The kagura began at 8pm and then when it was finished a new one started, and it went on ALL night. Kagura after kagura. I'm sure some of the hard core fans stayed all night too. For me, Kagura is like watching paint dry, only because I have seen it so many times.

My "Holy Shit" moment came when Travis and I were standing above the crowd looking down on all the people and the performance. It just hit me. Travis described it well. He said that if we were to return to this shrine, a hundred years from now on Nov 1st, the exact same thing would be happening, we would know the family of the shrine-master (the job is passed down from one generation to the next), the buildings and grounds would be exactly the same (as they have been for hundreds of years now), and of course, there would be an all-night Kagura dance performance.

History. History that we just don't have in Canada.

Not that Canada is a bad place because of it. In fact, I would love to be there right now. I would be headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant for lunch. But I am here, so off to Lawsons I go.

What Next??

My god! This poor country is being attacked by Mother Nature. I wouldn't be surprised to find that a swarm of locusts is on its way, or perhaps a volcano that has been dormant for a thousand years is about to explode, and burning hot lava will flow down the streets of Tokyo.

After the last few weeks I really wouldn't be surprised.

The pictures on the news are so horrifying that I can't really grasp that I am living in the same country as all these unfortunate people. Shimane is fine, no real problems from the typhoons or the earthquakes. The earthquake was in Niigata-ken, in a rural area. I swear that all rural areas in Japan look very similar to each other. The pictures on the news could very likely be my crappy town. I look at the ancient buildings in my neighborhood and KNOW that they would never stand up to the beating that Niigata took. My own ugly building would crumble for sure, there are already cracks along the wall in my living room.

Very, very scary.

I asked Tateishi Sensei where I should go if there is an earthquake. She said to come to the school gym. So I asked where I should go if the school gym has collapsed. She had no real answer and said jokingly to head for the hills.

But really, where do I go if the school is destroyed? I can't believe that these things are running through my mind.

Something I noticed about the people being interviewed on the news. Not one of them made comments about losing all their possessions, the destruction of their homes, etc. All the comments were about being happy to be alive, hoping for help, and awe over the power of the earthquake. If the same had happened back home people would be devastated about losing their homes and possessions (as I am sure the Japanese people are, they just think of such things as secondary to the well-being of their family and community.) Do you know what I mean? What I want to say is not coming out right.

Anyway, many people are scared to go inside due to all the aftershocks. They are sleeping in the streets or in their cars. It's getting very cold at night, and there is ANOTHER typhoon expected this weekend!!

Happy to be living in Shimane (for once).