Everybody Loves Lena

Lena and I are at our respective schools with shit-all to do today because it is a Typhoon day. The kids get to stay home, but teachers still come in. I don't care really, the typhoon has passed. Maybe if it were dangerous then I would be a little bitter.

Anyway...back to the Lena post.

Good lookin' and charmin' Lena was born in the rural west of Ireland on a farm specializing in cattle rearing!!!

She shared a good childhood with 3 older sisters and one younger brother. Her brother is 6 years younger. A Guinness baby as her parents would say (but only when drunk!!)

She went to all girls boarding school for junior high !! (Freak)

That might explain (some of) the craziness.


Enjoying a little America's Next Top Model on a lazy summer afternoon (instead of going to work! Ahhh the life of an ALT.)

Only 11 months left!!

Verbal diarrhea:

* I love my new apartment more and more each day. I had no idea that ones surroundings could have such an effect. I don't dread returning to my apartment. I'm no longer embarrassed to invite people over.

* I'm going to try making calzones tonight. I have never made anything remotely like a calzone, ever.

* I killed almost all of Katy's plants. Sorry.

* I didn't kill the fish!

* Udon and pizza-mans are back at Lawsons, a sure sign that Autumn is on the way.

* Shakken is shit.

* I wrote 6 postcards today. Is one of them for you?? Check your mailbox.

* I just heard "Janie's Got a Gun" on the radio (Vancouver station). That is some quality music.

* Between paying for my trip to Hawaii, my flight home for x-mas, and shakken for my car I have no money left for my Hawaii trip. But I'm still going to buy a Gigabeat and tonnes of new clothes. Thank god for two visas and a mastercard with an insane limit.

* The staff room is empty, again. At least I know where everyone is. Why do they need all the teachers to stand around and watch the students practice for sports day? No thanks, I'd rather play on the computer.

* My supervisor just told me that if I get "VERY bored" I should come outside to watch the practice. She's the best.

* I have so much white hair now that I think if I were to let it grow-out (not dye it every month) I would be predominately white. Scary shit!

Cutiepie

My friend Brooke's little cutie, Chloe.

The GREATNESS that is Meemo

This is Sarah.

Memories of my Meemsie:

*Talking a mile a minute and changing the subject every 3 seconds.
*Living together in the most disgusting basement suite in Victoria.
*The Drew Barrymore haircut.
*The "Steve Years".
*The roadkill poster in the kitchen.
*Quitting one McDonalds, over the phone, to start working in another McDonalds the next day.
*Living on Launa's couch.
*Island Farms vanilla plus mango yogurt with granola.
*Giving me her Mom's canning (Yum!)
*The White car.
*Hanging out and doing nothing in PR.
*Getting a $100 bonus for recruiting her for Danbee, even though she left early!
*Envying the way she has with children.
*Alllll the jobs.
*Happy, bubbly, infectious attitude (most of the time).
*Not losing touch.

I'll add more as I think of them, and yes, there are more.

The Perfect Summer Picture

My mom and her mom.

Famous Boy Band From the Sixties?

My dad and his 4 brothers.

Summer Days

My fondest summer memories come from being at my grandparent's home on Shuswap Lake.

Houseguests

A Year Later

Well my baby blog is a year old this month. As blogs go, it really does suck, but at least I have been posting more lately.

My trip to Tokyo was absolutely fab!! Being an orientation assistant was a blast. The other TOAs were all really nice people and the CLAIR people were fun too. 1400 new JETs arrived on Sunday from about 30 different countries. It was so interesting to speak with people about to begin their JET adventures. 27 newbies came to Shimane. All seem very nice and I'm excited to get to know the ones living in my area.

Despite being told that we would be working non-stop, I had plenty of time to explore Shinjuku and do a little shopping. I was totally living the good life for 4 days...but now I'm back.

The month of Aug is going to be really boring, but at least I don't have to sit at school all day.

In a completely random twist of fate I'm going to Hawaii in Sept!!! A Japanese woman named Chiaru was a "conversation partner" with my roommate Sarah while we were at university. She finished her studies and returned to Japan. When I arrived here I emailed her and kept in touch periodically. She lives in Gunma which is worlds away from Shimane. Over the last year I haven't really heard from her.

Then a month ago she sent me an email asking if I would like to travel with her. Not really thinking it would happen, I told her yes. She suggested a few destinations and we decided on Hawaii. Then she went ahead and arranged the whole thing with a travel agent!! She got us a really good deal at a fancy hotel in Waikiki. I love not having to make travel arrangements! This is the first time I have not been in complete control and I LOVE IT! She even arranged for me to fly from Izumo airport (2 hours away and free parking) so that I don't have to spend 12 hours on a bus. My supervisor has already approved the time off. I was a little surprised at how easy everything was. I will miss 4 days of school but she said that as long as I prepare for all my classes ahead of time it's no problem!

So Hawaii in September and Calgary for xmas. I have a feeling that year 3 will fly by even faster than year 2!!!

A random picture to go with a random post. Asagi and I. Note the sexy sweat towel, the "must have" fashion accessory for summer.

Closing Ceremony!

Finally, the last day of classes (for me). Most of the other teachers (except subjects like P.E and home economics) have to teach supplimentary classes all summer long.

Lucky me, I have no classes, but of course I still have to show up everyday. I'm going to test the waters for the first week, come in on time for the first few days, then gradually come in later and later and see if anyone says anything.

I'm off to Tokyo on Sat. for the orientation. I'm looking forward to being really busy and meeting the newbies.

Coming back here to no work is going to be a real let-down. Oh well, at least I have beautiful beaches 10 minutes away from my apartment. I will get a good tan this year. Right now I'm bright red from spending a little too much time in the sun on Monday. Soon it will turn into a nice golden brown. This is a picture of Asari beach.

Discrimination? In Japan?

The longer I'm here the more I recognize the discrimination all around me. This radio broadcast brings up some very interesting issues, because if you ask the average Japanese person (and I guess anyone, in any country) they will deny being racist. But then they will also tell you how Koreans are naturally inferior people. And Chinese people are rude and unrefined. Japanese people don't see these views as being racist, they actually BELIEVE them as the truth.

My friend Eleanor, a completely harmless looking English girl, was pulled over by the police while driving with her family. Her crime? Being white, and driving. Once she showed her Alien Registration card the police left them alone. I'm sure the police justified the stop because surely foreigners driving around the countryside MUST be up to no good.

My ESS girls are the best

3rd graders have stopped coming to clubs now, they need more time to study. As a result, my ESS has been reduced to only 4 students!! So now we can go places instead of staying at school.

We were talking about having a summer pizza party at a local restaurant and I said I would drive everyone. This is what Yurie drew on the board.

She didn't think three students could fit in the back of a Minica. I once shoved three ALTs back there.

No problem!

Nothing like it

There is nothing like eating a tomato you've grown yourself, on your tiny balcony. I love the smell of a fresh tomato, even before you cut into it. Smells divine!

Are YOU on my fridge?

Only a select few may grace the gallery that is....
My fridge

This is Shimane

I'm at #7.

A fun picture

Taken by Ben at a recent soccer tournament.

Loving Japan

My bipolar relationship with Japan is currently in the "manic" stage. Life is busy, life is good.

I went to Tokyo to learn how to be an orientation assistant and had a great time! I went early and stayed in a capsule hotel. I've never traveled alone before (purposely) so I was a little bit worried about being lonely. But it was good. I arrived at 8 in the morning and then sat in McD's for a few hours planning out my day and trying to wake up.

I stashed my stuff in a locker and then took the train to Harajuku. This is a very famous shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo. I went to a park and slept on a bench for about an hour and then went shopping. While trying to find the Mexican restaurant in the Lonely Planet I found a Greek restaurant!!! Real Greek salad with real feta cheese!! I was in heaven. After trying on a tonne of clothes in the Gap I gave up and returned to Shinjuku to shop there.


Shinjuku is something everyone needs to experience once in their lives. I didn't get any night pictures because I didn't want to carry around my camera, but I will when I return in a few weeks. Shinjuku is everything people who have never been to Japan THINK Japan is like. Very high-tech and fashionable.

I shopped in a few department stores with no luck. I found a few gifts to send to people back home but no clothes for me (my MISSION). I decided to quit and start looking for my capsule hotel.

Capsule hotels tend to be men-only domains. I had a map with 2 hotels that accepted women so I decided to look for the closest one. I took a subway to an area called Akasaka and started exploring. Like almost everything on this trip I found it quite easily and checked in around 5pm.

start rant/
The women at the check-in counter were the most unfriendly useless bitches I have ever met! They asked me if it was my first time to a capsule hotel and I said yes, it was. They then proceeded to tell me NOTHING and just handed me my key, towels, and PJs. So then I did a bunch of things wrong, things that they could have easily told me about (I knew they spoke some English). I entered the capsule room using the wrong door, I couldn't find the lockers (despite having a floor map in my capsule -- it was wrong!), I didn't know where to put my used towels, I didn't know to leave my key when I went out, and other stupid little things. How easy would it have been to tell me a few simple instructions?? Or even have them written down, in English, to give to the gaijin? Fuckers.
/end rant


That night I ate at The Outback Steak House. Yummmmmmm! I went to bed pretty early because the overnight bus the night before, and the English camp the night before that, had wiped me out. It was a slow night on the ladies floor of the capsule hotel. Only about 8 capsules were occupied.

At around 6am I started hearing the cell phone alarms. My only complaint about my capsule experience was hearing all the stupid cell phones in the morning. I checked out at 10 and went for breakfast.


I then made my way back to Shinjuku to check into the Keio Plaza Hotel for the Tokyo orientation assistants meeting. There were about 100 JETs from all over Japan. It was great to meet new people and work together. Along with 6 other people I'm going to present a workshop on "Thriving in the Inaka". I actually remember going to this workshop way back when I first arrived in Tokyo. Should be fun.

Part of our duties when we welcome the new JETs will be standing all day at the airport to usher the newbies around and then riding on the buses with them. I'm looking forward to the energy and enthusiasm that the new JETs will bring with them. I remember coming out of customs and immigration and the first face I saw was a TOA with a huge smile on her face saying "Welcome to Japan!". Now I get to be that person!!

Are you getting all misty eyed now?

HA! It should be lots of fun.

I finished my Tokyo trip by shopping at Franc Franc for things I didn't need and a very rewarding visit to Eddie Bauer. I don't think I ever walked into an Eddie Bauer store back home. But I had heard that they have western sizes so I decided to give them a try.

It was heaven!!! I can't tell you how refreshing it was to choose any shirt or blouse and have it FIT! The prices were crazy but I didn't care! I spent 2.5 man but it was worth it. Having new clothes is like a drug. Feels gooooood!

I took the Shinkansen back to Hiroshima and then a bus back home. A very quick trip but lots of fun. I can't wait to go back for the orientation. It will be lots of work but the busier I am, the happier I am!

Wanna see something really disturbing?

Go to Baitcar.com and watch the video called "Oncoming".

All the videos are disturbing but this one actually gave me shivers.

Hard to beleive that these assholes are all in Vancouver! Do I really want to go home???

Easy, and doesn't cost anything....

Help the Canadian government do some good.
Sign this petition to help some deserving Vietnamese people start new lives in Canada.

Wee little sketches

The 5 little sketches in the lower right are coming to you from Yongfook.com

I've been reading this JET's blog since I arrived in Japan. His writing is really interesting and recently he added the sketch feature. Anyone can add a sketch and the most recent 5 will be shown on my website. He has it set up so anyone can add the sketches to their sites.

Most of the sketches are of poo and genitalia but I like that there will be something new and very random. So even if I don't post anything there is always something strange to see on Gotsu Girl.

If you want to make a sketch (and see it show up on this blog) go here.