Japan says...

"So let me get this straight. On Wednesdays, you ride a bike to and from work and it's dark when you head home? Oh, ok. I know what we can do. It'll be rainy and windy every Wednesday! That will be fun for you!!!

"Oh, you don't get paid until the end of October? Ok, great! What we're going to do is have a couple of beer festivals at the beginning of October. That should help you with your budget."

"OK, so you want to sleep with your windows open? Ahhh ok, I think that we can have teenagers have motorcycle races right there around 4 every morning. That should be good."

OYE! Things are good/samesame as earlier. I'm trying to use my time  to make a plan and I have some ideas. Work's good. I like the kids. This weekend I met up with a guy that I met on a Language Exchange Website. He wants to practice English and I want to learn  a bit of Japanese. I also went with Kerry to the Tokyo Game Show on Sunday. Not as cool as it sounds. It's when all the big gaming companies unveil their new games for the year. I don't play games so it meant nothing to me.

That's really it. Just floating along and trying to figure life out. You know, the usual. OH! AND, I've been here for a month! Including the week in Korea, I've been out of the states for 5 weeks, which is how long I was in them this past summer. It's like a full circle.

Scenery on my way to a park.

On the way to the park.

That full moon.

Tokyo Game Show Crowd.

Cos Play Madness.

Paper Airpanes.

Same Same

 

Pictures

"Best Sushi in the World" at the Tsuki Fish Market

T-Rex and a Cow at the Buddhist Temple

Me at Tokyo Station.

Me at the Imperial Gardens

T-Rex taking a train.

10000=$100, 5000=$50, 1000=$10

That middle circle has one of those ghost guys in it.

At a park near-ish my house. I go for runs there.

Red Bridge in the park that is a 30 minute walk from my house.



Just out for a Sunday Stroll.

Dino in the park.



Playing in the park.

Address

Katie Dale

Tree House English (202)

3-4-11 Honcho, Iwatuski-ku

Saitama-Shi, Saitama-Ken

339-0057, Japan

Solo Week

This past week was my first week teaching all by myself. It went well. I also had to get myself to all of the locations, via trains and bikes. The bike day was fun. 30 minutes in 100 degree weather...complete with a thunderstorm. The work is good. It's fine. Nothing special. I'm having a hard time adjusting backwards. In Korea, I was doing ESL with the babies all day and it was exhausting, but I liked it. In China, I was doing real teaching and it was exhausting and I was super under qualified for the job, but I liked it. In Japan, I am doing ESL with all different age groups and at all different times and I find myself feeling extremely over qualified and a bit bored. I'm really trying to use this boredom combined with the excessive amount of free time I have to decide what I want to do with my life and then what steps I need to take/can take on the internet to make myself marketable in the world. It's challenging and frustrating and it's wearing on me. BUT, like I said it's only been 2 weeks and I came into this assuming the first 3 months would be hard.

On top of making these life adjustments, I haven't made any friends. There is a girl who works at another school that my boss runs and we've been trying to hang out on the weekends (we also co-teach once a week). She's very nice, but we have different interests and I would like to branch out a bit. This is hard because I have not seen another foreigner in my area. I did venture out to the foreigner bar that is a few train stops away tonight, but it was very crowded and I didn't know what to do. What kind of solo bar sitter do I want to be? Should I play with my dinos? Should I read a book? Do I just sit and smile? Do I sit and watch TV? WHAT DO I DO!? Needless to say, I'll keep trying.

Last weekend we went to the fresh fish market in Tokyo and had the best sushi ever. Then we wandered around the Imperial Palace. This weekend we went to the Harry Potter Exhibit. They had clothes and props and stuff from all of the movies. It was pretty cool. I was pretty excited.

I've been to 14 countries and America and Mexico are the only ones that I have not been to the capital cities in.

Would you rather share a toothbrush with a stranger for a week or not use a toothbrush for a month?

My street and a storm rolling in.

Bruised shin because I forgot there was a basket thing on the back of the bike.

Rice fields.

Dino in the rice!

T-Rex biking.

Women only train cars to prevent sexual assault.

That says "HARRY POTTER"!!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside...

Bigass spider in the art district in Tokyo.

 

Schedule and Toilet

I realize you've all been at the edge of your seat waiting to hear how my first week of work went. It was good. I can do this job. There is an insane amount of free time that I'm going to have to figure out what to do with. I have some ideas. Internet school, really learn Japanese, workout, make crafts, slowly lose my mind. I'll probably do a combination of all of them. Today, I'd like to tell you my schedule and show you a video of my toilet. It's cooler than it sounds.

Also, because I'm having trouble wrapping my head around money here and how expensive it is compared to everywhere else in Asia that I've been to, I want to share this. A taxi starts at about $3 in Korea, $1.20 in China, and $7.50 in Japan. That's not the same thing!

Monday:

• 11:00-12:15 > 2 83 year old ladies who have been coming to this school every Monday at this time for 26 years.
• 3:45-4:30 > 3 3 year olds
• 4:30-5:30 > 2 12 year olds
• 7:30-8:45 > siblings, 8 and 13

Tuesday:

• 2:15-3:00 > 5 4 year olds
• 3:00-3:50 > 5 5 year olds
• 3:50-4:50 > 5 6 year olds
• 4:50-5:50 > 5 7 year olds
• 5:50-6:50 > 5 8 year olds
• 7:30-8:30 > 2 13 year olds
• 8:30-9:30 > 1 14 year old

Wednesday:

•  12:15-12:45 > 4 5 year olds
• 12:50-1:20 > 4 3 year olds
• 1:25-1:55 > 4 4year olds
• 2:00-2:30 > 6 4 year olds
• 2:30-3:05 > 8 4 year olds
• 3:45-4:45  > 3 8 year olds
• 4:45-5:45 > 3 12 year olds

Thursday:

• 10:30-11:30 > my 45 year old co-worker/secretary/I don't really know how this school works
• 2:15-3:00 > 2 4 year olds
• 3:00-3:45 > a 3 year old and a 6 year old...cousins that grandma only wants to do one trip
• 4:30-5:30 > 4 7 year olds

Friday:

• 10:00-1:00 > 35 5 year olds. (only twice a month) singing and dancing (yay?!)
• 3:45-4:45 > 2 8 year olds
• 4:45-5:45 > 4 7 year olds
• 7:00-8:00 > 4 11 year olds

See? It's a weird schedule. The other part that's weird/hard is that sometimes its here, some days I have to ride the train, and some days I have to ride the bike. Some days I have to do all three. I'm A.) going to get lost and B.) forget where the hell I am supposed to be. But the teaching is what I can do well I think. It's all ESL and there are text books and the kids seem well behavedish. If I can make friends and figure out my life schedule, it'll be a great year.

Let's see...yes, I have a cell phone. No, you can't text me. It's the opposite of a smart phone and I can't read Japanese enough to really use it. I'm a 40 minute train ride from Tokyo in Saitama/Omiya. I plan on going to Tokyo this weekend and taking the Dinos out. That'll probably help me make friends.

I love you all and you're welcome to come visit me.

P.S. I just discovered that I was using lotion instead of body wash all week. Greaaaattttt.

Reunion in Korea and an introduction to Japan

Hey! I had a wonderful time in Korea with Ian. We went to a water park and we made the journey up to our old stomping grounds to see Bill, Anton, and Yoanna. It was great to see everyone. We meant to go scuba diving, but due to scheduling conflicts and THUNDERSTORMS, that didn't happen. Why the emphasis on thunder? Because Korea never gets thunder and lightning. Unless I'm there and want to go scuba diving apparently. Anyway it was a good week. Saturday, I flew to Japan. It was a 2 hour flight. I got off the airplane, made it through immigration, got my bag, made it through customs, exchanged money, bought a bus ticket, and got on the bus about 1 minute before it left. This gave me zero minutes to find a pay phone to call Michiko, my new boss and tell her that I was on the way. Fingers crossed that she would come get me. I was told the bus would take about an hour and half and to get off at the second stop. It took about 2 and a half hours. I did get off at the second stop and no one was there looking like they were looking for me. So I thought to myself, "SHIT". I stood there for a bit debating what to do. Then I thought I saw some pay phones at the corner so I started to walk there. I heard my name and found my boss! YAY! She brought me to the apartment, showed me how to work things and then took me to eat. We talked a bit about the schedule. I think that will be fine. I have 3-6 classes a day at various locations. When I'm not teaching/traveling to and from teaching, I have free time. So there are a lot of hours during the day to myself. I'll have to get a hobby. OR MAYBE I'll start planning for and preparing for some sort of future for myself. Maybe. Today, I slept in and I was going to use the day to explore a bit, but it's raining and I don't feel like getting lost in the rain. So I've been reading, unpacking, moving things around and that kind of thing. I did venture up to the store to get shampoo.

Here were the thoughts I had on my walk:

• Crap. They drive on the left side of the road. I'm going to die.
• Crap. I don't know how to say anything in Japanese other than "sit down".
• Crap. Which one is shampoo and which one is conditioner.
• Crap. I have to figure money out again!
• Crap. I"M GOING TO GET HIT BY ALL OF THE CARS.
• Crap. Today is the last day of vacation.
• Hooray! I'm in my 14th country.
• Hooray! I think I can do this job!
• Hooray! Only 10 more months.
• Hooray! I have plenty of space for visitors.

Some other things I learned. It's easy to get to Tokyo from here. There is a train station right by my house. There are a few classes a week in my apartment. There is about 1 USD ($) to 100 yen. A bowl of ramen last night cost 700 yen. The bus ticket cost 2750 yen. What? I don't know. It's hard. I hate starting all over. I have to figure out what to do with trash, how to get around, how to shop. I have to make new friends and pick up a new language. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy and I'm proud of myself and I'm excited for this year. But, it sucks. I'm just going to go ahead and assume, based on my prior experiences that the first three months are just going to suck. But, if I can do that, I'll be all right and chances are I'll be super sad to leave.

Korea pictures and my new house.

Anton, Ian, Yoanna, Bill, and myself at Batman Bar!

BigGuyBill and a dino.

Anton and T-Rex.

Yoanna and a dino chomp.

Anton, Bill, Me and Ian. I have no idea what made me laugh so hard.

When you walk in the door, this is what you see. Kitchen on the right.

Through that door.

The second classroom.

Bathroom. Shower through the glass door. Toilet through the right door. Washer and DRYER on the left.

My house.

Pillow cases I made.

Train tracks through the kitchen window.

THAT"S THE WRONG SIDE!

 

Good bye summer!

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again: Working isn't so bad, but not working is AMAZING!

I've had a wonderful summer. Beach with the Dalsimers, camping with Little Man, America with Sophia, Camp Dale with the Oaks', New York City with Chenman and Karen, and tons of family farm time. It's been a blasty blast.

Thursday I head to South Korea for a week of I-Guy time and then I'm off to Saitama, a city outside of Tokyo for at least a year of ESL teaching in Japan. Once again I find myself both terrified and excited for this next Asian adventure. I've made wonderful friends thus far with my travels and I am looking forward to this next stage. Per usual, I will miss my family and friends and the comforts of America, but I also know that they are always there for me.

It's been a good 27 years so far and I am super lucky!

Please stay in touch with Skype, email, facebook, good thoughts, etc.

Summer highlights!

Tutus

Family

Dino-Chomp

Tutus

NYC

Dropping

T-Rex

There are so many more pictures that I would love to share with you, but the internet is annoying me. Keep checking in on here for Japan updates and pictures.