Nihongo-a-Go-Go :: Aimee's Journal

Happy Halloween!

This is the most un-Halloween Halloween in years... but that's okay! I am fed, I'm home from work, and life's pretty okay.

Before I forget to mention it, Japan isn't on daylight savings time. So you guys on the mainland are yet another hour behind us now, bringing New Yorkers to 14 hours behind us, and Californians to... 17 hours behind us.

Oh, continue this later....

Evening

Tonight I'm a little melancholy. I'm not really sure why, when I'm down I become very observant of the things around me. Sometimes I am just blown away by the aesthetics of where I am - no matter where it is. Nagoya is very beautiful at night, in a sort of glitter-techno way.

Blaaaaah. I think I'm getting sick, too...

I'm kinda annoyed because one of my fellow teachers said that a student described me as "the new teacher who doesn't smile." Why does that annoy me? Because I do nothing BUT smile at these people. =_= Annoying. The only times I DON'T smile are when people are being sullen - I'm not able to keep up being all genki and exuberant when people are practically glowering at me. Meh. I don't really care, I guess, it's just annoying. I've been thinking more and more lately that I really am suited more to research or higher education than teaching the masses.

Some of my students are really cool though. I've had a student named Yoshiko for the last two days. She's a level 4 student, so she is fairly good, rather fluent. She's very cool. She had managed to get out of getting an actual lesson twice now, because she just wants to talk. I wish Nova wasn't so anal about teachers not being allowed to talk to students outside of class, I'd love to hang out with her sometime. Heh, I think she wants to be my mother. :) She's in her fifties or sixties, probably... she's cool. She lived in California for a couple years about 20 years ago. I also have a student named Takaaki, who is just really cool. He's also a level 4 student, and he's so smart. He's very funny, he makes me laugh a lot.

I dunno. I like Japan. It's a really neato place. I couldn't live here the rest of my life or anything, but there are definitely a lot of things I'll miss when I go home next year.

Another typhoon might be coming... not a big one, thoguh, and I really think it might miss Japan entirely. The pressure systems play havvoc on my sinuses... owie headaches!

Today I tried something called... wagashi? I think that's it... one of our students went on a vacation and brought it back for us. It's a traditional sweet, and it's a gooey inside covered with sweet bean paste. Lemme look for a picture... darn. "Wagashi" is a generic term for Japanese confectionary. ^_^* Anyway, THESE ones were a gooey, probably rice candy, wrapped in a thin coating of smooth, sweet bean paste. It was pretty tasty, though I didn't really like the texture. Some of the Wagashi is really really pretty. I really recommend going and just looking at pictures of it.

It's funny, with regards to food. It's amazing the things that I will eat here that I won't eat at home. Here, you can go into a convenience store and get a meal... and not worry about getting sick. Half of the country lives on convenience store food, I think. The prices aren't too bad either. I will also try unidentifiable foods, as long as I can venture a guess to general flavor groups - as in "dinner" or "dessert." I've also consumed more raw fish in the last month than I have my entire life... including some things I didn't think would every pass my lips. Like raw squid!

Everything you ever wanted to know about japanese style toilets but were afraid to ask.

This is an actual quote from my chatting today:

(Dad) (10:36:35 PM): we're going to the jello hall of fame today

Makes one kinda miss home, huh? ;) My family is so strange. I hadn't known that Jell-o was invented so close to my hometown. Wheeee. That means for local interest, we have Fredrick Douglas, Jack London, Susan B. Anthony and Jell-o. W00+.

This week has been rather uneventful... Well, not really. Apparently there were some huge earthquakes in Tokyo last night. Three within about 15 minutes? And they were very very big - Tokyo shook for a minute, I heard. I guess you could feel it minutely in Nagoya, but I was on the subway at the time it would have happened.

Yesterday I went to Otsukaya, a really well-known fabric store near Kurumamichi Station. I was very proud of myself for finding it. I went to go get a small piece of craft fur... and they had the most amazing selection of craft fabrics I've ever seen. They had every color I could want, in many textures. I did stick to what I'd planned to purchase, though I had fun browsing the selection.

Oh, I thought I'd include a picture of a pit toilet. This is the one at Sakae Nova. It's funny - there's a stall with a pit toilet right next to a stall with a western toilet. Hnn, which should I pick? Tough choice.

I have yet to use a pit toilet. I avoid them like the plague, though they are in all the trainstations. I just see them and can't help but shudder and go "Guuuuh." Basically, what you go is face the wall, drop trow, squat, and do your duty. If you want more detail, I recommend this or link.

When I went to Chikusa for Kids Training last week, they had a super modern fancy toilet. It had a built in bidet and a "Sound Princess." It was really sort of impressive, for a toilet. GAH! TRAUMA! When I was looking up a picture of a fancy-style japanese toilet, I found some stuff on the one in our apartment. The one that makes my skin crawl. It has a spigot on top that we've long pondered over..... and it's for washing your hands! My western mind can't... handle that. Ewww! Anyway. This is the section about the high-tech toilet. Scroll down to read about the Sound Princess.

Now don't you feel enriched?

Typhoon shmyphoon.

Well, I have to admit to being rather unimpressed by the typhoon. The winds were kinda intense for awhile, and the rain was heavy... but not at all what I was expecting. Last night I was actually a little worried about getting home safely... but then today it seemed like we'd had worse storms in New York. I dunno.

Last week, I got a sushi that had some burgundy stuff in it... it also surprised me when I bit into it by having some raw, white fish! The fish had blended in with the rice. It was good, though, so I got it again today. I asked one of the japanese staff what the fish was... and it's not really "fish" at all! It's raw squid!

Oh, and for Ellen> Green tea ice cream is very mellow flavored, it's not super sweet. It's creamy, and tastes like sweetened green tea. It's actually pretty good. :)

I cooked scallops tonight.

W00+, another typhoon.

This should reach us tomorrow night bout 8 pm.
(Image courtesy of www.supertyphoon.com. Yeah baby, track those storms.)

Post!

Sometimes I'm really good about posting, sometimes I'm not. Lately, I have not been good about posting.

On Friday, I had Kids training at Chikusa. It was a very long day, though our trainer was a doll and really tried to make it interesting. There's no way to avoid it: training is just boring. I don't know if I want to teach kids. I'm just not a hyperactive person, really, and I've never been the type to fling myself around like a moron to entertain children. But it seems like that's what they want us to do. Blah. We'll see how it goes!

Yesterday was rather dull. It was my day off, and I spent it relaxing and drawing, showering, and watching movies. My AT had invited all of us at work to her house on Saturday night, and I was all set to go... so I picked up a big thing of Coke and hopped on the subway. And then I proceeded to get lost in Nishi Takakura. I don't know how I did it, but I ended up getting totally lost. I was so upset! I was completely unable to find where I needed to be, and I couldn't orient myself. So I wandered around for about an hour or so, then went home in defeat. I feel like such a loser, and I feel horrible for not showing up. And I couldn't even call to ask for directions or apologise because I didn't have her number. Sigh. I'm worried that they'll think that I just didn't want to come, or that I don't like them. I'm probably making a needlessly big deal out of it, but I just feel so self-conscious at work because they all now each other and are friends, and I'm just new and I don't think I fit in very well. I'm horribly introverted. I dropped off a little hand-made apology card thingy at work for Michelle today because we were going to be near my branch anyway.

I'm gonna get a cell phone soon, I think... next paycheck! The plans are a bit more expensive, but they come with the coolest phones! Like with cameras, internet, printers, etc.... Ooooo.

We went to a bunch of our favorite places in Nagoya today. I'm very bummed because I brought my camera, but I forgot my memory card. And today was some HUGE festival with parades and setups and music today in Sakae. Weird. We had no idea... otherwise we DEFINITELY would have made sure we had functioning cameras! There were all sorts of floats and parade acts (like a huge troop of kids on these high unicycles) and music. It was very colorful and exciting, very neat to watch. There have been a lot of local festivals the last few weeks in various areas, so I guess this was Sakae's? Next weekend is a big traditional holiday for the Japanese, and many people will be going to Kyoto. I guess the holiday is one where many people go home to their native towns and pay respect to their ancestors. Or I might be mixing it up with a festival in summer... either way, I think the one coming up is an ancestor-related festival. Back to today though. It took forever to get anywhere because of the thronging people and said throngs' inability to manuver themselves. It's weird; some things in Japan are so efficient and space-saving and awesome... but then people just walk all over the place with no preference toward side (i.e. in the US, we walk on the right) and they practically run over you with their bikes. They also do this weird weaving movement thing with their bikes that makes it so that no matter where they're actually going, they always appear to be driving STRAIGHT AT YOU.

I bought a cuddly blanket. *love* And Mandy and I found a place to buy shelving! FINALLY!! I also tried Green Tea ice cream. It's unique.

Yakisoba.

One last thing.

I haven't updated the whole site yet, but this is our apartment.

Anyway, to continue...

Anyway, yesterday when I got home, Mandy made a nice dinner for me. She made beef and veggies, and they were very good. Yay! She also picked up some little pieces of cake for dessert. Isn't that sweet? ;)

When I got home yesterday, the quality of life improved vastly. People are very nice. So I had a nice birthday, if you can separate work from it.

Today I got a birthday card from my dad and Judy. Yay!! Dad also sent me a scratch off lotto card, which I love. Unfortunately, Lady Luck finds it even easier to thumb her nose at you from several thousand miles away. ;)

Today I have just been ravenous all day. I have been eating like... I don't even know what. Saying "a pig" would be being kind. I have been eating like... a trash compactor. INSANE. And even now, ten minutes after dinner, I could still eat! Stupid female issues!

I'm 22 Now!

Yesterday was kinda sucky until I got home from work. Yesterday was a national holiday, National Sports and Health Day. A lot of the branches closed early, and many teachers got slips saying that they needed to work an earlier shift. Mandy got one, but unfortunately, I did not. So I went in for my usual 1:20 to 9 shift and then they said "Oh, Aimee-san, we were supposed to have given you a lesson cover sheet!" So I was supposed to have been in at 10 and out by 5:40. As my branch closed at 7, I had to go work the remainder of my shift at another branch. Which is annoying in itself, but then add to it that our stupid trainer was working there (randomly) that day.

Then for my last lesson, I had this lower level girl. It was strange because she could converse quite well, and I was thinking "Why is she a 7B?" Then when we got to the actual application, she just couldn't DO anything. And she kept making a certain mistake, so I told her how to correct it. And then she wanted to know why it was like that. And so I started explaining... and then I was explaining what a verb was and what an infinitive was. And then she seemed to be doing much better. She wasn't making that mistake anymore. So I was like "Well, okay." So then it was time to go home! And I was walking out past the staff area, and the one of the Japanese staff was sitting with the girl with the book open, and the only word I could understand her saying was "communication." So I'm wondering if I'm in trouble. *sigh*

Then I was FREED! And I went to take some pictures at the tv tower in Central Park. It was very pretty. I took a bunch of pics yesterday, and I would like to post them... We'll see if I have time before work...

This is a menu from Haagen Daaz. We saw the ice cream shop and were tempted. Look at some of the flavors though. Like "Sweet Potato Sundae" and "Azuki." Azuki is sweet bean!

This is the public art sculpturey thing in front of the Nagoya Station. It's very pretty. It looks sort of like a Hershey kiss. Mmm. Hersheys.

These are all from Sakae, the true "downtown" of Nagoya. It's very Las Vegas at night. Pretty! That's the tv tower. It's huge.

More, but now it is work time!

Mmm.

We went to the bigger Tokyu Hands after work tonight and found the brushes I wanted - super tiny 100/0 brushes. I should say, though, that we found their empty peg in the craft section. DAMN. Well, maybe next week. Still..... damn damn damn!

I got a yummy yummy thing today - they're Oreo Chocolate Pies. Well, that's what the box says in English. They're like soft oreos with marshmellow in the middle, then they have strawberry good inside, and then they're finally coated with chocolate.

I amused myself in the kid's blog.

I made fish last night. It was goooood.

Aaaaaah, day off!

We started out by getting the "work" items crossed off of our list. We went ot the Nishi-ku Ward Office and picked up our Alien Registration cards. It never ceases to amaze me how bad I can look in official-typ photographs. Then we walked out to West Jahungaland to the post office and picked up our UJF cashcards.

We then went to a bunch of cool cool places that we've been to before and really liked. Volks, Geestore and Tokyu Hands. Tokyu Hands is such a cool place - image Linens n' Things + Michaels Art Store + I don't even know what. It's awesome. Fun, fun stuff.

At Volks, Mandy and I both got Pinky St. figures. They're about 4" figures who you can take apart and swap pieces - like faces and hair and clothes and all. They're really fun. We decided to make them into little figures of ourselves. Mandy's was extremely easy, really. We took the front-piece of my Pinky's hair, then put it with the longer back hair piece from hers - so it has Mandy's layered bangs. And no repainting needed! All hers needed was to have the eyes painted from green to reddish-brown. Mine... was harder. I tookt he unwanted hairpieces and shaved and sanded and filed the bejeezus out of them, then painted them to my haircolor. Then I repainted the eyes like mine. The result? A-chan and M-chan, our new Pinkykins. :)

I'll take better pics tomorrow in natural light.

We're supposed to get another typhoon tomorrow, blah. ^_^*

Thursday's like Friday!

My weekend is Friday-Saturday, so it's now the weekend for me!

Today was okay, kind of long... but not bad. I have some really great students. The lessons are monotonous, but oh well!

Weekend!!

I went to Tokyu Hands again today. What a great store! I got those chopsticks that I wanted. I love them! They're just so cute. They look like colored pencils.

There was also a gashapon machine that had figures from Evangelion. They had figures of Kaoru! I tried to get one, but I got one of Rei and one of Yui. Neither of which I particularly want. Maybe I'll try again on Monday - I know Cathead would kill for one, so I am motivated to try again for her. :)

This is the gashapon I'm TRYING to get.

I got a traditional Japanese sweet for Mandychu and I to try... and it was interesting in a tactile sense, but not really a favorite. It's called dango (Dahn-go), though I'm not sure how it's actually spelled. It's sort of a sticky ball of colored stuff on a stick. This one had three different colors. It tastes okay, but it's rather bland. The texture is reminiscent of well-worked play-doh.

Tomorrow is super fun shopping day!! Hoolay!

Funky shrooms.

Today was a long day!
Mandy and I have gotten into a routine where I cook and she does the dishes. I'm a pretty good cook and we've been eating well for being so cheap... but if our life was a cooking show, it would be "Cooking with Five Ingredients" with your host, Aimee. You'd be amazed how well garlic and soy sauce go together on chicken. ;)

Tonight I made an exciting meal. I made spaghetti and meat sauce! I saw exciting because I wasn't initially sure if the meat that I'd bought was beef or pork... and we used some funky mushrooms and some unknown type of onion.

It was good.

I also got a chopstick case and some chopsticks. I want to get some that I saw last week that looked like Pocky! ;) Failing that, they had ones that looked like colored pencils... maybe those.

I <3 my post office!

Well, I am happy.

We had had several problems as of last weekend. Firstly, our internet had been shut off. Apparently we had a language malfunction with our landlord, and we didn't sign something that we were supposed to sign. However, he had said that he would drop a bill in our door, so we had expected to just pay that... meh. Not a huge deal, but it resulted in our internet being turned off October 1st, and so we had no internet until Monday. Blaaaah. Talk about feeling cut off!

We also had another problem... we finally attempted to use an ATM... to find that nowhere would take non-Japanese cards! I tried probably... 10 of them? No luck! Yikes, what would we do?!

Then there was the lingering trauma of being trained by the butthead from down under. What was work going to be like!?

And lastly... the thing that bothered me most? In Nagoya, the garbage is collected differently. You sort the garbage into different bags - burnable garbage, recycleable, non-burnable... etc. Then on different days, they collect different things. Well, we had burnable garbage that HAD to go out. It had chicken skin in it, yuck! Unfortunately, the directions on where the collection area was were.... not helpful. We were under the (mistaken) impression that where we came in was the main entrance, and there were no notice boards or garbage to be seen, even on collection nights!

Anyway, we have solutions!
Work on Sunday was cool, really. The students are nice, though the pace is a bit frantic. It's MUCH better than training!
Yesterday one of the guys I work with showed me where the garbage collection for our building is - no more stinky chicken! As an added bonus, I now see our where our mailbox is!
Today we found an ATM that likes Americans! And it's close to home, wheee!

We got a bunch of porn-type solicitations in our mailbox! Stuff you could never send in the US! Little tiny postcard-flyers advertising for phone sex and all. One of them had a closeup of someone pinching her nipple, eek! I don't even want to HEAR that we're in the most conservative area of Japan!

I smell tatami....