Day 7

Today we had the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. :) I want to scratch my eyes out they're so cute. Especially the first graders, and such quick learners. I have the greatest urge to speak Japanese with them, because I understand all of the Japanese they speak in class, and they know so little English. I really wanna play with them. :)

In the whole school there are two half white/half Japanese girls (who are sisters) and one half black/half Japanese girl. THE BLACK/JAPANESE GIRL IS SO CUTE. She behaves exactly like her classmates, which is really interesting to watch. Her mom is black and her dad is Japanese, hollah! Her Japanese/English level is on par with her classmates, even though according to Guy she speaks some English at home so she should be a lot higher than them, but it didn't sound like it to me. The half-white girls, their accent is a little better but other than that they sound the same. Guy said their dad lives in America, not with them, so they don't get practice.

Some of the cutest and strangest names in class are ウララ(Urara), ネネ(Nene), ノン(Non), ノノ (Nono), and フウ(Fuu.) Other than that they all have pretty normal Japanese names.


Grocery shopping the 2nd time around was a little bit better. I still forgot to put the cash on the little tray and stuck it out for the cashier to grab. (-_____-) And I couldn't waste time fishing through all my coins (which go up to the $5 amount) so I just handed her the equivalent of a 50 and got lots of change back. Haha whoops.

MELON PAN IS SO GOOOOOD
I'm not eating Japanese food 24/7 as you might think. There are a lot of opportunities to eat/cook Western food, and I don't really know how to make Japanese food, so yeah. I wish I did.

I enjoy the chillness and slow pace of life here. Still, I want to dare myself to explore out of the neighborhood more to prevent boredom and lethargy. There's lots I can do inside (read my books, study Japanese, make crafts with the supplies downstairs, and oh yeah, the internet) but I go stir-crazy when I don't get out of the house much, especially in a new environment like this. The next level of my challenge is to learn how to use the trolley-cars/public transportation :). Then I can go further and do more things--by myself. It's a little sad to me that I have to do so much by myself, but I can't complain, since this opportunity is so amazing in and of itself. :)

So, I've only been here a week, and it's gone by leisurely and slowly--I hope all of the weeks are like this! I want to stretch this summer out as long as possible.

Day 6

It was the first sunny day we've had all week. HALLELUJAH! A brief, blessed respite from the rainy season. A break in the clouds. Save for not waking up for good until around 11:00 AM, I relished it for all it was worth.


I went for a walk up Nishiyama-Doori 西山通り(the same way we get driven to work.) It hurt my feet because I was wearing my crappy cheap Forever 21 sandals which gave me blisters, but the weather was so grand. I walked all the way past the Byouin (hospital), past the billboard with the baby going "ん？", past Nagasaki University and past the ストア. It was pretty far. I liked it but I wouldn't keep doing these all the time because they don't accomplish anything except getting me out of the house and "exercise". I know lots of my friends would rather do things alone some or most of the time, but I prefer to be accompanied. (ENFJ, yeah!) At the end of my walk I went up to Suwa again but I didn't have time to chillax like I intended so I just walked back down.



After our work meeting I want to Hamanomachi again with Carley. Our mission was to find Starbucks, because Carley is addicted to Starbucks. And we failed, haha. But we had an adventure :) Lots of fun people-watching, store-watching, walking. Everything is fun when everything is new.



On our walk we happened to run into a cemetary/shrine which led into...Sofukuji, one of the famous temples I had planned on visiting! I love finding things by accident. Ha, life, I didn't even have to plan! Sofukuji is kind of along the tourist circuit so there are a lot of signs in English (and Korean and Chinese.) We were able to make our way back to Meganebashi, which I wanted to show Carley and experience in the sunlight. It was late afternoon, my favorite time of day, because the low sun makes everything gorgeous. There are a freaking ton of koi swimming around in the river, and I honestly don't know if it's natural or if the town put koi there to make it seem more "Japanese." It is the tourist area, after all. Carley and I walked along the river home. I wanted ice cream so I went out to the store and bought a 10-pack of Vanilla Pops. Each pop is literally 3 inches long. LOL @ Japanese and their tiny ice creams. It was the first "unnecessary" money I've spent since buying groceries a few days ago.




We recorded our DVD tonight. Since we don't see the kids every day, we make DVDs for them on our off days. This DVD was us asking them a bunch of questions, like "Do you like music or sports?" "Do you like purple or green?" And they're supposed to run to either side of the room depending on what their preference is. It was silly and fun to make. Carley and I also practiced our song. We're performing at the school assembly tomorrow! I'm singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and she's playing piano ^^ Hoorah. Hopefully they are impressed. They are going to act impressed either way.

Oh! And since being here I've watched Kung Fu Panda pt. II and Despicable Me. They were good!! <3 Especially Despicable Me. I didn't think it would be so cute and charming but it was.

This is probably boringest post of all time but I don't give a. I'll try harder later I promise! :)

Day 5---一人で散歩していた

Today I went on a walk by myself.




But first, school. It was Open School day, so all the parents could come and watch. You'd think I would have been nervous, but I honestly didn't notice the moms at all (they were so unassuming) and behaved the same as I would have if they weren't there. I wasn't perfect, and there were a couple little blunders, but whatever, I'm still learning about these girls and what they can do and what level they're at. The parents were all very happy and impressed. All whippin' out their point-and-shoots and taking video of their daughters.

Afterwards we went to church. I know...what? You'd think if there's any place I wouldn't go to church, it'd be Japan, since it is a predominantly atheist country (or so I've heard), and since I don't go to church normally/don't support some of what the Bible teaches/don't believe in the superiority of one religion over others. But here's why I wanted to go to church (and my experience today confirmed this:) it is a perfect opportunity on many levels. It is perfect for meeting Japanese people and speaking Japanese (with people who don't know English.) It is perfect for getting involved in the community and potentially making new friends. And it is a perfect opportunity to sing! I met the pastor and his wife, and a bunch of other community church-goers, and FINALLY got to use some real Japanese and actually attempt to communicate/struggle through the language. That's what I was waiting for! Not only that, but I met a bunch of international students who were attending as well! There were two exchange students from Kenya who go to Nagasaki University, one from Korea, and one white person who's doing JET in Nagasaki Prefecture. So happy to expand my quote-unquote "network" beyond two people :) And not only that but I got to sing as well! We sang from the hymnal a couple times. I didn't know the melody so I just followed along and made up my own harmony. As I read along the projected Japanese lyrics on the wall, I finally had a legit reason to use my glasses since coming here. And the church choir performed, which I was jealous of and I'm thinking of asking if I can sing in the church choir, except that might be awkward. We'll see. And plus, today's lesson was all about respecting your parents, which was really important to me and hit home. Overall I had a really good time, and if anything it just confirmed the positive aspects of religion to me instead of presenting the negative aspects. The only part I didn't like was when they started talking about how people in Tibet/Nepal got converted from Buddhism to Christianity in the past several years. What was wrong with them being Buddhist? :/



A while after church, no one was doing anything, so I mustered up my courage and took a walk by myself. It was beautiful, and I feel so much more confident about exploring the city by myself now. (It's silly really, I know.) I wandered the tiny poor streets of my neighborhood for a while and then set off following the river until I found 眼鏡橋, Meganebashi or "glasses bridge." It's been around since 1634 and survived the atomic bombing of 1945. It's supposed to look like a pair of glasses when the two arcs reflect in the water. Walking along the river was so peaceful (I was so glad for some respite from the rain) and I got to check another "monument" off my to-see list. I am excited to do more alone-outings soon, though they will take more work when I'm trying to find a particular place rather than just wandering. And/or if I have to take the tramcar (still a little scary) rather than walk everywhere.




Vending machines don't have soda, but 3 or more varieties of cold coffee.

Day 4--Well, dang.

Today I learned that I can't let 1) the torrential rain or 2) other people limit my experience, or else I will have a very limited experience here. I shouldn't be afraid to just go off and do stuff, even if it's at night.




All we did was go out to the dollar store, then to Hamanomachi which is a big shopping area a few blocks away from our apartment. Then we just came back. We were gonna go out again, but it was raining hard and Mai had work to do for her online internship so we didn't. The least I could've done was go to Suwa again, if not try to go someplace new. But it was raining and gonna be dark soon...

But I still do feel afraid. In France I spoke much more of the language and I always felt there was at least a slight possibility, if I didn't have my camera out and didn't wear flip-flops, that they might think I was French, that I might be able to blend in. Especially since I knew my way around the metro basically after the first day. Here, I will always be a foreigner. I will always be babied. I will always be new. If by nothing else, by the mop of blonde hair on my head. Doing stuff alone brings a certain vulnerability--if I don't know something, I have to *gulp* ask.

In France I had at least 30 people to go and do stuff with, or at least a guaranteed 7-8. And we all had cellphones and could text each other. Here I have exactly two other people. And no cell phone. And this town is smaller than Paris, of course. But, it's all in your attitude, all in how you view things. I'll use what I have to my advantage. :) Because there's only 3 of us, I'll get to know my fellow interns super well. :) Yay I'm excited. Because Nagasaki is smaller, I'll get to know the different neighborhoods better and start having local favorites. I'll make the most of my experience and not compare it to the past. It's just a different kind of enjoyment.

I think I'll book back on this and laugh. "Ha--she was afraid to ask people or take the tramcar!"

This isn't studying abroad, so I have to treat it very differently. It's not a cozy adventure the way most people experience it, the way mine was. It's just regular plain old life, with a job and cooking and cleaning...but in a completely new city.

Tomorrow if they don't want to go do something fun I'll just go out and do it anyway. >:]

Day 3--First day at work

Today was so fun! We teach at Seido, an all-girls Catholic school in the northern hills of Nagasaki. Today we had the 9th, 4th and 5th graders. (In Japan middle school goes up to 9th grade.) They are so fun to be around! They seem to be more respectful and hardworking than American students. It's just the environment that's fostered. But, I'm afraid that creativity and originality might be pounded out of them by it as well. In any case, we introduced ourselves and did a bunch of activities and games. There wasn't very much pressure because Guy facilitated the day so we mostly just had to follow, but in the future we will have to facilitate the entire days. I am so excited to get to know the grades we didn't meet today and get to know everyone better! Because the program we're doing has been implemented in this school for quite a few years, their English is pretty dang good. They can out-speak some of the college-age conversation partners I've had. It's so exciting to see them be so enthusiastic! :)





After work we went to Suwa-jinja which is an immensely beautiful and peaceful Buddhist temple/park located literally 1 minute from our apartment. In that same area is 動物広場、doubutsu hiroba, a little zoo with peacocks/peahens, roosters/chickens, a macau, Japanese monkeys, rabbits, and a little chipmunk thing. The peacock opened its feathers for us! The shrines were so peaceful and beautiful. I am definitely coming back there often with my journal, my camera, or just my thoughts. I've been thinking about trying to teach myself to meditate but I feel like it's such a big undertaking. But maybe I'll have the time in Japan :)



We went grocery shopping which was a major fail. I couldn't read anything, don't know what's cheap/expensive, don't know how to read the preparation instructions on the back, and sometimes don't know what does and doesn't have meat inside (curry sauces for example.) I ended up getting a few fruits and vegetables, curry sauce, soba, udon, and milk which is 2.5% (yuck.) And of course, I got my favorites, LOOK chocolate and 午後の紅茶 milk tea. Just like home <3





Miscellaneous:

-Thinking about spending money to travel on the weekends, reserving tickets, communicating in Japanese to get the tickets, etc. stresses me out. But I know it will be worth it in the end when I get to travel, since I'll mostly have 3-day weekends. :)

-Paper size is different here. It is longer.

-When you want hot water you press a button in the area where you want it (bathroom/kitchen/etc.) and a screen shows you the temperature of the water until it's your desired temperature (not that I understand celsius.) Then when you're finished getting the hot water you turn the button off.

-In France I would get so excited being in my room and just hearing people speak French in the streets from out the open window, but here I seriously don't even notice. I think it's because of JSA and my being used to hearing people speaking Japanese around me all the time.

-Brighest-of-bright fluorescent lighting in my room, along with permanently frosted windows that you can't see out of: dislike.

-I think I'm still coasting on the high of newness and new experience, but sooner or later I will start feeling the discomfort of being in a foreign society and missing home. Maybe. Or maybe not!

Days 1 and 2

I have so much to say it cannot possibly fit in this blog!


I am in my apartment in Nagasaki! It is shared by me and the two other interns, Carley and Mai. We each have a teeny-tiny bedroom (like 5x10...literally) with a little closet-enclave and a window and an outlet. I am SO grateful that Japan's electricity system is the same as America's. The voltage is lower but all the plugs FIT! No more blowing out my hair straightener like I did in France. We live on the 2nd floor and all share a bathroom. The first floor is the kitchen and the living room which is also the classroom where we teach "English club" on Mon and Weds afternoons. The third floor is Guy and Yoko's office. (Guy and Yoko are the husband-and-wife team of Guy Healy Japan, the company I'm interning for.) Our neighborhood is called Shindaiku machi (新大工町) and it is so cute! The main street is closed to cars, so everyone can just walk in it, and there's all these little shops with banners and wood signs.





After flying from San Diego to SFO, Carley and I flew from SFO to Tokyo Narita airport (成田 a.k.a. Become Field.) We got lost in the airport and then found our gate and waited a really long time and then flew to Fukuoka, which is on the southern island of Kyushu. It's the biggest city in Kyushu with around 3 million people. There, we got picked up by Guy and Yoko. They are so nice. <3 It sucks how there's no reason to speak Japanese, and Carley doesn't know any, so I haven't had much excuse to practice yet, except for with the flight attendants/workers/etc (which is barely more than an "arigatou gozaimasu.") We stayed in the Ohmiya hotel in Fukuoka last night. It was cute and they had a little cotton yukata robe for us to wear ^_^. In the morning we ate 和食 (Japanese breakfast) at the café next door and had about an hour to explore Fukuoka. It was raining pretty hard, though, so we were lame and basically just stayed inside the mall that was connected to the main train station the whole time. It reminded me of Les Halles in Paris (the giant metro station with the mall inside.) Then we took a 2-hour bus ride to Nagasaki (verdant countryside and overcast skies!) took the tram to our apartment, unpacked etc, and had a training session with Guy. Now we are chillin' before we go out again to get a late dinner and explore the town.

A note about public toilets in Japan. They all have 3 buttons going down the side: oshiri (which means butt), bidet and flushing sound. I don't know the difference between oshiri and bidet. They both spray water. Needless to say I haven't tried it. At first I was like "wtf is flushing sound?" But after using public toilets a few times I realized--it's to hide the sound of your peeing and pooping! Yes, I really think it's so that people don't have to be shy about other people hearing their pee and poop. So they push a button and a sound like a waterfall, or a sound like a toilet flushing, comes out of the toilet. That is all.


The service is REALLY good here. The workers of every shop say "irashaimase!" which is one way of saying welcome, to every single customer who enters every time, regardless of whether they're going to buy anything or who they are. (Unlike the douchey workers at Burberry, etc. in Santana Row, who won't even look at you unless they think you're going to purchase.) There are A LOT of thank you's, and excuse me's, and general politeness. I really appreciate it. It makes everyone really polite and grateful. I wish all societies could be like this...especially Parisian society, where table service is so shitty and everyone is rude to each other.

We're hitting the ground running--tomorrow we teach classes! Luckily we're all together and it's not one-on-one. I'm really excited. The kids seem really cute. We watched a video of Guy interviewing some of them. I've just got to remember to 1) make it about them and not about me, and 2)calm the eff down and just have fun. Guy said it himself, if you're more relaxed and just having fun, you'll be a better teacher.

I'm so excited to get to know my neighborhood better, visit all the touristy spots in Nagasaki, and get into a routine here! <3

Night Before

In keeping with tradition, I am staying up the night before until my 7:15 AM flight (which means getting to the airport at 6.) If I'm lucky I'll get two hours of sleep and then sleep on the plane. Yay!

ちょっと心配してる。

I am a little stressed about the travel and money aspects. I don't even know if I'll have a cell phone the whole 3 months I'm there, because it's expensive to rent.

Of course I'm excited, but it feels odd to be genuinely excited when you have no expectations whatsoever. I have very little idea what to expect, but I love it--being so open and not having a picture of what the future holds. It feels free.

I remember back to last year when I was getting ready to go to France. I also had NO idea what to expect, and no matter what I could've possibly imagined, it was nothing like that. It's just its own crazy experience. So rather than imagine what it's going to be like, I'm just going to let it unfold for itself :)