December 2002
(What I don't want to see in my apartment!)
My manager picked me up at the apartment after that and drove me to
City Hall to get my Alien Registration Card (my ID card, basically).
Then she went with me to pick out a keitai and a calling plan. I now
have a keitai, yay! I got a pink DoCoMo phone. Unfortunately, without
a camera - that would've been so cool! - but that's okay 'cause the
phone was free. I pay about 6000 yen/month for service. Unlike my
phone (and most phones, I think) in the US, this phone has a color
screen, and I have it set to display a picture of two kittens sleeping
on their backs with their paws in the air. (Aaahh...) It also plays a
song instead of ringing. And, I'll have email access on it starting
tomorrow morning.
Anyway, after I got the phone, one of the JTs from my school met us
and my manager had to go home. It is so nice to see my co-workers
outside of work! Much easier to talk about whatever, and more fun,
of course. The JT and I spent a while walking around Mitsukoshi, a
big department store at the train station. The whole basement level
the store is filled with cakes, candies, gift foods, wines, fruits,
and other foods, plus a crepe/ice cream shop (yum!). If I haven't
mentioned it already, most Japanese people don't really celebrate
Christmas - but everyone eats Christmas cake! A whole cake (still
pretty small) costs about $25, but you can get individual slices,
too. I bought a piece of cheesecake (not real cheesecake like in the
US, but still good) and a small apple pie, which cost a total of about
800 yen (maybe $7).
Yesterday - Christmas Eve - I had to work all day, but I went down to
Kerry's apartment after work and she made us spaghetti and cheese
garlic bread - delicious! She had also successfully made peanut
blossom cookies in her microwave (using the oven setting). After
dinner, we watched "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." I hadn't
seen it in about 10 years, but she watches it every year!
All in all, a decent Christmas in Japan, although I really missed
opening presents!
Sunday, December 22, 2002
On Friday, I went skating for the first time in Japan - it was great! It took
forever to get there, though. First, I walked to the station and took the train
to Okayama - easy. At Okayama station, I asked the information lady
(in Japanese) which bus I needed to take to the rink. She told me (also in
Japanese) that I needed to take a bus bound for a certain hospital which
Left from both bus stops 7 and 8. I understood that no problem, but
what I either failed to understand or missed completely was that
many buses left from those two stops. So I got on the wrong bus.
Oops. Had to get off at any old stop and walk back to the station
to start over. But I got to the rink eventually, of course. There
were only 3 other people skating, and one girl was really good! She
was doing easy 2axels and also landing some 3salchows. I only did
a few easy jumps in case my back gave me any problems, but it didn`t
and everything felt so good! The only bad thing is that I can`t play
my program music at this rink. So I`ll have to buy a fanny-pack to
put my walkman in, `cause I can`t find one in my suitcase, if I brought one.
Saturday night, Kerry had a Christmas party at her place. There were 7
people: her, me, Christine, three JTs from work, and the husband of one
of the JTs. Everyone brought food and Kerry and I brought wine or
champagne, and it was delicious! Kerry`s grandmother had sent over
homemade chocolates - turtles and chocolate/toffee pieces. Excellent!
Also, everyone brought a wrapped gift. We put them in a pile, drew
numbers, and picked which one we wanted. We could "steal" other presents
if we didn`t like what we opened, but amazingly everyone liked and
kept theirs! I got a nice towel and keychain - just what I needed!
Tonight, skating was on TV! Yay! What was really amazing was that
there were no commercials for the entire two hours! Just skater after
skater after skater! I bought a TV guide and saw that there is quite
a bit of skating on in the next couple weeks. Only problem is that my
VCR so far has refused to record that particular channel. It will
record just about every channel but that one. Hmph. May have to have
a Japanese friend`s help to figure that one out.
Also today, I went to a little ramen shop for lunch and spoke almost
only Japanese with the owners. They were very impressed! Also spoke
to a couple students` moms today in Japanese, and they commented on
how good they thought I was. I feel like my Japanese is improving each
day here. I get lots of practice, naturally, so speaking is becoming
easier and more natural. I still have a long way to go, mind you,
but any improvement is good!
Mata ne!
Kelly
Thursday, December 19
This morning, I had my second Japanese lesson at the Kurashiki Cultural Center.
My teacher is super nice, but sometimes I get a little frustrated `cause she
basically only speaks to me in Japanese and I can`t always understand her. Even
when I ask a question, she tries to explain in Japanese. Sometimes she gives several
examples, and I still dont fully understand but I nod and say okay anyway. So far,
we`ve mostly read out of a Japanese textbook, which I guess I have to go buy. Today,
I told her I wanted to rent a movie, so she offered to drive me to the video store.
I rented "Amelie" and "Hamutarou," LOL! (Hamutarou is a kid`s cartoon about a hamster.)
I got my VCR to work last night, so I can watch them tonight.
It was raining this morning. Not hard, but enough to get pretty wet without an
umbrella. So I tried carrying my umbrella while riding my bike. It worked (albeit
not very well) for about 10 minutes, then I hit a bump and went flying, `cause I
couldn`t steady myself with only one hand. The fall didn`t really hurt, but I got
soaked from the wet pavement. Passerby were probably like "stupid foreigner, can`T
even ride a bike!" LOL
Yesterday, I went to Jusco (in AEON mall) and saw a couch that I really liked. It`s
only about $85, so I will buy it and have it delivered next Thursday. Watching TV
will be so much more comfortable with it! I felt bad, though, `cause the lady helping
me was trying so hard to speak English and spent a lot of time on me!
Until next time,
Kelly
Wednesday, December 18
Not too much new to report. Found a hotel near Kurashiki station that will let
me use their computer (Internet) for about $5 an hour - about double the price
of the Lit Cafe in Okayama, but it`s much closer and I don`t have to pay for a
train ticket, so it`s all good.
My students continue to be good. We started Christmas lessons yesterday and they
continue through next Monday, so next weekend will be easy for me, as I`m doing
pretty similar things in all my classes. We played "stick the nose on Rudolph"
(instead of "pin the tail on the donkey") yesterday, and the students loved it!
Oh, I went to the film store today to pick up (what else) my film, and this time,
the lady didn`t give me coffee, she gave me a free bottle of champagne! Amazing.
Her explanation was that the store next door had given it to her, and she didn`t
drink champagne.
Well, I`m off to the mall now to find that VCR cord...
Sunday, December 15
Well, except for a possible couch in the new year, my apartment shopping is just
about complete. On Friday, Takae, her brother, and I went to the mall, and I bought
a bunch of stuff again. I got a VCR, a small table for my kitchen, a set of shelves for
the big room by my desk, a small desk lamp, and a tiny little stuffed sheep, LOL!
(2003 is year of the sheep!) I could never have carried all of it home without them.
The three of us couldnft get my VCR to work, but Kerry came over later ecause she
has the same one, and I guess Ifm missing a cord (youfd think itfd come with the VCR!).
So hopefully I can find it this week and be watching the tapes I brought with very shortly!
There was some excitement around here last night. Around 9:30, I heard some sirens - the first
ifd heard in Japan. (They sound just like US sirens, by the way. French sirens, for example,
sound much different.) It sounded like they stopped right outside the apartment building,
and there was a lot of shouting and commotion. At first, I thougt there was a domestic dispute,
`cause therefd been some screaming on Friday night. But then I heard many more sirens, and
they all stopped here. I looked out my balcony and to the right, and I couldnft see anything,
which confused me a little ecause I can usually see the buildings next door. Then I realized
that the whole area was filled with smoke - the service station next door was on fire! I never
saw any flames, but there was thick smoke for a long time, and the firemen and police were
there for about 2 hours. Rode past it this morning, and it doesn`t look like there`s too
much exterior damage, although the back top right corner is all charred.
Friday, December 13
Wow, not until I typed that did I realize today was Friday the 13th! I don`t know if that means
anything in Japan. Anyway, I`m at an Internet cafe in Okayama City now. Don`t know where the
one in Kurashiki is yet, and I wanted to come here to compare VCR prices, anyway. Haven`t really
done much yet in regards to Internet at home. Need to get going on that.
My apartment is starting to feel much more like home now. For starters, I`ve put figure skating
photos up all over the place. :-) Also, I now have some Christmas decorations (a small but pretty
tree and some garland around the sliding doors to the big room), some fake flowers, and extra
shelving (OMG, how do you spell that??) in the bathroom. I bought all that and some other stuff
at the mall yesterday; it`s so much fun to shop when you have some money to spend! MegaMart was
especially cool. It`s kinda like a Wal Mart, I guess. A variety of things, and quite cheap. I will
probably end up buying my VCR there. Also at the mall, I saw a really nice couch that I liked. It`s
beige, modern-looking, seats two, and is about $180. It would really make my apaato comfortable...
(I`m assuming they`d deliver it, since I won`t be fitting that thing on my bike! LOL) I`ll probably
still get a digital camera first, though.
I went back to the hyaku en (100 yen) shop yesterday to see if I`d left my glove there - I had
indeed, and they still had it! Good thing, that was a nice leather glove!
If I haven`t mentioned it already, I LOVE hyaku en shops here. (hyaku en equals about 80 cents,
by the way.) Unlike the dollar stores in the US, though, which only sell junk, these stores have
almost anything and everything you need, and it`s nice stuff. Most of them have household items,
cookware, cleaning supplies, stationary, toys, food, and more. I got some gloves there yesterday,
too, before I retrieved my lost glove.
So this morning, I planned my lessons for tomorrow, ironed (I have a cute little pink iron and a
mini ironing board), then took the train to Okayama. Found some really good (and cheap!) pizza at a
store called DaiEi. Yum! I`ll probably head back to Kurashiki soon. I`m meeting Takae tonight in
Kurashiki; we`ll probably go back to the mall and then to my place.
Mata ne!
Kelly