First week of work!

My first day of classes was last Friday, so my first week is officially done :)

Everything is going well so far, and I'm enjoying my job. I want to get more into it though, because I think once classes really get going and I get to know more students better then I will be able to do a better job. But, so far so good!

Last weekend I went on a trip with other Japanese students and also international students to Kamakura. Kamakura is a very historic and old town near the beach south of Tokyo. We took a bus down with about 30 people, then explored in groups. The first temple we went to I had been to before, but it was just as beautiful.

All these were bought by people who wrote some kind of wish on them, and the proceeds support the shrine. This small shrine was part of a much bigger one and it was in its own little secluded spot.

We also did omikuji (fortune telling lottery) as a group. I got kichi which is pretty good luck.

This was my group. There was one more guy and he is in a hip-hop dance club at the school. He invited me to the club so I hope I can go sometime to dance! We had a very fancy lunch with tempura, sashimi, chawanmushi, soup, vegetables, rice, and tea. Needless to say, I was quite full and satisfied.

The next place we went was called Houkokuji. It is famous for having over 2,000 bamboo plants, and it is also quite old (from the 1300s). It had a very tropical feel actually. The place was really peaceful and full of nature. I really enjoyed this place.

They grow to be very tall-

We also got to taste matcha green tea at a small building in the middle of the bamboo forest.

You eat the candy first to get a sweet taste in your mouth, then drink the bitter tea. It's delicious!

Next we moved a bit farther south along the ocean to Enoshima to visit the aquarium. They had a whole jellyfish room which was really cool. There was a dolphin show too, at a stadium that was right up against the ocean and partially outdoors. The show was quite unique, because it had these 4 women who sang, danced, played with the dolphins, and did synchronized swimming. Not like a dolphin show in the US really, but I was entertained-

2 of the dolphins were huge like this^^

After we got back, the two professors chaperoning the trip took us out to eat. We went to this Indian curry place right by campus, which is one of the other teacher's all-time favorite curry place. The guy who ran the place actually asked us if we knew him because he goes there all the time :P

The naan there is humongous!!

This trip was really fun, and I loved that the main purpose of it was international exchange because OWU had lots of events like this but other schools don't. Mostly, it was a really fun day and I made a few friends. I'll probably be returning to the curry place soon, too!

my room

I am all unpacked, so here's where I am living:

bed with storage underneath

desk, tiny chair, and surprisingly fast dial-up internet

closet and kitchen

all-in-one bathroom

the door to the hall (2nd floor)

kitchen

the view outside

I also have a storage closet down the hall, communal laundry area, bike parked outside, and a cat that wanders around-

and this is the route from here to the school:
http://goo.gl/maps/llN2h
check it out!

Back in Japan!

After a year and a half, I have finally returned to Japan to start working as a teaching assistant at Toyo Gakuen University in Chiba/Tokyo. The flight was long, my bags were heavy, and it's hot here, but despite all that I'm happy to be back! I got set up in my dormitory apartment last night by two of the faculty members. I just got internet this morning and I still have a few things to put away. Pictures will come when everything has a place- Today Mama-san, the lady who takes care of the dorm, took me out to show me around and to treat me to lunch even. We went to the station closest to me (about 3 minute walk!) and a little farther away to Kashiwa. This is kitakogane:

and the delicious green tea ice cream we had:

and now some awesome things I saw-

-Billy the Kid themed steak house built like a wagon

-triple Col. Sanders, not even at a KFC

-engrish

東北地方太平洋沖地震

I survived the Touhoku Pacific Earthquake!

and finally made it back to my host family in Yokohama.



It's been a long few days...

Shizuoka

My month here in Shizuoka is almost over! Here are some of the things I've been doing:

Tsumura--


"Tsumura & Co. / Shizuoka Plant"



This is my work uniform with the super short pants. Tsumura is a company that makes Japanese herbal medicines. I've worked in a bunch of different dept., including general affairs, quality control, and environment control. I've had all kinds of different tasks too, such as translation, filling catalog orders, working on an assembly line, even disposing of rejected products.



This is my full gear for working in the lab. This was for an HLPC test that checks to see if the active ingredients are present in the correct amount in the medicines.



The huge mess of cords in the HPLC lab. Each analyzing machine has its own computer connected to it.



Naomi and I take walks on nice days. This is the small river behind the plant lined with trees that are starting to bloom.



The view from the 3rd floor. The mountains are so close! I think they are so pretty :D





Our workstation for a day of translation.



We play hangman and sudoku on our breaks~



My host family. The two girls are college students in Osaka.





Beeta (Beater is English maybe...I'm not sure haha) the dog. He works as a police dog too.


Tomorrow is my last full day! 後一日がんばります！

静岡への新幹線

Hello all!

Today I took the Shinkansen for the first time from Shin-Yokohama to Shizuoka. The ride is soooo nice! It's really smooth, quiet, and fast. I was only on the Shinkansen for about 40 minutes (less than it takes to get to Tokyo).

I tried to take some pictures, but all I had was my cellphone. Also, about 1/3 of the time we were going underneath mountains so I couldn't see much anyway. But here are some pictures--



Going through the mountains, away from the big city...







What I could see from my seat. It was like an airplane and I had my own reserved seat and everything.

Here are some really blurry videos, but at least you can see how fast we were going::





Right now I am in with my new host family for the month and will be starting work at Tsumura tomorrow morning, bright and early~

Dance Club

So, I posted a bit earlier about the dance club I joined, so here's more::

Since Waseda-sai, I'd been going to practice every Wed. and Fri. night. Sometimes we had a lesson from one of the teachers, but mostly we just warmed up by ourselves and had rehearsals.

There were also two weekend workshops, one in November and one in December. These were both at a place in Shinjuku called the National Youth Olympic Center. We practiced all day Saturday, stayed the night, then got up early and practiced all day Sunday.

The first workshop, we all ate dinner together at this Indian curry place. It was quite delicious, especially the garlic naan I got. There wasn't much time though, so it was hard to go back to practicing with such a full stomach :P
That night I went to the public bath for the first time. I wasn't planning on it, but I guess showers weren't open in the morning. It was an interesting experience haha and the bath water is really hot!
After everyone was clean we went to the store for supplies (drinks and snacks and ice cream). We did rock, paper, scissors to see which room we would chill in, and i lost :( Two other guys that some people knew were also there at the same time, so they came to hang out that night. They were Waseda graduate students, and one of them used to be in the club. They were talking about some party they were going to the next day to one of my friends, and she was upset she couldn't go, but I thought he was only talking to her so I wasn't really paying attention.
As you can imagine, though, there wasn't much sleeping going on. I got maybe 3 hours...
The next morning we got up early, had breakfast together, and then did a ballet barre. Rehearsals started again.
Before dinner time, the schedule changed a bit and we started rehearsing a piece that we did in Waseda-sai. And the facing was changed to have the corner as front, and also our positions were switched around a bit. Then we all headed out to another part of the building. I was pretty confused as to what was going on, until we showed up at a party and the guys from last night were there. Then I finally realized that we were performing at this party! It was pretty cool though, because then we got free dinner :D The party was for graduate students and professors from abroad doing research at Waseda.


The whiteboard got hijacked.

The second one went much the same way. This time we had Chinese food for dinner and it was really good...
Also, on this Sunday, we got up about 6:30 and played this game kind of like tag. We got partners to run with, and the 3 boys were all "it." You had to run away with your partner and hide and you could go pretty much anywhere on the grounds. I'm not so much of a runner, especially so early, and neither is my partner Mighty, so we got caught pretty early haha. It was pretty fun though to get up with everyone and run to start the day.

Finally, what we had been rehearsing for was the annual show on December 24! We only had one showing, but I think it went really well~ My host family came, and also Mom and Jerry and Travis, and two of my friends from Waseda also.


Setting up the stage.



This sign stood outside the door. It has the name of the show and times and things like that.


-closed curtain


After the show.




I should be getting the DVD next week :D