I'm a year older!

I had my birthday yesterday. Though, in the states it is still august 20th. It was a nice birthday. I spent the day with my husband. We bought some pieces of cake, chocolate, strawberry, and melon flavored. I took pictures of them, because they were so small and cute, which I will post at a later time. I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. Getting internet here is a very big hassle. In America you would just call the company and the very next day they could come out and flip a switch or something and "ta da!" Internet! Here, it takes about a month...and you most prove, as a non-Japanese, that you are legally allowed in the country, by sending a copy of your Alien Registration card...which takes at least 2 weeks to get. Sigh. So I hope that help explains why it seems so long between posts. My internet access is quite limited. I hope everyone is doing well. I am sooo happy now that my husband is with me. I think he will be jet lagged for a while, but he is doing well, though possibly a bit overwhelmed by the fact that we are two fairly intelligent people who are now considered illiterate. =P

Spending more time in Japan

I went to the capital city of my prefecture this week, Kofu, for another orientation. There were some helpful workshops and it was fun getting to spend more time with other new assistant language teachers(ALTs). In total, for the prefecture, there are 36 new ALTs.
Here are some pictures and explanations of what has been going on here in Japan. =]

Here is a VEGETARIAN bento (boxed lunch) that a Japanese restaurant prepared for all 8 of us odd balls who don't eat meat. Apparently, when you say you are a vegetarian, restaurants will try to feed you fish...why do people think fish is a fruit, vegetable, or grain...I always thought it was an animal. =P so thankfully, those in charge of our orientation made extra sure that fish was not included in this cute little bento.

On the second day of the orientation we took a trip to a very large temple. Actually this temple had several, HUGE, temples on the property. this is just the entrance to the stairs...the evil, evil stairs. I couldn't even get the entire entryway in my picture, it was HUGE!

On to the evil stairs. There are two ways to get to the top of this hill/mountain where the temples were located. The first, drive up to the parking lot higher up on the mountain. The second, go up the steepest, most uneven, stair case EVER. Needless to say, for the "fun" of it, our group went up the stairs. I say they are evil, because each of the 287 steps is actually the height of 2 or 3 normal steps. You have to push yourself up to the next step, its not exactly easy. I was among the group of about 10 girls who finished last. =P I don't believe this picture can really capture how impressive those stairs were. I was extremely proud of myself for not giving up. I don't believe you can actually see the bottom of the stair case in the picture; it just kept on going!

This is how I felt once I reached the top. hee hee. I was completely worn out.

My time at the temple did improve though. I took some pretty pictures and I saw ridiculous amounts of gold leafing on EVERYTHING inside the temples...which we weren't allowed to photograph.

This was one of the gardens among the temples.

Once I got back to my town...I am actually calling it home now =)... I went to my JHS's festival and met my predecessor.

This is a view of some of the mountains that surround Takane JHS. I say some of the mountains, because the area is completely surrounded with beautiful and very large mountains. Because it is the season for the Obon festival in Japan, there were these paper lanterns all over the place.

On the sports field at the jr. high school there were vendors and a stage and lots of people. AND...that's right America...the Power Rangers are still going strong in Japan. I saw the red, green, black and blue rangers kicking evil butt in front of a group of 3-6 year olds....so adorable!

Before I left, I was able to watch the JHS students perform a few songs on Taiko drums. It was pretty good, and fun to watch.

That is all for now. I hope you all are doing well! =]

It's okay...I'm still alive

I know it's been a few days since I have blogged, but honestly, there hasn't been much to blog about. I have been cleaning my new home, and learning how to cook on a gas stove.
Because I am feeling pretty lazy, I am just going to throw up some pictures I have taken and talk briefly about them.


Last night I went to one of the revolving sushi places and had some fried tofu wrapped around rice, along with some cucumber rolls, which were delicious.


Here is a view from my bedroom window. There is a preschool behind my apartment, which is uber cute. What you are seeing here is the baseball field next to my place. It was pretty comforting to hear baseball teams practicing over the weekend. It was strange as well, because in addition to the familiar sounds of baseball I would hear the less familiar sounds of guys yelling in Japanese. =)

Last, but not least, I did laundry!! I took a pic of my first attempt at drying my laundry. I have a washing machine but there isn't a dryer. Most homes in Japan lack a dryer, everyone hangs their clothes up to dry....like me!