A White Christmas!

We had a white Christmas this year!

It is kinda nice. However, I could do without the ice on the INSIDE of our windows upstairs. Single pane windows are apparently the way to go in Japan. sigh.

Anyway...here is a pic of the snow outside our house. =)

Thanks Wes!

I kinda forgot about this blog about our time in Japan. Matt and I were talking to Matt's brother Wes on Skype, when he mentioned the blog. Oops! I forgot!

So now I figured I would give everyone an update. We have pets!! Temporarily. Our two ALT neighbors are going away during winter break and needed someone to take care of their animals. So now we have a turtle, 3 fish, and a hamster. They are cute and fun to have around. However, Matt is completely in charge of them, he is the one responsible if anything where to happen to the pets. =P

I have now also been informed that I need more pics on this blog. Sadly, I haven't taken very many. But, what I do have I will share now.


Did you know you can buy fake chest hair at the 100 yen store? Well...you can. Japan is a bit strange eh?

My 12oz of Skippy peanut butter (costs 398yen=$4) beside a anime figurine on top of my Nintendo DS....how much more Japanese can you get! =P

No bake cookies Matt and I made a few weeks ago. It is pretty expensive to make, seeing as 4 cups of oats is about $4. But when you need some treats that remind you of home, it can be worth it. We also don't have any wax paper. I don't know what it is called here, but I assume they have some...I hope Japan has wax paper.

Two of the fish we are taking care of.

The turtle named Kazu we are taking care of. The turtle is the most interesting of the animals in my opinion. =)

Okay. I will try and take more pictures now that some people seem to really like them. Until next time....have a Merry Christmas!!

I had a good day

I am surprised by this fact because my day was spent mostly shopping. I hate shopping. I always get overwhelmed by the crowds and the noise and the traffic getting to stores, plus having to give my money to stores when I know what I am buying is either a.) not worth what I am paying or b.) made by slave labor or something just as horrible. So yeah, I have a hard time with shopping. BUT I REALLY needed some things. It is getting colder and colder here, and I realized I did not have enough warm clothes to last me the winter. I was in desperate need of a big winter coat, some winter tops and a pair of pants that actually fit me. Since being in Japan, I have lost too much weight for any of my pants to look decent on me. So with these needs in mind, Matt and I ventured to Kofu and spent a number of hours battling traffic and crowds. In the end though, I got what I needed. I got a good, warm, jacket, three sweater/long sleeve tops, and a pair of pants that fit. Only odd thing was, the pants only fit in the waist. The pants were...you ready for this one?....too LONG!! Isn't that just crazy. I am pretty darn tall in Japan, and the pants I found were too long. I think I have realized why that was the case. The store I bought the pants at actually has a tailor company as well. You can buy your pants and get them tailored at the same time. Conveniently for the store, most people need a bit of tailoring to their pants.
Anyway, I got what I needed, though I am still on the look out for a good pair of winter boots. I think that having a list of actual NEEDS, as opposed to just browsing/shopping I felt a lot better about the situation. I got to spend some quality time with Matt and accomplished something.
PLUS to top it all off, I ate about 650 calories worth of sushi. Yeah I know that's a lot, but I hadn't eaten all day AND I had been craving the rotating sushi place for about a month now. It was great. I had a good day.

Life in Yamanashi!

You may have been one of the people to hear my complaints about Japan "I miss Panera Bread and Brugers Bagels!"
Right now, despite the food situation, I am loving Japan. The elementary school kids are adorable and fun to play with, while my elective English classes at the JHS are quite funny and I am learning more about Japanese culture...apparently this band ARASHI is THE Jpop band right now...who knew? =)

Okay! Pics time!!







BTW, I did not take these pictures (except for the last one) Matt took them while I was driving. I think he did a pretty good job! =)

One job thing I am concerned about, but can't do anything about, is what will happen with the elementary school visits come August. When new ALTs are brought to the area in August, we expect some changes to all ALTs schedules. The Japanese government has decided that elementary age children need more hours of English instruction. I believe its something like quintupling the amount of hours these kids are receiving now. So I am interested to see, and nervous to see, what the Board of Education is going to do with us ALTs. Will some ALTs ONLY have elementary schools? Will more ALTs be brought in to take on the elementary classes, leaving some ALTs ONLY at JHS? I don't know. I honestly don't know what I want to happen. I am pretty happy with my schedule, 3.5 days at JHS and 1.5 at elementary. I like all my schools in different ways, though everyone is nice. The elementary kids are great, but more than an extra half day with them, I might go crazy. It is just sooo loud and crazy! Though fun, I need headache pills due to the noise levels sometimes. So I will try and keep you all updated as to what the BoE decides to do about the new government English requirements.
=)

Our beautiful town

I know I complain about living in Japan. Maybe I don't complain on this blog, but in everyday life I wish, as a vegetarian, eating in Japan were easier. But, there are some great things about where we are living now. That is what I want to show you guys.

Cute and odd shops in "downtown" Kiyosato

cool clock building


beautiful mountains


My wonderful husband AND beautiful mountains.


Mt. Fuji!

Pictures!!!

This is my post of a whole lot of pics I have failed to put online so far. Since people are bugging me about my lack of pictures, this post is going to be a picture extravaganza!!!


Almost everywhere you look in Kofu there are signs telling people not to park their bikes there. Everywhere you see that sign you see at least 5 bikes parked underneath it. ha!


Japanese version of final Harry Potter book!! I'm such a nerd!!


When Matt and I were walking around Tokyo we saw a huge can of grape Fanta being sold in one of the many, many vending machines around. We bought said Fanta then 10 of 15 feet further on our walk we saw the following fanta for sale, for the SAME Price as the one we bought....this wouldn't happen in America.


Here is Matt watching some Sumo. We had fun.


More Sumo.


Me posing as a stupid American in Sumo Town.


Sumo dudes walking the streets in Sumo Town in Tokyo.


Sumo Ceremony. Pretty cool looking.


Matt and I having fun at Sumo still!


Matt took this pic while we were walking to the Ghilbli/Miyazaki Museum.


We made it to the museum!!


Outside the museum! We weren't allowed to take pics inside...though i saw many people doing so!

I loved this character from the movie, Castle in the Sky.


Matt being cute and humoring me in my desire to take a picture of him.

Grand Golf!!

Yesterday, from 3:30 until around 4:30, I played Grand Golf with teachers from my school district. Not all of them came and participated, but a good number did sign up and played. I was honestly surprised. I was placed in a team of 4 and had a fairly good time.
Grand Golf- for those not in the know (everyone)- is a bit like putt-putt golf. We used a soccer field (with sand instead of grass on it) for the playing area. Instead of putting into a hole, you try to get your ball inside a circular metal area under that "hole's" flag. Does that make sense? Also, instead of a normal golf ball and club, you use something that more resembles a crockett (is that the right word?) ball and club, though you don't want to hit other players grand golf ball.

I got the lowest (best) score in my group at 25 points. But there were a number of people who scored under 20!! I think 7 people actually got a hole-in-ones. Apparently “hole-in-one” is the term the Japanese use as well. After the game a teacher asked me if “hole-in-one” was an English phrase. =)
So anyway, my school came in 2nd!! (even though the chorus teacher got a score of 33!!) She was embarrassed by it, but also took it in stride and thought it was funny, as did everyone else. So it was a good time, and now I know what grand golf is….Putt Putt on a random piece of ground. =)