PART II: OSAKA

First, I'll apologize for the current lack of pictures. My camera died in Kyoto, and I forgot to take my backup...and my charger. All my Osaka pictures are on my phone, and they have yet to be uploaded.

Our trip to Osaka was much shorter-lived than our trip to Kyoto. It mostly consisted of meeting up with some old friends and hanging out. When we got there, we met with our awesome friend Taka and went to have Okonomiyaki (of course!) in one of the more well-known areas. For some reason, the people who came and were seated AFTER us got their food and finished BEFORE most of us. So Taka had to get all calm-and-polite angry (aka, his alter-ego Yakuza-Taka), which got us free takoyaki in addition to the food that we were going to eat.

We went to the Pokemon Center that night, as well as the...Air Garden? I don't remember the name, but it's an awesome look-out on top of a tower, where you could see the beauty of the city lights for miles around.

Kyoto/Osaka Weekend

I know, I know -- LATE. Again. This time by more than a month. But let's not bicker about the little things.

As you may have guessed from the title, this post will feature my trip to Kyoto and Osaka, which took place on the first weekend of October.

Monday was due to be a holiday, so my JET friends in other prefectures and I decided to meet up to explore Kyoto and Osaka. For me, this was the first trip I had ever arranged and taken on my own. It was also a trip I decided to join at the last minute. As you may well imagine, the result was a trip rife with uncertainty and adventure.

I set off on Thursday afternoon, driving 1.5 hours to the nearest train station to train into Kumamoto City. There, I bought my bullet train ticket, which I was lucky enough to catch just 5 or 10 minutes after my purchase.

Just a heads up to people who plan to travel in Japan: while it is possible to get tickets for the Shinkansen at the station before you leave, it is usually unadvisable to do so on the weekends (or so I've been told) since many people are (supposedly) traveling.

You can also buy two kinds of tickets: Reserved and Non-reserved. Buy "Reserved" and you will have a specific seat assigned to you. You will, of course, pay more for that seat. Buy "Non-reserved," and you will pay for the chance to get into one of the three or so "Non-reserved" cabins, where you can pick your own seat, but which will also mean that you run the risk of not getting a seat if everyone in the city decides to leave at once (not that likely...)

 Luckily (perhaps because I was traveling on a Thursday), my non-reserved cabin was comfortably empty with the exception of a few sleepy business men and women in suits, so I had a row to myself for most of the trip.

Training Interlude

I say MOST. After I changed trains, I had a row to myself. About half-way through, a man whom I had seen sitting in a reserved cabin entered. He looked around, and then asked me if he could sit in my row. Not wanting to be rude, I gave him the go-ahead. He inquired politely as to my nationality, and immediately started talking to me in considerably good English. I figured he was jumping at the chance to practice, since his English was pretty good and the conversation was pretty normal (standard "Where are you from"  "Where are you going,'' "How do you like Japan," etc.) As soon as he mentioned he had twin daughters and a wife, I was more at ease. that is, of course, until he looked at my ring and asked me if my BOYFRIEND had given it to me.

The rest of the conversation was strange. When I said "No," he proceeded to ask me if I had a boyfriend. When I said "Yes" (a default answer when you want to ward off men), his response was "Oh, I hear that long-distance relationships are easy for men, but difficult for women."

My red flags were fluttering in the wind.

While I usually like to give people the benefit of the doubt, I've learned to be wary of conversations like these in Japan, as I've already mistaken people's words and intentions.

Everyone I told this to thought it was strange; in Japan you don't typically ask such personal questions to someone you've just met.

I answered straight-away that it was the opposite and that my "boyfriend" and I were fine, then changed the conversation. After that, I kept my answers concise and occupied myself with mails to my friend who was picking me up at the station. That was the end of that.

When I finally got to the station, I had to change trains twice to get to my friend's stop. They were small stations, so it should have been simple enough...except I acidentally went one stop too far, had to get off, cross the platform, and wait for the next train to come to take me back one stop. Then get on the right train, and go to my friend's stop. At 10:45pm ( -__-;)

Anyway, I finally made it to the correct station, and I met my friend, who walked me half an hour through the streets of Kyoto to the apartment I was staying at.

Since I decided to go on this trip last-minute, everything was booked for  two of the three nights I was in Kyoto, so I stayed at my friend's apartment on Thursday and Saturday nights (thank GOD), and at the very nice and VERY cheap Kyoto Hana Hostel on Friday night.

Friday - Ginkakuji

Friday morning, I woke up refreshed...and alone in Kyoto for the day, it seemed. My friend was busy, and my other friends weren't coming in to the city until nightfall. So I walked to a little cafe and had breakfast.

Then I plugged Ginkakuji in to my phone gps and walked 40 minutes through residential areas to the famous temple...

Tio Pepe: A random Spanish resturant in a residential area!

Ginkakuji, or The Silver Pavilion, is one of the more famous temples in Kyoto.
 ,

My friend met me at around midday, and we had lunch before going to Honen-in, a seemingly unassuming temple next to Ginkakuji. It's up the road from Philosopher's Path, nestled on the side of the hill amongst the woods. When we entered, it seemed almost like it was just a Buddhist cemetery, but then we went to the actual temple, which is actually very relevant to the history of Buddhism in Japan. It was particularly nice, because it was shady and quiet, with very few other people around.

My friend Masafumi

We then went in search of espresso...and wound up at this nice French themed store, where we got a three dessert cake set and some coffee - the perfect way to end the day!



Saturday - Kinkakuji, Yasakajinja, Kyomizudera - My Fortune is Told!

My friends came in on Friday night, and after an unassuming dinner and beer, we all hit the sack at our hostel. Saturday morning, in order to beat the crowds, we got up extra early and went to Kinkakuji, The Golden Pavilion. This is perhaps one of the MOST famous temples in Kyoto, although there are MANY. And when I say "many" I mean an uncountable sum. I was honestly surprised myself...

I paid 200 yen to ring a bell...

We met with our other Japanese friends, and had Ramen for lunch...


Then went to see the Imperial Palace....Only to realize that we couldn't see the imperial palace!

Dreams dashed  - and legs sorely tired after schlepping back for nothing - we persevered and went to Yasakajinja (Yasaka Shrine). This was honestly one of my favorites - colorful and HUGE. Also, there was a Buddhist wedding ceremony going on within the temple. We couldn't take pictures, and couldn't see much beyond the designs cut in the wooden doors, but what I did see was pretty cool.

After Yasaka, we went yet another temple. To go to this one, we left through the back of Yasaka and through the streets of Gion, the "traditional" neighborhood of Kyoto where you might just see...

A GEISHA. Or two.

Or...A NINJA DOG.


There were many lovely shops, the general attractive tourist traps, but somehow nicer than in the States. When we finally got to the temple, Kyomizudera, it was amazing. Nestled in the mountains, held up by these huge wood stilts, it has a few different parts. It has a Love shrine, where you can pray for love and such. It also has these three waterfalls - wisdom, wealth, health -  where you can drink from one. It is said that if you take a sip, you can gain some power...but for each additional sip you take, you dilute the initial power you got. So be careful!

Also at this temple, you can get your fortune. I paid 100 yen, shook a box full of sticks, and poured one out. Turns out the stick I got was the best fortune you can possibly get. Apparently, I won't be dying any time soon, can have many children, and don't have to worry about building a house...?

Oh, and it mentioned I should carefully plan things from now on. Like trips. My friends laughed at me.


That's all to report for this trip to Kyoto. STAY TUNED for "PART II: OSAKA"

Week Two...Through Four???

(PICTURES TO COME!)

I have been remiss in posting these past few weeks, and for that I apologize. I would say "the weeks have been crazy" as my excuse (which they have been), but as that seems to be grown-up life in general, I suppose that is not a very good excuse.

In any case, let's stop stalling and get on to the good stuff, yes?

This is what I have been up to:

Weekends

My weekends...HAVE BEEN CRAZY. Quite literally non-stop, action-packed, (mostly)-out-of-town weekends. I've actually been around Amakusa itself very little.  But I have been doing pretty awesome things.

Week Two

First, I'll talk about my second week...since it was basically all a weekend. The WEDNESDAY of my second week, when I had first started working at my middle school, I had a Karaoke night of eating and drinking with the English teachers. The next day, THURDAY, I had a welcome party with the other ALTs and the staff at the board of education. It was another YakiNiku party (meat grilling party place), followed by a 二次会 -  a second party, with the same people, at a different place. We went to a karaoke bar.

Then, FRIDAY, I was invited to the birthday party of Japanese person I didn't know, at the restaurant of this man who is famous for cooking starfish. It's a small sushi place, but it was very intimate and fun. I met a lot of people, and the owner, quite the character, made an amazing array of octopus, noodles, sushi, and then grilled some starfish specifically for me and the other new ALT!  This same man also lent us an ice chest for our beach barbeque the following weekend, including a bag of ice and icecream.

SATURDAY of this same week, I went with the other ALTs on a day-long journey to the biggest mall near Kumamoto city. There, I was able to buy some clothes (surprisingly) for work, and also some french mustard and a stovetop cover so I can make espresso on my gas stove.

SUNDAY - MUD VOLLEYBALL. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not sports-inclined. Though I've become more interested in them over the years, the truth is that I am generally uncoordinated and plain bad at them. My elementary school days of getting perpetually hit in the face attest to those facts. Yet, somehow, I was convinced to go to Minami Aso, a very small, rural area near Kumamoto City, to play Volleyball with three ALTs and a bunch of Japanese locals that I had never met. Oh, yeah, and did I mention it was volleyball IN A GIAN PIT OF MUD? I had thought to only watch, but someone I got dragged in, and it was all downhill from there.

 Minami Aso, on a beautiful day. Words cannot express how beautiful Japan really is!

The Hike to the Mud Pit

In reality, it was one of the funnest and most humbling experiences of my life. Almost all of the locals had two or three kids, between the ages of 2 and 6, and to them this simple way of spending the day - running around in the mud, throwing grass at each other, running to the freezing river and cleaning off, only to do it again - was the funnest thing in the world. After a long day in the sun, we went to the nearby hot spring and washed off, then returned to the large country home for a barbeque.

The Mud Pit: Playing Field

Len: Recently washed. Colin: Recently dirtied.

The River (we cleaned off on the platform).

When I first saw this place, I was a bit skeptical. It was messy, cluttered, not quite clean but not quite dirty -- very much an old country home, with no AC, a wood shack-of-a-shed in the back, and a rickety pig pen filled with ducks and chickens. But ultimately, the curiosity of the children, the ease with which all the locals took us in and made us feel included an invited amongst their families, made this possibly one of the best experiences I've had so far in Japan.

It's really easy to forget just how good and privileged we live sometimes, and to forget that there is a life beyond that, that a lot of the things we have are convenient, but unnecessary. A simple life can also be a good one.

 Week(end) Three

On my third weekend, the first following the start of school,had the official Amakusa ALT Welcome Beach Party. We went to a beach in Amakusa-machi, a small village-type place that is 45 minutes up winding roads from where I live. The beach, Tokohama Beach, faced the sea of Japan and was surrounded by lush green mountains. Truly an amazing sight!

Tokohama Beach, Amakusa-machi

Footsteps

The water was surprisingly warm, as I thought water would be much colder in the pacific, but...well, things are different here I guess! The only other thing that really surprised me was that the beach was empty except for us - Japanese people do not go swimming after the Obon (Ancestral) holiday, apparently -  and that the beach was ocassionaly littered with trash :(  Cigarettes I expected (Japanese people smoke like crazy!), but there were also plastic bottles and such. It wasn't a landfill, don't get me wrong, but since these beaches are mostly taken care of by small families and the like, I suppose they don't have the same resources as Miami Beach to keep the area clean. It also doesn't help that public trash bins are barely existent in Japan as it is, except maybe at convenience stores.

Interesting wave lines on the shore

MY FIRST EVER SEA CUCUMBER!!!

Shoreline

Well, we couldn't barbeque at this beach, so after a pleasant swim, we moved to another, nearby beach to barbeque into the dark of the night. Then we went to the resident ALT's home to play games before driving home.

Week(end) Four

The school week was pretty normal, unsurprising. But this weekend, there was a Beach Party in Ashikita, an area south east of Kumamoto City on the mainland, for all of the Kumamoto ALTs. It's about a 3-4 hour drive from Amakusa, so I went with three other Amakusa ALTs. This beach was also warm, and great! We ran into some Japanese locals at the beach, and invited them to join our barbeque. It was a Bring Your Own Food and Spirits type of deal, so everyone brought food and there was plenty to go around. We grilled at the camp site, and slept in these giant tents that were provided for us. it was about $20 per person only, so it was a pretty good deal, considering that the next day the park officials gave us free Onsen (hotspring) passes! Sunday we all felt gross after picking up, so it was nice to shower and bathe before heading back to Amakusa -- tired as heck for school the next day, but it was so worth it!



 Those have mostly been my recreational activities thus far. Now, for those more interested in Japanese Social practices...

School Officially in Session

Japanese life in general has been going pretty well. The thing that I'm most getting used to and trying to understand is the Japanese school system.

School life in Japan is incredibly interesting. A week before school is even really in session, students show up to school to turn in summer homework and the like. Also, whenever students come to school, even after school hours, they are required to wear their school uniforms, making them identifiable. Not that they have much time outside of school, as they do部活（bukatsu, aka club activities） from the time that they get out of school (approx. 4:00) until about 6-6:30 pm. Clubs in Japanese schools also practice on the weekends. Also, once you join a club, you are resigned to that ONE club for basically the rest of your education at that school.

Now, people think, "these poor children!" I did too, and still do, to an extent. But I suppose it gives them something to focus on, to become good at, the way many kids take private lessons. I was mostly busy after school with one thing or another, but not quite as intensely as these kids.

The thing that really gets me is the TEACHERS. These are the people that sponsor these clubs, and I don't mean that high school sponsor who signed a paper but never showed up to club unless there was a dispute. These teachers are here every day at Bukatsu - After school, on the weekends, sometimes even before school. They do this until about 6:30. Then, when all the kids leave, they stay at school. Doing work. Presumably. Some until about 9:00 at night. I actually had a teacher confess to me that she was so into her work that, when she looked up and realized she was the only teacher left, it was midnight!

Of course, as an ALT and a foreigner, these things aren't quite so required of me. Also, I have a lot less work to do than these teachers. However, it's a bit rude to leave right when the bell rings, unless you've got a reason. Though school ends at 4:00, I'll usually leave around 4:45, yet more and more I find myself staying until 6:00 or 6:30, helping out with the English Club.

While Japanese schooling is compulsory only through middle school、most students go on to high school.  High schools require an entrance exam, and since my middle school is the biggest, newest school in Amakusa, it also has to be the best -- with means the third years (equivalent to our 9th graders in the States), are burdened with the stress of hard studies in every subject.

They're constantly taking tests in English, at least there hasn't been a week since the beginning where they haven't had one. Yet for some reason, kids can't fail in Japan. And when I say "can't", I mean "CANNOT." Perhaps a remnant of post-war mentality, but it seems more important to keep a class together than to actually fail a student. When I was checking the grammar on papers that my teacher had graded for completeness - a 5 sentence description of their school, mind you - there was a student who wrote one word...and got a C-. That would have been a "zero" for me at home, and let's not mention the wrath of the parents, much less what I would do were that my kid. Yet there was another student who wrote nothing...AND ALSO GOT A C-.

It's those kinds of things things that have happened that have started to change the preconceptions I had of Japan, perhaps the preconceptions most of us do. They're also part of the small frustrations, like the way some teachers use more English in the first year class than the third year class. But it's the way things are done -- the way things have been done for years. There's been a shift in education practices, and now it's being introduced in elementary rather than middle school. All I can do is work hard at my elementary and hope that I can inspire students to learn more English on their own...

Two Weeks and Counting

It's amazing to think it's already been two weeks since I arrived in Japan!

While the last set was more involved with my initial mis-adventures (and I'm tempted to believe my sister has me jinxed with the notion that no matter where I travel, I will undoubtedly encounter foot problems), I want to focus more on my novel adventures. Also, since my last post was bereft of pictures, I'll try to illustrate my story with the photos I've taken!

The first picture of my trip is rather...err...uninspiring to say the least, but I didn't take any pictures at the airport, so the best I could do was a picture en route from Narita airport to my hotel in Tokyo. We do, however, see an awesome invention that should be on ALL buses everywhere (they're on Japanese buses anyway...): The collapsible cup holder!

Our fancy hotel was nice enough to provide us with hard and soft in-room slippers, as well as sleeping Kimono!

They were also kind enough to provide us with SHISEIDO face wash...I was tempted to take it, but I don't know the hotel policies in Japan. The last thing I need is to be deported on my first day for stealing soap...

 

 

 

 Once actually in Tokyo, there was very little time for sight-seeing. Our conferences were basically 8am-8pm, and by the end you just wanted to pass out. Luckily, I was able to meet up with my good friend Sugao for a bite to eat.

   

He made sure I saw ALL of Tokyo IN ONE NIGHT...from the observatory at the government center! Unfortunately, all the pictures for that came out crappy, so you'll have to come see for yourself ;-)  It really is a stunning sight, to see all the lights glittering across the city, endlessly!

 To Kumamoto...

Though after my 12-hour flight and ankle swelling I would have been happy never to see another plane again for another year, I had to board yet another flight three days after arriving in Tokyo, this time to Kumamoto City in south Japan. Lucky for me, I got to ride the mysterious Dreamliner! Behold, the new Boeing 787!

 Yep, rainbow ceilings and all. Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for me...) it was only a 1.5 hour flight, so we didn't get to check out all the cool night-travel features.

I did, however, get to travel with the other JETs going to Kumamoto Prefecture. I was the only one going to Amakusa, but I made friends with some pretty cool Brits, Scots, Canadians and New Zelanders who I recently got to see again at Kumamoto Orientation.

Mama-Se-Mama-Sa-AMAKUSA!

 So I'm picking up my bags at the carousel in Kumamoto Airport, when I notice a ruckus outside the glass doors in the waiting area. I'm in my suit, dying already from the humidity, and find my welcome party holding a ridiculously awesome sign with my face on it...and they're wearing FLIP FLOPS!

 The two holding the sign are Emily (a 3rd year JET and RIDICULOUSLY awesome at Japanese) and Marie, one of our prefectural advisors...who used to be a JET in Amakusa! The guy with the beard is Len, who lives down the street from me and will be working with me at one of my schools, and in the middle is my awesome supervisor from the BoE.

Instantly we were out on our way to Amakusa, and stopped for lunch at a mall. This was my first encounter with Yaki Niku, litterally "meat grill." There's a fire pit in the middle of the table. You place your order, they bring out your desired RAW cuts of meat, and YOU cook them to your desired doneness!

  

After lunch, we drove into Amakusa....and drove into Amakusa...And drove into Amakusa. It takes about 2 to 2.5 hours from Kumamoto City to where I live in Amakusa, mostly because drivers are slow (aka, adhere to the speed limit), which I guess is safe since there are mountainous  winding roads and such. We broke up the trip by stopping at this little tourist village of Amakusa.

This is a giant statue of Amakusa the MAN, the one who led the (failed) rebellion of Christian converts way back in the day. Some people said he was the second coming of Christ, but mostly he's famous for being a rebel...

At this village, we also fed these ridiculously large and aggressive Koi fish - though Lord only knows why, since they're fat enough already! They were swishing and jumping over each other in order to get the food, to the point that a few of them beached themselves...

There was also this cool little shrine in the bushes against the rock face...

At this point of the trip, my ankles had swollen so badly that Len had to give me his man sandals...And my supervisor and Emily took me to the hospital, where tests were run and found negative (thankfully). Afterwards, however, I went to my wonderful host family's house, where I slept wonderfully for the first time in DAYS. Could it be that they knew I love Hello Kitty?! (They prepared for me a Hello Kitty Futon...)

  

Nah, it's probably that they're Japanese...Or, you know, have two small children!

The next few days were uneventful, just running around and getting my phone and other stuff up and running. Nothing really cool happened until...

I SAW MY FIRST WATER SPOUT!!!!!!

The Eagle Has Landed...Awkardly

Hello again!

It's incredible how time flies -- it has officially been 6 days since I arrived in Japan. And WHAT an ordeal it's been!

I wish I could say that everything has gone smoothly, that I couldn't be more excited, but considering everything that's happened I have found my enthusiasm tested at times.

It all started the minute I got off the plane on Sunday. On the bus to the hotel, I noticed my ankles were a bit swollen. By the time I arrived at the hotel and was in the shower, my calves, ankles and feet felt as if some circus clown had tried to inflate them with air to make balloon animals. Since it was happening to my roommate too, I figured it was normal, which it is after such long flights. Over the next two days, however, everyone's feet were fine, while my ankles and feet were still so swollen I couldn't wear my dress shoes. I was convinced by the staff at orientation to hold out until I got to my main city, Amakusa, but they didn't take into account my travel arrangements, no matter how many people I spoke to.

Another flight, 1.5 hours, and a 2 hour bus ride. Isn't this what caused it in the first place?

Anyway, people who don't listen aside, I took their advice against my better (paranoid) judgement, and was met at Kumamoto airport by three exuberant people waving an awesome, colorful sign that had that horrible application picture of me: Len and Emily (two JET senpais) and my Tantousha (supervisor).

This was the highlight of my day. We all got in the car, and that awkward getting-to-know-you moment I expected was completely bypassed in favor of jokingly learning more about each other. Len, a second year ALT, is eccentric and energetic at all times, and Emily is extremely  kind and almost completely fluent despite this only being her second year. My Tantousha, who I will not name in case of privacy, is a beautiful young woman, with two small children, and she's incredibly efficient! All of them were very welcoming and accommodating.

They took me to lunch on the way to Amakusa, and I can now say that I have had real Yakiniku and cooked my own meat on the firepit at the table (pictures to come). My ankles were still swollen at this point, and they had taken note, but it wasn't until we got into Amakusa and saw the giant statue of Amakusa (the man) that they realized how bad it actually was. By this point, they were so swollen that I couldn't wear my sandals because they were leaving marks, and Len had to lend me his sandals so my feet could fit.

Long story short(-er, because this is already a bit long-winded, eh?), after a brief visit and introduction at the Board of Education, Emily and my Tantousha took me to the hospital to have my feet looked at.

This is where the story gets frustrating: my first encounter with transactional Japanese.

It's really, really frustrating when you can pick apart sounds in a language, but you can't understand what the words mean. I know a good amount of Japanese, but the day-to-day needs that you could only acquire by necessity and immersion are not yet available to me. The only doctor that speaks considerable English had, for that ONE day, closed his clinic, so we had to go to a different hospital. The doctor and nurses were kind, but it was hard to stay calm when I was convinced I had thrombosis and I couldn't understand or explain myself very well. Luckily, Emily translated for me. They did an echo of my legs, which revealed no clots (thank God), but the doctor's unsatisfactory prescription -- nothing -- didn't help me find stability.

It was at a moment like this that I began to doubt myself. It's a horrible feeling to be far away from home and think you're going to have a pulmonary embollism by yourself -__-

However, I was able to forget about this for a while once I got to my host family's house. I only stayed there the first night, but it was exactly what I needed. My host parents were nice times a thouseand! Dinner was already set, and they both engaged me in lots of conversation. That it was in Japanese helped me feel like I could still survive, especially after the hospital ordeal. It also helped that they have two very cute children, 4 and 7 years old. A good shower and a night of sleep later, I felt ready to face the day, and my feelings were refreshed, especially when my host mom packed me a snack bag!

This next day was productive, in the sense that once again some of the JETs and my Tantousha took me to get my bank account, cell phone, apartment, and gas set up. But by the end of the day, my ankles were again badly swollen. A full day of being unable to use transactional Japanese, and requiring my companions to translate almost everything said to me at these places when I felt less than okay, made things really difficult. Once left alone in my apartment, I had the sinking feeling I had done something terribly wrong. I could barely look at my suitcases, evidence of just how long I'd be staying here, much less unpack them. My supervisor had washed the comforter, but not the sheets for my bed. There was dust in the neighboring room. It is HOT in Amakusa, and the only A/C unit was in the small living room NOT the bedroom. I had milk and juice only, and had no idea where to go to get something else.

Just as I was facing my own insecurities in the mirror, God sent Len over. Len, with his
enthusiasm, shared his own first-year stories, and helped me sort through some things as I unpacked my odds-and-ends suitcase. He only lives two blocks away, and we will both be working at the same middle school (the largest in Amakusa, with 800 students), so he gave me a ride to the supermarket and a large bed bath and beyond  like store to buy sheets so I could sleep. And ice packs for my ankles.

If it hadn't been that he took it upon himself to come check on me that afternoon, I don't know what I would have done. The overwhelming experience of moving to a new country, with the stress of my body rebelling against be and the general lag in adaptation was pushing me towards despair. I know, I know -- it sounds melodramatic, and I felt incredibly ashamed of myself, but I couldn't help wondering if I was that person that the keynote speaker spoke about at orientation, the one who skips the first stage of culture shock (euphoria) and sinks straight into depression and anxiety. Luckily, I was able to calm down and look at things from a different perspective.

I've been given an opportunity of a life time. That isn't to say that things won't be hard, that there won't be times where I second-guess myself. Some things with suck, honestly -- it's just as hot and possibly more humid than Miami, and I have to sleep with an electric fan in my face at night because poor insulation makes my apartment hotter inside than it is outside. But there is so much to learn, so much that can be missed if I let those small moments take the foreground of my mind, that I have to live with both eyes wide open.

I realized this when Len came by to check on me. I'm surrounded by great people, in a great place, afforded an awesome apartment in comparison to that of other people here. The following day was also a great day, and I felt my spirits lifted. The teachers at the middle school were all very nice and welcoming, interested in speaking with me, and even if I don't speak much Japanese, the teacher and vice principle at the elementary school were very kind as well.

Life can either be the bull that drags you behind it, or you can take it in your own two hands and steer. I have to be the driver here. So, as the Japanese say, Ganbarimasu! I will try with all my might.

39 Days and Counting

There are officially 39 days left until departure!

What have I been doing in the mean time? Well, to be honest, weathering this tropical storm Debbie, which has just dumped a lot of unnecessary rain on Florida. Not to say I've been idling away my days, however.

I finally received word from my predecessor last week - on my birthday, no less! - and received great news.  I'll be living in a 3LDK apartment, essentially the biggest alotted to people of my position and pretty large by Japanese standards (aka, I won't be living in a closet!). My awesome Pred is also leaving me all sorts of home goods, so that's one worry off my mind.

Other than that, it's been all boring-yet-border-line-terrifying adult things: filing VISA and credit apps, worrying over what will fit in my luggage, and feeling a wistful melancholy at the knowledge that I'll be missing the wedding of my two best friends. Incidentally, the day of their wedding is the exact date of my departure, only hours after I fly out.

So, here's to the rest of the summer! Hopefully, it will stop raining enough to enjoy it.

Amakusa-shi, Kumamoto-ken

So the results are in! Come August, I will be living in 天草市（Amakusa City), Japan. The is the part where most of you stop and scratch your head in bewilderment. Never heard of it before? Neither had I, until I looked it up.

Amakusa is a city in Kumamoto prefecture, in the southernmost main island of Kyushu. To be honest, I was a little dismayed when I first found out my placement. I had requested Urban/suburban, but had been banking on a big city - Wikipedia's estimated population of Amakusa is 90,000. This was also nowhere near my preferences (unless I made some mistake in my application). It's an hour and a half from Tokyo BY PLANE, and an hour by plane from Kobe and Osaka, the areas that I wanted to be close to. I was having a mini-Panic Attack, but after doing more research, I can't be more excited!

Amakusa City basically spans a few small islands off the coast of Kyushu. It has beaches, dolphins, and though the weather seems to cool down at night, the current day temperature is 81 degrees F. It shares latitude with Bermuda, and if that's anything to go by, it means a Miami girl like me will have no problem getting along with the weather. The ocean is readily available, which is also a huge plus!

 View of the City...Apparently there are palm trees!

Amakusa Islands are connected by several bridges

Amakusa also has a very interesting history. Historically, it was the site where many Japanese Christian converts hid during the persecutions of Christians in the late 1500s. The name "Amakusa" actually stems from the name of a boy who led a rebellion of Christian converts against the government that was against them.

Sakitsu Cathedral

That said, there are lots of churches in Amakusa. I guess I'll be reciting my "Our Father" and "Hail Mary" in English, Spanish, AND Japanese by the time I get back!

Misadventures of a Cuban-American in Japan

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually, considering La Revolucion, it was really the worst of times, but the stories of my parents' and grandparents' lives in Cuba seemed different to me. I'm a true-born Miamian that identifies as a Cuban-American even though I've never been to Cuba. The nostalgia of my family has become my nostalgia in away, but I'm also a pretty modern American woman in another sense.

I'm now breaking the mold, going further than anyone in my family has ever gone before: Literally 7,467 miles away from home. For ONE YEAR.

Destination: Japan


Can I conquer it? Only time and my cafetera will tell...