Otake Pictures

oh man.... my last post was so long! Sorry...

So, here are some pictures I have taken so far in Otake:

:D

Look! The trees are still green!

I love how one side of town has trees and bamboo

and the other side is just factories

This is one my way home from one of my schools

I walk past this almost everyday. There is a stream the passes through this area.


So funny thing, I walked past this and loved it, so I took a picute of it.
Well, there were some workers who saw me taking pictures,
This is right in front of a car repair place,
Well they were worried as to why I was taking pictures, they were so
releived to find out I just like the way it looked.


:D

I love the little person with the big eyes!

:D

This is a really pretty place by my house. I can't wait to see what

It looks like when it gets its leaves, maybe it will flower!

This is for you, Liz!

Look! I am posting on my blog! It has been a long week and I have been very tired. (I really shouldn't be blogging after a tiring school day...)



I got to Otake a week ago today. When I got to my apartment I found a note left by one of the ALTs in the area. He had helped move out the person who was here before and left me his contact information and offered to take me places I need to go (as long as I don't abuse it :P). It took us forever to get my alien registration and bank account set up done, neither of us had ever done it before. But we had a lot of fun doing it. My IC (internship coordinator) brought her eight year old daughter with her since she was still on holiday. We had a lot of fun together, she was my little tour guide. i love Japanese kids! They are so cute and so nice!







My IC-
Masako and her daughter (I thin her name is Kaho)




I didn't have time to do any shopping before we had to leave and visit one of my schools. It was really funny. I work with four different teachers at that school, three women and one man. The female teachers tried to hook me up with the male English teacher. It was really funny and he was a good sport about it.

When we got done with that school we went shopping. You Me town is pretty much a mall/ shopping center. It has a grocery store, jewelry store, 100 yen store, shoe store, music store, electronic store,Clothes stores, food court, and quite a few cute little boutiques. Most of the stores are in one building with out being separated, unlike it is at home. I got my bed there ( a whole new meaning to "bed in a bag", it was my whole bed in one bag, not just the bedding), a rice cooker, iron, alarm clock, cooking tools/supplies, laundry things, and some food. The whole time Kaho took me around the stores showing me things and telling me their Japanese names.

Thursday was a really interesting day. I met 4 of my 6 schools. I really can't remember much, it all blends in together.... But it was a nice day. I finally met the other ALT later that night, his name is James. He took me shopping. Really I just wanted to get out of the house and hear someone speak correct English, he shopped and I talked. :D I will have to get a picture of him and post it.... as it is I don't have one.

Friday was a nice relaxing day. I hung out around the apartment and put things away... some things. Mostly I washed the dishes that I bought and what James had brought over for me (they were the dishes the ALT before me had....). That afternoon I went exploring. Not such a good thing.... I over used my foot and it hurt really bad. I thought, "Oh, my foot hurts. *Shrug* oh well. I will go home, wrap it, and it will be better before I know it. No big deal, right?" Oh how wrong I was!

Saturday I chilled out, talked to my family on Skype. I went to the store, again, with James. I needed to get a few things... plain rice is ok, but really, it needs something. That is when I realized that my foot wasn't getting better. It felt worse Saturday then it did the day before....

Sunday was really sad. I got up and ready for church. I gave myself an hour to get to the train, take it to the next stop (5 minutes), and find the church that was supposed to be right across the street from the train station.... But I couldn't find it. Nor did I see any non Japanese people in Church clothes, and it is a military/English ward. I walked around until I misses sacrament meeting then i decided to go home since my foot was in excruciating pain and I missed the sacrament. :( I watched movies and hung out the rest of the day and tried to stay off my foot.

So Monday i finally called some one about seeing a doctor. It turned out to be a big deal (for the company), everyone was so worried about my foot. They sent out someone from the Hiroshima office to pick me up and be my translator. He ended up being really nice, though his English was the best (Still his English was really good). On the way over he asked me if I was a Mormon since I was from Utah. I told him I was, and as it turn out he is too! He lives close to me so he offered to pick me up and take me to the local Japanese ward next Sunday. yay! I will be able to go to church!... Any way... So the doctor was really nice and knew a little English, so between him and my translator i got all taken care of! Nothing is broken, which is good, but I have an inflamed muscle... not so good. They gave me a cool patch to put on it, it also has pain killers in it, and sent me on my way. That is right, they didn't charge me at all for my visit. As it turns out that was a very unusual occurrence. Monday was a holiday and they usually charge more on holidays. I was told they weren't charging because I am a teacher at a school near the doctor's house.

yesterday was my first day in the class room! I had a lot of fun, though it was a little awkward. In my first class I had a student, in the front row, fall asleep. The whole while the teacher was trying to get questions for me out of the students. I finally stepped in 5 minutes before the class got over and had them play a game. The other three classes were much more energetic, then again so were the teachers. I have a little admirer in one of my classes. He just wanted to talk to me the whole time. When class was over he told me that he really liked my hair and thought I was beautiful. I think he is my favorite! (shhhh, don't tell anyone!)

Today it snowed! It was really funny because my school was really worried about me. One of the teachers lives close to me and took the bus with me, she didn't want to drive in the snow because it is too dangerous. Funny thing is the snow was only a powder dusting, I don't think the roads were even wet. There are only 4 buses that go out that way a day, and we were on the 9:00 buss that would get to school at 9:27 (the cool thing is that the bus stop is right in front of the school's front gate), so the teacher was really late.... I leave school early, too, because of the bus schedule. The principal came in and escorted me to the bus stop and made sure I got on OK. It was really nice.

I walked around the bus/ train station when I got back from school. I thought it would be prudent to find how to get to my school for tomorrow. As it turns out it is a 30 minute walk from my house, so I don't have to pay for the bus or train on that day! On the way I took some pictures.. it was really pretty. I forgot to take pictures when I was at my school today, it is up in the mountains and it is sooo pretty! Next time, perhaps.

Celestia Over and out

Japan pics

Here are just a few pictures I have taken so far:

My anime face-


















I loved these park benches.















Beautiful fountains. :D















My hotel Room















My bathroom. :D




















Todays lunch, Raman! I love Raman.

What Nots

Wow, I wish I wasn't so tired/lazy, I would love to say so much more then I have. i have had so much fun the last two days! I love the people I am with right now. I am going to be so sad when I leave everyone and I go off on my own. It is inevitable. I guess we will just enjoy it while it lasts.

Today we had a lot of training. The sad thing is that it took us forever to get to our training today because there were accidents. I think one was a suicide and one was just an accident. We found out that the line we go on from our hotel is very popular for suicides. It is very sad. but, on a more happy note, we had a great time in the training. We learned a lot and had a great time together.

We went to a Karaoke box tonight, we went because it is Ashley's birthday, one of the other interns. We had so much fun. We ROCKED Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, we all sang it and it was amazing! My voice is a little weak after rocking out. Though, I have to say I am really sad that a few of the songs I forgot the tune and totally botched the songs! So sad. As soon as I can I will post out Karaoke pictures.

Tomorrow we are going to go to Church and then we are going to a park and see everyone dressed up as their favorite anime characters. It should be a lot of fun. We only have a few more days left together to have fun and see the sights. Liz and I leave for our areas on Tuesday. I have to say that I am really nervous about going out so quickly. I meet my schools on the 6th and 7th, if I remember correctly. It should be real nice to get started. I am nervous, though, about being a good teacher. I hope I can do it and be everything they want me to be.

It is late. More for you later.

Celestia, over and out.

Greatings from Japan!

Look! I am finally in Japan! This is so exciting!

The flight over was a nice but long flight. We even had some turbulance and had a bit of a scar, it felt like we were on a roller coaster. We arrived yesterday at 4:30, Japan time, got settled in, and went touring the local temple, the Sensoji Temple. We were too tired to do much so we

turned in at about 9:30, it was New Years eve for us, so that was kind of lame. But hey, we did manage to take some pictures.

This morning we got up and went to a family mart to pick up breakfast. We then decided we would eat it by the river at a little park they have there. it was realy pretty and we had a great time.

This is the lovely park we ate at. It was a nice view.

Well, I do have more to say and more pictures, but I am tired so that will be all for now.

Celestia, over and out

What Nots

Well, I had a wonderful Christmas. I hope all of you did the same.

I leave for Japan in two days. That is I have two more full days left. I leave on Wednesday in the morning. I haven't packed yet, in fact I haven't given it much thought. I better get going! I have finished my dress and I wore it today, I really do like it. I am trying to get a jacket done to go with it. I hope I can finish it in time!

Well, Wish me good luck!

Celestia over and out.

Merry Christmas!

It has been a good Christmas. We haven't had much this year, so our Christmas was small, but small things make for wonderful experiences. I got woken up today by my favorite 2 year old, he jumped on my bed (with grandma's help) then he cuddled up with me. He went and woke up his parents and then the party began. It was really fun to watch him open his presents, even if he lost interest after only two gifts. He didn't want to finish opening his presents, he only wanted to play with his cars he opened first. But after being forced, and crying the whole while, he finally opened all of his presents. He had a good time playing with his present. I have to say that was the best part of Christmas, especially since I practically new all I was getting. It was nice having my brother and his family here for Christmas and spending it with my Bub (nephew).

I hope all of you are having a good Christmas. So far I have.

5 more days! I am excited to be going! I can't wait. I am still nervous, but I am sure I will get over that as soon as I get in the swing of things. I can't wait to see the school(s) I will teach at.

I have to laugh. My grandmother, when she found out I was going to Japan, told my mom that she has enough money to get me home, just in case. I think she is worrying that something will go terribly wrong and I will get stuck in Japan. No worries Grandmother, I have a return ticket!

Celestia, over and out.