Fukuoka has a Coldstone!

I sat at work on Friday afternoon and drumming my fingers on my desk, trying to think of a feesable excuse to duck out early and avoid conversing in Engrish with my supervisor. Earlier this week I had the pleasure of spending a whole two days in her company at a seminar in Oita City. At this very seminar, she decided to go to a workshop on English Education in Elementary Schools. When I said, “Hirakawa-sensei, why are you going to a seminar on English Education in Elementary Schools? We teach at high school.” She replied, “Our students’ have Engrish level very low.” Considering that I stand in the back of the room during her classes while the kids whisper the correct answers to themselves while she badgers them with her boring lessons, I was really upset by this comment. Trust me, they aren’t English scholars, but they do not need to sing the ABC’s anymore. To top it all off, yesterday in class I asked the kids a question, and one of my girls (WHO HAS A STUDDER!) was actually brave enough to answer. Now, she is shy, so I made a really big deal about her wanting to answer the question, and stood really close to her desk so she wouldn’t have to shout. I was giving her the time she needed to get the answer out, but Hirkawa-sensei was standing there as well saying, “ANSWER QUESTION, JUST ANSWER QUESTION.IT'S OKAY TO JUST ANSWER QUESTION.” I shot her a look that said, “Back-off” and once she returned to the teacher’s podium the student relaxed, looked me right in the eye, and said “My favorite film is Totoro.” Rock on, kiddo.

So, these interactions have worn my patience for my boss down to a threadbare minimum. Last week my one of my best friends sent me candy corn, earrings, and a Pez dispenser in the mail. I have actually imagined using the Pez dispenser as a weapon. On days when I am particularly cranky, I imagine lifting up the little pumpkin’s head, and shooting out a Pez candies like projectile missiles.

Don't think I won't do it, this thing is spring-loaded.

In my head, I have really good aim, so my little colorful candies tend to hit her square in the eye. HA! I assure you I am not a violent person, but this woman is tempting my good-nature.

So, I told my Vice Principle I needed to leave early to catch a train, and he let me go. With that, I went home to pack, and actually hopped a train into Oita City. I spent the Friday night in Oita City with friends, and the next morning my friend Hunter and I hopped a train to Fukuoka.

Now, I like to compare Kyushu (my island) to the Midwest. The Midwest is full of all those barren square states, and despite the fact that the Midwest takes up quite a bit of room there in the middle of America, there really aren’t many cities. Well, Fukuoka is to Kyushu what Chicago is to the Midwest. Greg and his girlfriend Yuka met up with us about an hour after we arrived at Kyushu, and we all rushed to the first fast food restaurant we found- Wendy’s. Now, I never ate Wendy’s in America, but I sure ate it on Saturday, proudly I might add. Less than three hours later we stumbled upon a Coldstone Creamery, and I ate my weight in ice cream laden with Mangos. While the girls working there sang “Ice-cream makes you happy, fa-ra-ra-ra-ra…” Bless Fukouka, international metropolis and haven for American food. We walked and shopped all day, around 7 we met Danielle at the train station, and we all hopped a bus to none other than THE HARD ROCK CAFÉ!

Now, not only did the Hard Rock Café have PITCHERS OF AMERICAN BEER, BUT THEY HAD REAL AMERICAN FOOD! Actual large portions complete with all the grease and cheddar cheese. I myself ate an entire plate of nachos with heaps of jalapeños, real cheddar cheese, AND copious amounts of guacamole and salsa. I didn’t think things could get any better, but they did.

Greg, with a giant pitcher of beer =0)

Yuka, me, and Danielle 

me and Danielle 

So about 6 months ago one of my best friends was the leading fella in the new Puddle of Mudd music video for the song “We don’t have to look back now.” Well, THEY PLAYED THE VIDEO!

Here it is, if you’re curious…

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=D5JKF3xlGCM

So as I lifted my beer to wash down some nacho goodness I glanced up and saw a very familiar face. I was so excited I jumped up and shouted ,”HEY! I KNOW THAT GUY! HEY!HEY!HEY GUYS! I KNOW THAT GUY!” My poor friends…. So, after a very delicious American meal the five of us hopped in a taxi and came back to our hotel to have a few drinks before going out for the night.

We usually listen to Hunter’s I-pod when we pre-funk, but we couldn’t get it to work. So, we watched Mission Impossible I on TV (dubbed in Japanese) and drank every time something “impossible” happened, or every time we heard the name “Eeefan” (Engrish for Ethan).

Greg bought a really giant beer, and I was a little concerned.....

Danielle with a fruity drink thing, me with a bottle of Guinness, and Yuka with Greg's beer(which was about the size of her) 

Best Friend Hunter accused me of getting HIM pregnant.... hmmmm

Greg and Yuka 

Best friend Hunter and I attempted once again to take a proper picture

Danielle, the only veteran JET among us has been to Fukuoka several times, so she recommended we go to a bar called “Happy Cock.” Like most bars in Japan, it is tucked away in a tall building a few stories up in some random room. However, it was a really great bar and for a 2000 yen cover (about 20 bucks) it was all you could drink. I was here that we met up with our other foreign friends, and of course debauchery ensued.

 Best friend Hunter and I found Cheryl at "Happy Cock." This is what foreigners look like when it's all you can drink. 

Cheryl, Danielle, me

Danielle, me, and Cheryl waiting at the bar

"HI! ERIN! IT'S ME GREG! I'M GREG! YOU'RE MY FRIEND!"

Greg was thrown off the stage for being a boy, and Shahzana and were thrown on for being cute girls. 

Shahzana and I know how to "bust a move," or whatever it is that the kids call it these days...

Danielle joined the party 

I don't know....

I look like I'm singing karaoke

Yuka came to dance =0)

me, Shahzana, Yuka, and Danielle

Cheryl and Danielle

Danielle looks quite seductive, Yuka looks adorable, I accidently cut off Greg's head, and I just look confused.

Yuka is adorable

there is a lot of cleavage in this picture...

The next afternoon, we all rolled off our futons and headed to Sumo. Here we met up with even more foreigners. It’s really funny to watch how Japanese people react to large groups of Gaigen (that is Japanese for foreigner.) They sort of back away and shield their children. Hmmm…..

This is Betsy

Greg, me, Hunter, and Betsy 

Darin, Betsy, Greg, and me. Darin and Betsy are getting married in August! How cool is that?!

Now, Sumo is hands down one of the coolest things I have ever seen in real life. Now that I’ve actually watched several bouts, I realize there is a lot more to the sport than fat Japanese dudes crashing into each other. It’s actually a lot about balance, flexibility, and agility. For the most part, these are not characteristics I would bestow amongst men of this size. However, they surprised me.

This was my favorite picture of the day. Despite my attempts to take Sumo seriously, there is still nothing funnier than a fist full of Japanese man-boob. 

this was the tiniest Sumo wrestler I've ever seen.

the stare down

the bout begins, and Mr. Black is going right for Mr. Purple's throat. 

It looks as though Mr. Purple is giving Mr. Black a wedgie. 

This was the major division. These are the fellas who are married to models and actresses. 

These guys were huge!

I'm not sure what this guy was wearing....

I don't know what type of interpretive dance he was doing, but he looked very elegant doing it.

right before a "bout."

So, after Sumo Hunter, Greg, Betsy, Darin, and I headed back to the train station to go home. Danielle didn’t want to go to Sumo, so she shopped all day and met us at the station when the tournament was over. Bless her heart, she came with Subway sandwiches for all of us! Mine was laden with avocado and guacamole of course, and I was a happy panda. The train ride home was relaxing.

These shirts were on sale at the Hard Rock Cafe, so we both got one =0)

Greg looks adorable with a ribbon in his hair

Darin doesn't look as adorable with the ribbon in his hair.....but Betsy is still cute.

Now that I’ve been in Japan for about 3 months I am starting to feel more settled here. I have actually made friends that I would legitimately hang out with in America, which has made life a lot easier. As I mentioned before, two of my new friends, Besty and Darin, are engaged. Danielle is a bridesmaid. This weekend they invited Hunter, Greg, and I to their wedding in August. This was a big deal for me, considering that I’ve never been to a wedding that wasn’t for a relative. The really comforting thing about this little group of friends is the constant stream of inside jokes. I actually feel like I have a place here now. And while I still miss home, it’s not as bad as it was 3 months ago.

So, that said, I’m going to call it a night. 

Cheers!

the tale of the car.....

I think this weekend may have been the most stressful I've had here in Japan. I came straight home after work Friday after a long day of deciphering Engrish. It's really cold here, and as far as I know my paper house doesn't have central heating. So, generally when I get home I put on my jammy jams (my pajamas), curl up on my futon, and I bury myself in blankets. I turn on my computer, and I don't get up unless it's absolutely necessary. I was really tired, but knowing what was ahead of me in the coming weekend had me in a panic. Saturday I knew I had to go get my car in Mei (which is about a 3 hour drive away) and I knew Sunday I had the Tamaguci marathon in Kunisaki. I can't say I was very excited about either prospect. 

Saturday morning rolled around. I made myself some eggs and toast for breakfast, and waited for one of my teachers to drive me to the train station. Watanabe-sensei picked me up around 10:20, and drove me to the train station in Kitsuki. Getting a train from Kitsuki to Oita City was really easy. Once I got into Oita City I bought another train ticket to Mei. Now, here's where my day got a little more spicy. Now, at this point my anxiety attack was in full swing. The thought of driving on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car, in A FOREIGN COUNTRY had me about ready to throw up on my shoes. I get lost in Chehalis, and my imagination was running amok thinking of all the ways I could get lost on the drive from Mei to Kunisaki. 

I was absentmindedly wandering through the train station looking for platform 6, so I could catch my train to Mei (and as far as I was concerned impending doom). I got a little lost, and I asked someone in my very broken Japanese if I was heading in the correct direction. I don't know what happened, but the next thing I knew a tiny Japanese woman had grabbed me by the hand, and was dragging me up an escalator towards platform 6. It was very clear that I didn't speak any Japanese, but she didn't seem to notice, she just kept smiling in rattling off in Japanese at a million miles a minute. I heard her say "Mei" several times, which led me to believe that she was going to take it upon herself to get me to Mei. She proceeded to take me into this tiny glass waiting room on platform 6. It was miserably hott and stuffy, and since I was the only white person, everyone was looking at me like I had a fetus growing out of my head. It was so stuffy, I started to sweat, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wanted to distract myself, so I pulled out Mean Mr. Mustard (my I-pod). I put my headphones in, and put Mean Mr. Mustard on shuffle. The sound of the rain on the roof of the little waiting room died out, and The Doors "People are Strange" came on. I love my Mean Mr. Mustard. Whenever  I put him on shuffle, he has this habit of playing a song that is perfect for the situation I'm in. I looked at the old woman next to me, my self appointed Japanese care taker, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I just looked at my feet and listened to the lyrics:

When you're strange

faces come out of the rain, 

when you're strange

no one remembers your name

when you're strange

when you're strange

when you're strange.....

I was indeed, feeling pretty strange. About 5 minutes before the train was going to arrive, I fled my stuffy sanctuary and went to a vending machine to get a cold tea. I was hoping it would settle my stomach. I went to put my money in, when a tiny wrinkled hand stopped me. Of course, it was the little old lady. One hand was holding my arm (preventing me from buying my drink) and the other hand was grasping a thermos full of home-brewed tea. Now, I am not saying this little old lady wasn't really sweet, I know she was just trying to help. However, in the midst of an anxiety attack, I generally want my space, and I definately did not want to drink mystery tea from a purse thermos. I did my best to smile, and I bought the tea anyway. 

The train arrived, and she pulled me down in the seat next to her. I felt like I was going to throw up on my shoes. I was so nervous about driving back to Kunisaki. I was running all the possible scenarios of things that could go wrong through my twisted little imagination, when the tiny wrinkled hand re-appeared. Only this time, she had fruit. I don't know what it was, but she stared me down and kept saying "DOZO!DOZO!" which means please. So, I ate the mystery fruit, and smiled to be nice. I don't know what it was, but it had the texture of an apple and the flavor of a cantaloupe. It also had really giant seeds. My stomach was turing, and I started to worry I might get sick right on the little old lady's lap. I kept smiling awkwardly, but inside I wanted to die a little. I know these things are easier to read when there's pictures, so I used my computer's camera to roughly capture my feelings at this moment:

This was not a cheerful Erin. Eventually, the train got to Mei, and the little old lady tried to pull me towards her car. Lucky for me Ryan (the JET I bought the car from) was already waiting for me in the parking lot. He saved the day, and literally, saved me from a very sweet and maternal Japanese old lady who would have probably taken me home and kept me as her little American pet. 

Ryan took me to the parking lot where my car was sitting. He gave me directions on how to get back to the city, which were quite vague, but it was the best he could do. He wanted to drive around the block with me a few times, but I honestly just wanted to be left alone. He respected my wishes, and left the parking lot. I was on my own. 

So, meet "ratty."

I didn't name the car "Ratty," the previous owners did. I actually really like the car. It's a lot like the Millennium Falcon, she doesn't look like much, but she's got it where it counts. Now "Ratty" only has four forward gears, and if you go faster than 85 km an hour it starts to sound cranky. Now, considering that I still don't understand the metric system I HAVE NO CLUE HOW FAST THAT IS. I'm going to guess that this baby tops out at around 55 mph. The blinker and the windshield wipers are on opposite sides. Driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car has me all mixed up. Every time I try to make a turn my windshield wipers kick on and I have to struggle to remember which side of the road I belong on. 

After a few hours of stressful driving, I managed to get myself lost. This is no surprise, I have absolutely no sense of direction.  I knew I was lost, so with a lack any better options I pulled into a gas station. Now the gas station attendant didn't speak any English, but I managed to have him show me where I was on the map. I got back in my car, and I literally started to cry. I was so frustrated, I didn't really know what else to do. After a few minutes of a tantrum, I pulled myself together. Over our road trip this summer Winston not only taught me how to drive a stick shift, but he taught me how to tell my way on a map, and he taught as much as he could about direction. So, thanks to the lessons of a fabulous teacher, I set off for Kunisaki. 

About an hour later I was in Oita City, familiar territory, and I was able to find my way back home. By the time I got home it was dark and rainy, but I didn't care, I made it home safe. I came home, and curled up on my futon. After a long stressful day, I was still pretty jittery. I found myself up at 2am. Not knowing what else to do, I called Winston. He was able to calm me down, and I went to sleep. Bless his pea-pickin' little heart, my little freak outs never scare him, he always thinks it's cute. I don't know how anyone could think my panic attacks are cute, but lucky for me he handles them flawlessly. 

I was up the next morning at 9. I made myself breakfast, put on my sweatsuit, and started stretching. Greg came to pick me up around 10:30 and we set off for the Tamaguchi Marathon. It was a cold day, but it didn't rain. I'm happy to say that I ran the whole 10 marathon, in 1hour 12minutes, 2seconds. The jog was great. My kids were all volunteering, handing out water and bananas every 2 km. Every time they saw me, they screamed, jumped up and down, and screamed "FIGHT ERREEEN! FIGHT HARD!" The route led us all towards the mountains along the rice patties. As much as Kunisaki lacks a lot of modern convinces, I know I will look back on this whole experience positively. I am seeing a part of Japan few people know about. The agricultural part, the quiet part, the part without Wi-fi internet and bullet trains. It felt good to hear the kids cheering me on, that's something that really only happens is a small town. 

So needless to say, I had a stressful weekend. I think driving here is going to take some getting used to, but that's okay. Considering that I live in the boonies, driving shouldn't be too complicated. But, I did conquer my first road trip in Japan (all by myself!) and a 10k marathon. Not too bad!

Sorry this post tapered off a bit at the end, but I want to eat dinner. Like a true adult, I made myself soup and a peanut butter jelly sandwich. I enjoy eating my soup out of an amusingly large mug. 

So, it's time for me to turn off the blog, eat my dinner, and go to bed. Before I go, I did buy myself some new slippers, enjoy!

they're duckies!

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, due to the copious amounts of free candy. I spend my day at school running around the office giving all my co-workers hi-fives and shouting “Kyo wa Halloween desu!” (which means “Today is Halloween!") I then spent the rest of the day in class preaching what a fellow ALT called "the gospel of Halloween," and giving candy to any student who were brave enough to come to my desk and say “Trick-O-Treato.” Needless to say, the day flew by and I was over at Greg’s kicking off my three-day weekend.

So, Friday night Greg invited Hunter, Danielle, Yuka, and his neighbor over for a spaghetti dinner. It really hit the spot, and shortly after dinner the drinking games began…

Exhibit 1: Adults having an adult meal

Exhibit 2: The Mushroom of cards atop our beer can.... oh Kings, drinking game of champions!

Exhibit 3: Grown adults decree that anyone who uses a word with the letter "B" must have Dinosaur arms. Greg was the first to fall into the trap.

Followed by Hunter, who insists on making what I can only describe as "Wookie" noises every time he's stuck with Dino arms.

Watching people drink is the funniest part of Dino arms.

Darn Dino arms, they're only funny when it's not you....

Exhibit 4: Hunter decides to run his stubby Dino arms through my hair?

Exhibit 5: the evening's participants

The Boys.......

The girls.....

After awhile we decided it was time to walk down to the beach and have ourselves a Hollow’s Eve bonfire. It took us awhile to get the fire going, but eventually we got it to work. It’s a miracle no one ended up with third degree burns.

The boys attempt to make fire. Now, take not of Hunter handy head-lamp. You would think he spends his 9-5 hours working in a mine, but no, he just has a headlamp. You never know when you'll need a handy-dandy head lamp.

Once Danielle stepped in to help the fire actually got going

So, with the fire ablaze we curled up with our beers, made smores, and enjoyed the good company.

She was pretty proud of her work

this is best friend Hunter. we take adorable pictures

Clearly everyone was enjoying themselves...

we made fire!

aw, this is just cute!

I think I could subside on nothing but smores and be a happy, happy panda.

The next morning, our haggard crew drove into Oita City for the Halloween Costume Party at the PEI Pub. Thanks to some clever costume shopping on Mom’s part at the Kids’ section of Target, I was looking uber awesome as a Jedi Knight. My partners in crime (Greg and Hunter) were dressed as an Indian Warrior (Greg) and Gizmo from Gremlins (that would be Hunter). We also had a 50’s lounge singer, a pirate, a construction worker, and a recently crowned Miss American (complete with realistic “I can’t stop crying” make-up). Everyone had a good time, and I spent the bulk of the night stabbing people with my collapsible light saber and laughing maniacally. MAUWHAHAHAHAHAHA.

This was taken on the bus, on our way to Danielle's apartment. I was very upset that Hunter refused to wear his Halloween costume on the bus. We're white, and we live in Japan, people look at us like we're wearing costumes everyday as it is. I tried to use a Jedi mind trick to "Force" him into it (haha, nerd joke), but the Force is also strong with Hunter. 

These are my two partners in crime, Greg and Hunter. Considering that we're all three fairly dorky, we get along famously. 

I don't think I'll ever be able to think of Gizmo the same again. 

Here's Miss America, she was just crowned, so she'd been crying. We also had a pirate, and a construction worker. The Jedi Knight costume was clearly the most 12-year-old boy inspired idea. 

This is Shahzana. She's Canadian, but that's alright =0) 

 I seriously spent the whole night stabbing my friends with my light saber. 

I'm using the Force to make Kate's vest glow

These two weren't dressed like this for Halloween. They work a snack stand on the street, so they're dressed like this every weekend. 

Leopards!

PEI was clearly very crowded, but if you look right behind me, you'll see a very convincing Obama costume. 

The next day the crew took a train from Oita City to beautiful Usuki for the yearly bamboo lantern festival. Walking through the streets of Usuki was absolutely dreamlike. The carve all these lanterns out of bamboo and put tea-lights in them. Some of the designs were quite intricate.

Upon arrival in wonderful Usuki.

I like to think I could drive this train to Seattle for a visit.

This was done by the students at Usuki High school. 

Clearly this one was my favorite.

I was really blown away by this. Check it out! There were all these wax lotus blossoms on wires, so it looked like a candle-lit lotus garden. 

Is it weird that I want this in my yard?

So, needless to say it was a weekend of fun and adventure. We stopped in at a really cool bar in Usuki (laden with Alien, Barbarella, Mad Max. Blade Runner, Star Wars, and other geeky Erin what nots...) which was selling Coronas and Tacos. So, we had a night cap and headed home. 

These two make me smile

Yuka is my new Japanese friend

Look Papa! Hostess!

Shahzana and I enjoy taking picture together. She said, and I quote, "Oh my GOD! Our Skin looks fabulous together! It's like we're a Twix bar! I'm the chocolate, and you're the white wafer!" 

Happy Halloween everyone!