このブログのことズ～ト忘れちゃったけど・・・　一年間の中では色々なものが起こったよ。友達と遊んだり勉強したり試験をやったり編んだり・・・　日本語能力試験N4級を出来たよ！いま、N2から勉強している所なんだ。出来るかどうか知らないが頑張るぞ。

漢字が多過ぎる　＜（ｘ．ｘ）＞　でもね、ライトノベルを読んだ。「マリア様がみてる」というのは話だった。　アニメが良くしているので読書しようと思った。

で、３月１１日にすごく大きい地震が起こった。聞いた？茨城は大変だがあたしは県南からそんなに悪くなかった。帰った外人が多かったが全然帰りたくなかった漢字した。まだまだ節電ということをしている所でエアコンをあまり使わないんだ。それで、すごく熱くて危ない。

為せば成るよ！！

~ * ~ * ~

It's been a year since i've posted to this journal.... wow. Um. Let's see... i spent time with friends, studied, did a ton of crafting and... oh, yeah, there was that earthquake and tsunami thing....

The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, i think is its English name. We just call it "the big earthquake" (大地震) here. i live about 50 miles south of the Fukushima Daiichi Plant, so yeah, it's still kinda scary. We're on brownouts to try to avoid blackouts. And everyone is doing their part.

( Memories of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake )

It's summer break so i have lots of free time. Mostly i am studying, and crafting. Watching this TV show about a quartet that goes through an alien ring to travel to other planets. And going for okonomiyaki later--if it stops raining.

Summer vacation is almost over, i go back on Monday. (The students don't go back till Wednesday, which means that i sit around for two days without classes -.-; )

Found a shrink. Despite my research Prozac is not available in Japan. Just, in case anyone else was curious.

i bought my application for the JLPT (日本語能力試験). All paranoid that i won't be ready for it. Though my Japanese was good enough to navigate the medical system alone for my wisdom teeth and my mental health. My shrink was quite impressed, actually.

akaiichigo is in Japan now, which is exciting! She'll be living closer to Tokyo than me (which is waaaay to close to Tokyo for me!) in Chiba Prefecture. On the same train line as me. Partay.

We need rain, so badly. The humidity and the heat... the rainy season ended some time ago and since then we haven't had a good rain. i keep hoping that it'll rain and evaporate the humidity. Damn humidity. Summer is stupid.

Blah, i never think about this journal. It's not like anyone reads it anyway.

It's the summer vacation of my second year. Spending a great deal of time playing Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope for PS3. It's a great game. Final Fantasy XIII was a big disappointment, but i think that Square Enix has somewhat redeemed itself with SO4. My TV isn't hi-def, so it doesn't always show clearly. But i've beaten the game once and am now on my second play through.

i bought the international version at a resale store, and it plays perfectly in my PS3, PS3 games are region free, so i popped it in and it defaulted the language to English, but i changed the voices back to Japanese because dubs are evil.

Typhoon season has officially begun, first typhoon of the season. Woke up to loud winds. Now some rain. Nothing too serious. Gotta love Japanese summer, the rainy season is followed by the typhoon season.

Preparing for the JLPT test in December. It's on Sunday 5 December. So, i get to take a test the day before my birthday -.-; Going to take the N4. Would love to take the N3 but i don't think i can be ready for that. Damn JLPT for changing the test right when i want to take it! Registration starts in a couple days, halfway through August.

This is the only week during summer vacation that i have off from my Eikaiwa, so it's the only true week of summer vacation for me. And i am proud to announce i have done nothing productive! Was going to do some serious knitting this break but my yarn has not yet arrived from America. Going to do some beading but eh video games <3 i got a kanji study aide for my DS that i play every night.

So, anyone who is anti-fluoride is stupid. i never had a cavity in America and now i've had two. Thankfully they were in wisdom teeth, my upper right and left, and the doctor pulled them. About $15 each. i love socialized medicine. My sister just had a consult where the dentist told her she needed her wisdom teeth out and the consult was $130.

American doctors... they charge too much. Like my trip to the eye doctor, which full eye photograph whatevers and new contacts that was about $9. The Japanese government covers 70% of costs, and the costs are low anyway. The insurance doesn't cover the check-up i need each year for my company, that includes an ex-ray, blood-work and urine analysis, is only $50.

Now, i am this close to beating SO4 again, so i am going to go do so.

Wow, it's been a while since i've written anything, between gaming and beading i've been busy.

i've been taking old school pixel art and making beaded phone charms. FF1 and FF3, and a Mokona from Rayearth.





But summer vacation, short as it is, starts next week. i'm all sleepy. i think it might have something to do with this damned rainy season. It's hot and humid, and it rains practically every day.

Going to post something longer when i'm not so sleepy, but i thought i'd write something while i remembered.

Situated in Ami-machi.

i need to figure out how to cancel my internet, cuz my apartment comes with internet--which my company never told me about, they never gave me my user id and password. *sigh* Got it though. GAH. The curtains that came with my apartment are uber thin. The sun comes through them in the morning and at night the lights from the front doors of the next building come through. i like dark to sleep. So i've been looking for some. Checked three places yesterday in Ami and Tsuchiura but no go, today i'm going to nearby Ryuugasaki.

Disappointed in FF13. i haven't played for a week but i'm going to finish it then write a review. Big let down, really. Hmph. FF14 will be out later this year--an MMORPG. That made me cry a little. The levelling in FF13 is kind of like FF10, and i wanna play it now but i don't know where my copy went...

Almost been here for two years. This means i need to get my Japanese driver's license and renew my visa. The latter i can get off school, i have to go to Mito to do it. The former though... just found out they're only open Monday through Friday. Fuck. Screwed. Plus almost no one passes on the first time, well without first attending an uber expensive driving school -- they cost around $3,000. i really had planned to get it during spring break but since i had to move, i couldn't.

Uck.

omg but the sakura are so beautiful. They are beautiful and they are everywhere. They're already falling, their petals litter the street. But i'm going hanami tomorrow. (Hanami is flower-viewing. Usually referring to sakura.)

Some pics i took of local sakura. (FB album.)

So i started at my new school. First, may i say that the school is amazing. It's new, all but the gym and budoukan (the building for kendo and judo) were built last year. So pretty. All my old schools were in the realm of 30 to 50 years old so... Though, Miho JHS was founded 49 years ago. The people are all really nice, and surprised by my Japanese--i think my predecessor was the only ALT in the region who didn't speak any Japanese, the other ones i've met do. i start teaching classes next week... and eating with the students.

There are about 500 students, five classes in first and third grade and four in second. And 16 clubs!! In Japan, every student is required to join a club but there's definitely more variety here than at Tawara JHS. Science club, art club, creative writing club, band, girls and boys teams for basketball, volleyball, tennis, judo, kendo and ping-pong(!!), and boys soccer, baseball and handball.

There were three ceremonies this week. On Tuesday, the first day of school, there was a ceremony where the new teachers (myself included) were introduced to the students and welcoming words were said. Thursday was the first day of school for the first graders so there was a welcoming ceremony for them (入学式, nyuu gaku shiki). On Friday was the introduction of the clubs, where each club did some kind of demonstration. Baseball really doesn't need new people, there are about 30 members already, while boys volleyball needs three people to even have a team!

On Tuesday night i got a desperate call from my coordinator, telling me that a local English school (英会話, eikaiwa, "English conversation") needed ALTs, so i went on Wednesday. Still don't think it's a great idea but. Anyway i sat in on a lesson Wednesday and Thursday, both lessons i'll be taking over. Young kids. And i subbed for two on Friday... their normal teacher had a nomikai ("drinking meeting"... or a party with people he worked with). That was nice and awkward.

But, because of that, after my 8pm lesson, i stood around talking with another ALT and some adult students and was invited to go hanami. So, we'll see how that goes...

i moved a week ago and now am in Ami-machi. To make things easier (i guess) towns (machi) and villages (mura) are part of districts (gun) of a nearby city. In my case, it's Inashiki-gun. And my address reflects that, Ibaraki-ken Inashiki-gun Ami-machi (茨城県稲敷郡阿見町). Long and full of kanji i don't know yet.

On Monday i meet the BOE for Miho-mura, where i'll be teaching, at Miho JHS (美浦村立美浦中学校). This time i teach at just one school, there's going to be another ALT at the meeting so i assume they will go solely to the three elementary schools in Miho. That works for me.

i haven't finished unpacking yet. Well, my suitcases are empty and stored but all my things are not. i really don't feel up to it yet.

Ami is nice. Small, but not tiny. i live in Chuo (中央) or central Ami. So it's pretty easy to get places. Also, the nearest city, Tsuchiura, is only like 15 minutes away. There's an AEON mall there and an Ito Yokado department store. On another note, Ami has way too many English conversation (英会話) schools. i spotted like 5 on the way to the clinic yesterday (for my yearly health exam).

i need to find a place to get contacts. There are two glasses places en route to the clinic and one just beyond... but none of them do contacts. My current prescription is not strong enough.

i feel kinda ick, like lying in bed all day feels like a good plan, but that may just be cuz i'm tired of waiting for school to start.

i've since bid farewell to two more elementary schools: Tawara ELS (田原小) and Tawara West ELS (田原西小). Both schools gave me nice farewell gifts and letters from the children. From Tawara West ELS, i got a beautiful furoshiki (a cloth that is tied to serve as a bag) and some hanafuda cards (need to learn how to play). From Tawara ELS, i got a gift set from a nearby patisserie, Yoshino, with cookies and such and an adorable plushie winged bunny purse charm and also a Hinamatsuri hanging mobile.

The letters from Tawara ELS are all in hiragana! It's impossible to read! Several months ago i had a problem reading a couple of kanji in the lesson plans there and since then, everything was in hiragana only-no katakana or kanji. Made everything look like a kid's book. So hard to read. Tawara West's letters have furigana which is nice. Thing is, i've used kanji at both schools--for Tawara ELS i wrote something out for a teacher's suggestion board using it!

So now i have two more days at Tawara JHS, on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Three day weekend.) The second grade teacher hinted that yesterday was my last day with second graders and i don't think i have any more with first graders and third already graduated. So, that means i'll be doing nothing for two days.

Meanwhile, i still don't know the details about when i'll be moving. An event that will take place on Thursday or Friday. i'm getting really annoyed about the lack of information from my company!!

Gotta clean. Won't feel like doing it after school and i've been putting it off, well partly. Did my bathroom, toilet and kitchen... but my entryway is a disaster, i tend to just shove the junk mail i get on a shelf. Gotta sell my tv, too. It's too big to bother moving it, so gonna buy a new one when i get to Ami.

i want some sekihan. i may go out to get some, and some caffeine. i sooo lack motivation.

やった！！

Apparently, my emails to Heart concerning Kawauchi-mura led them to realize how much i didn't want to go. So, Wednesday night--after i had told them i would take the Kawauchi position--i was given the choice of two places in Ibaraki Prefecture: Ishioka City and Miho Village, part of Insashiki District. After a little research i chose Miho (茨城県美浦村).

Miho has about six times as many people as Kawauchi, 18,000-ish. There are three ELS and one JHS, i'll go to the JHS everyday. Due to lack of apartments in Miho, i'll live next door in Ami Town (阿見町).

i'll be living in the Greater Tokyo Region and Miho and Ami are in southern Ibaraki, really close to Chiba, which has, among other things, Narita Airport.

Saturday was a refresher meeting in Mito for ALTs, i had been told i didn't have to go so i was planning to clean and do a bit of shopping... until i was asked to go on Thursday.

( magical adventure? )

Then, the icing on the cake, there was an earthquake at 9.53... a level 2.

( Newest location, 福島県川内村 )

So yesterday was my last day at Toyosato Chuo ELS (豊郷中央小学校). i thought i had told the relevant people that it was going to be my last day but the principal and vice principal hadn't heard. They were rather upset. And threw me a tea party. The vice principal got some cake when she ran out to the bank and Aizawa-san had some amazing tea and the four of us had tea and the principal and i had a really deep conversation about religion that stretched my Japanese as far as it would go.

At 5.30 Aizawa-san picked me up and we met Sakamoto-san at an Italian place on the other side of the city. mmmm~ One could order individual things from the menu or choose a set menu: a choice of drink drink, salad bar, choice of pasta, pizza and choice of desert. One did not choose a pizza, just to have pizza. When a pizza was finished, a waiter came by, told what kind of pizza it was and asked if anyone wanted a slice. i had i think six different kinds? The slices were rather small. All very good.

We were there for three hours or so, talking and eating. i did some crying. i hadn't yet heard about the sharing-apartment-thing so i was in the process of resigning myself to living in a tiny village. But, they said, wherever i live, they want to meet-up again. So that'll be fun.

i really hate not knowing where i'll be living. 20 days til i have to move out. Gr.