Yes!!!

I have finally figured out how to change the settings on my blog to English!!!! Oh Yeah Oh Yeah...Go head now...It's your birthday... (ok so I totally went all dork on you but come on...I'm stoked). It was "interesting" for a while trying to read Japanese and solve the puzzle of posting on this site but..., "Now it's time to say good bye...to all our company...M-I-C, see ya real soon, K-E-Y, why because we love you, M-O-U-S-E." {That one was for you Sarah! ;) }

Cars in Japan

This is my short rant...so I got hit by a car today while riding my bike to work. Don't worry, so far all I've got is a bruise on my leg and possibly a sprained knuckle (if that's possible). And no I didn't go to the hospital because I'm a firm believer that unless it's broken or something you can't fix with soap, there is no reason to go to the doctor and pay a lot of money just to hear them say "sorry I can't help you. it will heal naturally on its own." Thank you Captain Obvious. So if my hand gets worse I'll go but if not I'm going to save my time and money for something more worthwhile like a trip to Bali or something.

I'm just a little pissed that this happened in the first place. I've been riding a bike in cities bigger than Maizuru since I was 8 or 9 and I've NEVER gotten hit before. And once the accident happened I kept playing it in my mind like maybe I did something wrong, like I didn't look around at my surroundings. But I did! I was on a main road and at the intersection, where I got hit, there was no light and it was a blind spot for both the driver and the bicyclist. So the driver of the van, who hit me, should have stopped at the big white line before the intersection and LOOKED both ways before entering the crosswalk so s/he can see all the bike riders and pedestrians who have the right of way. But this old man didn't! He just sped right into the intersection and if I hadn't slammed on my brakes I would have gotten hit straight on instead of hitting the side of the car.

In the end I'm ok (I'll know for certain tomorrow when the pain truly sets in) but now I'm a little paranoid about being hit again. It feels strange that I feel safer riding a bike in a big city than I do in a small one. But I've noticed that the drivers here take less caution probably because they think they're the only ones on the road compared to big city drivers who KNOW they're not the only ones on the road (even though they wish they were).

So that's my story...sorry it wasn't a proper four letter word rant but I feel better and in the end that's what a rant is all about, making the person feel better. Well take care and again thanks for reading!

My First Buddhist Temple

Here is the link and a teaser! :-)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63872&l=68bf4&id=615202714

Chopsticks and Fries

Two nights ago I ate french fries with chopsticks for the first time. It was the welcome/farewell party for me and the outgoing teacher at a "buffet style" restaurant in Maizuru. How it worked was someone placed a group order for drinks at each table then after drinks were served the wait staff would bring out different types of food all night. There was the raw fish tray (which was excellent), the salad tray, and even the American style tray which had french fries, chicken strips, and fried spring rolls. At one point I had a "Lost in Translation" moment. The wait staff brings out this big metal bowl full of water along with two trays of raw vegetables and raw meat then places the bowl on a gas heater. The students proceed to add in the vegetables and let it come to a boil. While it's boiling one picks up a piece of raw meat and cooks it in the bowl. It takes about 30 seconds to cook. There's a dipping sauce for the meat and once it's all done it tastes really good. I just remember in the movie "Lost in Translation" Bill Murray says to Scarlett Johansson after the staff brings all the materials to make this meal, "if we have to cook the food ourselves, what are we paying them for."

Overall it was a wonderful evening and it was great to get a chance to talk to my students outside of the classroom. I DEFINITELY left an impress on some of them when at one point of the conversation I had to explain what the word "poop" meant and proceeded to act out the action with me protraying a dog on a walk who makes a stop to poop. Yeah it's a good thing I don't mind making an a** out of myself once in a while.

There are more stories to come but once again the work chimes are ringing so I must run. Take care!

First Lady

I just found out the other day that in the 10 years my school has been open, I'm the first female teacher it's ever had. Several years ago the company I work for used to sent both men and women teachers to small cities in Japan but soon some of the female teachers started to complain it was too hard to live there. They said they didn't have any friends and that there wasn't much to do outside of work. Subsequently they quit so the company decided to stop placing women in small towns. Only recently have they changed this policy but still most women are mainly placed in big cities.

I got pissed of when I heard this story, not at the company but at these particular women. Living in a small town is not easy for anyone (unless you like small towns and prefer them over big cities) and it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman the struggles are still the same. But the actions taken by these particular women gave the impression that it's harder for women to survive than men and that women need special treatment which is bullsh*t. When things get hard you just gotta suck it up and deal; find some positive outlets for your frustration but you can't just whine and whine and hope it goes away. Now I don't know these women's complete stories but I'm almost certain they're full of excuses because if the majority of male teachers can find a way to handle living in a small city then female teachers can too.

On a positive note my teaching has been going well so far. I've already taught 3 classes and I've got another 3 to teach today. The departing teacher observes my lessons and says I'm quite good for a first time teacher. I just need to work on reducing my native speak (meaning I need to talk in simple sentences structures, i.e. subject-verb-object.) and I need to work on my timing (my lessons have been either a couple minutes short or a few minutes long) but both speech and timing will come naturally over time. :-)

Well that's all I've got for now. Take care and thank you for reading!

Signing up in Japanese

WOW!!!! This whole website is in Japanese here in Japan (duh!) so if I do any funky posts it's because I have no idea what the site is trying to tell me. I was so surprised when I filled in the sign up forms correctly. Thank God web sign up sheets almost always ask for the same information.

Anyway...so this is my first blog and I must admit I've never been a fan of them in the first place (seriously who the hell cares what I do on a day to day basis) but since I now live in beautiful Maizuru, Japan (pictures will come as soon as I get my new digital camera) I thought some of my friends and famiy might be interested in reading about the adventures and mishaps I get into here.

Well I'm a big city girl so Maizuru is the smallest city I've ever lived in so far (pop. about 90,000 people) and I must say it's comforting to find that most small cities are the same no matter where you go. Starting out with the fact that everyone knows everyone! Even though I've only formally met about a hand full of people, the word has already gotten out that there is a tall 5'9" Black woman wandering the streets. Not too many people stare at me directly (and when they do I smile and continue on my way) but I can tell some are interested in finding out who I am. On my second day here I decided to grab my iPod and take a long walk through the city (occassionally strutting along the way to the music of Rilo Kiley and Seal). It felt nice to get out and confidently not care if people thought I was weird or intriguing but truly enjoy the fact that I was in Japan, a path I never thought I was going to take a year ago. :-)

While on my walk I came across my first Buddhist temple. At first I didn't know I had arrived at a temple because there were these long stone steps (like the ones you see in Kill Bill Vol. 2) that lead straight upwards blocking my view of what ever layed ahead. Of course there were signs at the bottom in Japanese saying "This way to the temple" but because I can't read Japanese (yet) I had no idea where I was going when I decided to take my first step. The steps were high and kind of steep so my thighs really got a workout. And while walking up them I thought of the Steps of Repentance at Mount Sinai. I wondered if the reason they make the steps leading up to temples so physically challenging is because it's an act of repentance people must take before praying to the Buddhist gods. Like you must sacrifice a little of yourself (which in turn causes you to become humble); teaching people the ultimate lesson of how you must first give before you can ever receive. Hmmm....

I didn't stay long once I got to the top because people were praying and I didn't know the proper etiquette on how to present myself at a Buddhist temple. So I decided to leave and will come back later when there is no one around and also take some pictures to show people back home.

Well I think that's enough for now. I of course have more stories to tell (and will!) But for now I'm going to get ready for my first day of teaching (on my first day of work I just did observation) and hopefully all will go well. Thanks for reading and take care!