GOMEN!!!

Sorry it's been SO long since I've written on my blog. It's just been one whirlwind after another since Christmas. That AND... all my pics were lost when my hard drive broke. Nope, not crashed... I had to replace my hard drive in order to finish my papers and things for end of semester. :-) Wheee... gotta love technology. There are students all around who have these really flash, tiny Sony Vaio laptops... and all I think is... I REALLY want one!! But have NO money. So, for about $120 dollars I got a much bigger hard drive. Could have been worse.

I'm really loving my time here in Tokyo. I really wish there was some way that I could stay here and not have to go back to Hawaii. Not sure that's possible, but I really wish there were a way. Oh, well... we can't have everything we wish for, can we?? ;-)

In just over a week I'll be going back to Fairbanks for just over 3 weeks (counted it, it's 24 days!). I think I made a bad judgment call when I booked my tickets for that long, but I can't really go back now. Not without quite a bit of expense. SO if there's anyone who will be in the Fairbanks area from Feb 19th-March 14. Let me know... I'll be very bored a lot of the time. However, I'm going to try to improve my fitness level over this break by xc skiing as much as possible. I've been telling all my kendo friends that I'm going to come back with more muscles in my arms and shoulders. So... here's to hoping for some decent weather when I'm back.

I had a really funny experience the other night at a drinking party with the kendo kids. Funny, flattering, interesting... these kinds of things always happen over drink here in Japan. Anyway, I got to talking with Yoshida-sempai (the word for someone of a higher rank than you). And we started talking about how Japanese girls are way TOO skinny... and that it's really bad. That and then he was saying how one of the other, girl, sempai was saying how she was really sad because I am skinnier than she is. :-( I felt bad, it may be true, but it's tougher for Japanese girls to be a little bit bigger than it is for American girls. Then... Yoshida-sempai gave me a huge compliment. He said that whenever I practice with the kids group (an hour before the university kids start) all that they can hear in the changing room is my kiai (the sounds you make when practicing kendo). I was a bit embarrassed until he said it was a good thing.

So... funny stories.

Have more... like... A few weeks ago, was walking to the station mid-morning and I ran into a group of hoikuen (pre-school) kids and their teachers. Well, one very genki (cheerful, in this case) boy looks at me and says "konnichiwa!" That was all the invitation I needed to strike up a conversation. So, I asked him if he was good (Ro, I know that's not proper English - but how do you really translate "genki desu ka?") and asked where they were going. When I asked that, he turned to his teacher... she gave him the answer and he repeated it. It was SO funny! Every time I asked him something he looked to his teacher. Hahaha... That experience made me miss my old job... big time. I miss the energy that kids have for anything. They are amazing little people. And even when you're really tired... they can give you a boost. :-)

Anyway... there's more mini-anecdotes to be told... but this is already a very long entry, so I think I'll say toodles and try to do better with posting in the future.

love,

A

Christmas and other happenings

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
This is Christmas Japan style. Kirsty and I are at an onsen, wearing yukata and about to enjoy a lovely Christmas Eve meal. Not anything that we'd be used to at home of course... but really very delicious all the same!






And here's the food... There's some shabu-shabu (hot-pot soup), tempura, sashimi, grilled fish, pickled veggies... it was delicious!! Much better than anything I've had in Japan since I came back. :-) Yum-O!!!







LOVE BEER??? You bet I do! And this was some really nice micro-brew from a local brewery. It was blueberry flavor... a nice mix of hopsy flavor and a bit of sweetness. Really delicious beer... though I was apprehensive at first. :-)










We had to go searching for some snow on Christmas Day because there wasn't any near where we were staying. So we drove up to the Naruko Gorge (a great spot for looking at fall leaves in October) and found some snow!! Here I am in my nice new hat, courtesy of Melissa. You rock girl!!!











Watch out!! Unlike Fairbanks, we can make snowballs in Japan!! And we did... ;-) But because we're nice we didn't actually throw them at each other. :-)



SO... there are some Christmas pictures. Just because I was having a good time here in Japan doesn't mean that I didn't miss Christmas at home. I'm becoming a firm believer in Christmases spent at home, in Alaska, with my family. :-)

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!!

love,

A

things that make me smile...

Ok... most of you that know me pretty well, know that I'm generally a smiley person. Well... being in Japan is really interesting because I tend to smile here even more than in other locations. And here are some of the reasons why...

- Every day I see a dad and his son walking to school (probably pre-school/kindergarten). Now what makes me smile about them is that the dad is about 6' tall or even a bit taller and the little boy barely hits above his dad's knees. That picture is cute in and of itself... but then the little boy is so full of energy and spunk that it makes me smile.

- Little kids walking to school make me smile as well... they are so wrapped up in their own little worlds...

- A guy walking down the street today was wearing the coolest blazer... it was a checked blazer... and it showed that he was not conforming to Japanese boring black because it was a little darker than royal blue with light blue checks... he was definitely fighting the metrosexuals of Japan.

- Songs that I like to sing to. I generally put my ipod on shuffle... and sometimes even in the middle of being squashed amongst all the commuters on the train I smile when certain songs come on.

- The genki guys who serve up the coffee at Starbucks. I used to go to other coffee shops in Takadanobaba, but have recently started going to Starbucks because the staff is so nice! They just make me smile to go in there.

- Funny things that are green. As you all probably know, I'm a bit of a green freak. Maybe it's the fact that my hair is a bit reddish and my eyes are greenish, but I just like the color. So, whenever I spot something really cool and green - I grin!;-)

- Shinbo-kun (kun is a term attached to male names in Japan, used for people younger than yourself). At kendo, we are all supposed to cheer faito when we're not actually sparring ourselves. Well, Shinbo-kun has the loudest, most recognizable and consistent faito of anyone in the group. It's cute and makes me smile.

- The Iida's. They are a family that I was introduced to right when I came to Japan in September. They are amazing. The two sons played hockey, Yuto just finished his last season as a senior this week. They are so normal. AndI mean that as a compliment because they are normal by American standards and not Japanese standards. And I love going to their house because it's like I have a couple more brothers and a sister... and another set of Japanese parents. They are always SO amazing that I am always smiley and in a good mood when I'm around them.

Anyway... that's a "things that make me smile" list... hope some of them make you smile... or at least make you think of me! ;-)

love,

a

Japan is treating me well...

Lately I've been having some awesome Japan time. It's just all coming together. So much that I really don't even want to bother going back to Hawaii to finish my degree. BUT... I will. Because I don't quit things... even when it's REALLY tempting. ;-) Haha...
Last week there was a big kendo tournament that I went to watch... and I took my camera and took some really cool pictures... so I thought I'd share. :-)
This is an action shot.... a tiny bit blurry... but that's how you can tell they're moving. Haha... This pic is actually warm up between Yamamoto-sempai and Kawaguchi-sempai. They're both really, really good... very fun to watch as well.









This is a pic of the girls all lined up removing their men (helmets)... I just thought it looked cool is all. :-) The boys are further down in the blue.




This is a really cool, samurai-esque picture of our captain, Yamamoto-sempai. I just managed to click this one and thought it looked really cool. Very much like the lone warrior or something. Heehee... you get all sorts of funny ideas when watching kendo... but it is really inspiring at the same time. :-)













This next picture is of Toda-sempai. I just got this at the right time. It's just a really cool picture and I had to share it. :-) I may not be a great photographer.... but sometimes I get lucky.

This is the last pic.... it's a pic of the girl sempai (means older, wiser members). They just happened to be sitting around in their cool happi (ha-py; jacket things) in a semi-circle like that. I just thought it was cool. :-)

Anyway, there are my kendo pics. There's TONS more, but not enough time to post them all. ;-)

love,

a

does it get any better...

So... as all of you know... I practice kendo. The group I joined at Waseda has been a little, well, difficult to fit into. Not for lack of trying on my part (or on the part of my good friend, Shivani's either). Some days we were barely getting an aisatsu (greeting) in return to our rather genki greetings. We tried and tried... our last hope was the drinking party on Thursday. We figured if we made no headway there... we'd write everyone off and kind of stop trying...

Luckily... we won't be doing that... because the drinking party was a success! :-)

Thursday, we practiced kendo as usual... and afterwards, at 9:30, the nomikai (drinking party) would start. Shivani, much better at doing the Japanese thing, asked one of our sempai (older, more experienced kendo members) if we might attend. To which he responded, sugoi (wow! cool!). Always a good sign, I was chatting with some of the other girls at that time... and when that sempai passed me he also asked if I was going... and I said yes. Once again... favorable response. Yay!

Well, Shivani and I were both starving... so we followed the other girls down to the bar (turns out this bar is the "center" of Waseda drinking culture!) and headed to the McD's for a quick bite before starting to "binge" drink (in Japan they drink out of tiny glasses, so you can't really binge!).

We headed back to the drinking establishment and were met by Ito-sempai, who had formerly been rather unfriendly. But she got us sat down and situated with Kimura and Ichimura sempai. It was great... we started drinking and actually talking to some of the people we'd been practicing with for over a month... and the great thing was - they are SUPER nice people. Of course they wanted to know the basics... whether we like beer... where we're from... what we study... all that. And then they got us started trying to get others to drink!

Basically, that entailed taking a bottle of beer over to a sempai and saying, dozo (in this context that means, please drink!) and getting them to chug the remainder of the bottle. It was rather fun, in fact that's how I got switched to a different table... after forcing someone to drink I just hung around and talked a bit.

Then I got kidnapped by Matsugaki-sempai and two other sempai (one was Kawaguchi and the other.... I don't remember his name!). We got to talking about all sorts of things... mostly related to drinking. But they realized that I was quite strong (in comparison to Japanese people) at drinking. So as a consequence when anyone said something amusing, one would say "Love Beer!!" and we'd all finish our beer and pour another round. It was great!! And at the end of the night... I wasn't too drunk... if only I hadn't had to carry my bogu home... then I would have been ok...

Needless to say... Shivani and I have bonded with the kendo people... and we're definitely IN!!! :-)

one great day...

Yesterday was just one of those great days... that becomes great through no prior planning of your owm. It just is.
I had a test first thing in the morning. BUT... I studied and actually think I did pretty good. Yay!! Then I had Sonoda-sensei's class... He is this really genki (energetic) Japanese guy who it just fun to have class with. Plus, it's a class about cultures in Asia, so I find the subject matter really fascinating. :-)
After class I headed out the door to watch hockey!! THAT was fun... I watched Gakushuin and Jindai (two universities in the Tokyo area). The game was really aggressive and highly charged. The end score, 4-0, didn't really reflect the entire game. It was an overall good game to watch, even though the team I was rooting for lost. During the game there was a hotly disputed goal... that dispute took about a half hour to resolve, thus the game ended a bit late. So, I ran out of the game because I needed to get home and get my kendo stuff.
I got on the train... and shortly thereafter two elementary school kids, a boy and girl, got on the train. I was plugged into my ipod, so was only half paying attention. Suddenly, I see the boy take his little hat off and gesture in my direction with it, saying to the little girl, "Gaikokujin da!" (Look, a foreigner.) To which I take off my headphones and ask him, "Really??" (in Japanese of course) When I realize I've embarrassed him, I instead ask the two kids what grade they are in... they're first graders. At this point the lady next to me joins in and we end up talking a bit... the little boy was SO embarrassed that he buried his head in his hat... and soon enough my station came. Little boy had removed his hat... and I wished he and the little girl good luck in their studies (benkyo ganbatte kudasai!) and walked off the train!! Too cute!!
Then I rushed home, got kendo stuff, and rushed out the door again.
Kendo was really good... I was totally knackered so was happy that all the people I worked with wanted to focus on fundamental skills instead of running me ragged. And the thing is... I felt like I got a lot out of it. Yay!!
My friend Shivani and I headed home from kendo, saying out otsukaresama's on the way out. We got in the elevator at the 4th floor and made a stop at the 3rd to pick up a group of high school boys (4). The first two that got in the elevator were kind of timid, the second two looked at us and yelled "hello!! how are you??" It was hilarious. And, in true form, I said, "Good, how are you??" Everyone was good... and the first boy says "My name is Sho." And I shook his hand... we went around to Yuya, Kota and the last boy says... "My name is Eminem." Quickly followed by "American joke, American joke!" (He was actually called Hide.) We parted with the boys at the front doors of the sports center with a "Bye bye" and a "ki o tsukete" and were off.
My friend Shivani then asked if I'd ever met those boys before. To which I replied, "no." She found the whole situation really amusing and was astounded at how I reacted to the whole thing... mainly, without skipping a beat. :-) All I could say is that it happens all the time and I don't mind, especially when it's students. :-)

Yesterday was an exhausting day... but it was SO much fun!! I would gladly relive it... minus the loss at hockey!! Hope these little stories make you smile. ;-)

ttfn,

A

Tales from Japan...

I am daily struck by how amusing Japan is... it just is. I think the main source of my amusement is the fact that there are SO many contradictions that are inherent to this place. For instance, you have the history of the samurai... the warrior... there are still people who follow the code of the warrior (mostly in the form of martial arts)... and then on the flip side, you have some of the most androgenous human beings I've ever seen. Yesterday, for instance, in the grad student lounge there were two of the most girlie "men" (hard to really call them men as they were most likely somewhere around the age of 22 or 23) I'd ever seen. I even had to do a double-take to check if one was wearing make-up!!

SO... let this be a lesson to you all... men, be men.... and girls... just be! ;-)

More from that trip to Shonai!

Hey there... so awhile ago I promised some pics from that last trip I made to Shonai. And what a trip it was!! I got to see Chisato (don't have any pictures, sorry!!) and Hayashi-sensei. She's my Japanese mom (Lauren can vouch for that!!). And she totally takes care of me any time I'm in Sakata (as she did once again!!).
While I was in Sakata, Hayashi took me on a really cool walk around Sakata... the weather was gorgeous (it had rained non-stop since I'd gotten up there) and so we went for a really nice walk... and I discovered a whole new side of Sakata!
I lived 25 minutes from Sakata for 3 years and had never been to the rice warehouses!! Crazy... so Hayashi and I walked from her house down to the warehouses... and I got some nice omiyage (edible souvenir) for my host family.

Next, Hayashi and I in Hiyoriyama Park in Sakata... that ship behind us is a replica of the ships that took rice from Sakata to Kyoto... back in the day. Fun, eh???

Who knew that Sakata had it's own pagoda?? I sure didn't... not until Hayashi took me to what Sakata folks call otera machi (temple town). There were tons of temples/shrines (I didn't take pictures of them all...). But how cool is this?? I only thought Haguro had a pagoda!

This is the torii at Hiyoriyama Park... well at the shrine near there... I can't remember the name. But look how cool it looks!?! And you can just tell it was a beautiful day! And it really, really was. :-)

Lastly, a bit of humor...


So... I really like manju (sweet cakey thing)... and usually they're just serving size... enough to go with some coffee or tea. Yum-o!! Well... this is the FREAKING BIGGEST MANJU ever!! Holy cow!! It's the size of a saucer... and Hayashi cut it like a cake!! It was crazy!! So... I had to share this picture... she thought it was terribly amusing that I took this picture in the first place. Haha!! Anyway... hope you enjoyed the pictures... let me know!!

love,

alisha

More adventures up north!

Well, I couldn't resist going up north this past weekend. We had a 3 day weekend and I won't get up there for awhile yet... so I just took off and went. This time I took my kendo gear and practiced twice over ther weekend!!! I managed to get a few really great bruises... and slightly pulled my tricep. All should be well by the time practice rolls around on Thursday. Just gave the ol' arm a rest tonight. Thought that would be best...

Ok... I have a plethora (sp??) of pictures to post... so I'm going to do it in waves. The first batch is going to be playing AFTER kendo. Didn't get any kendo pics (as I was practicing) but did get some pics of kids afterwards.
These charming boys are Takuro (the bigger kid) and Ryutaro they were sitting behind me and my friend Kirsty during the lunch after kendo (imoni kai). They were fun to play with (ie tickle their feet) during the meal. Heehee... and were good sports about taking pictures!

And here's the same, spunky Ryutaro thumb wrestling with Kirsty. He was so cute... but very resigned to the fact that he was going to lose. So resigned that he didn't give much of a fight... but it was funny how he went about losing. :-) I could just take that kid home with me!! What a cutie!! ;-)


Proof that there are some games that don't cross the culture boundaries. Yup, you've got it... this game is basically a game where if you lose (at rock/paper/scissors) you get to pinch your opponents cheek... and ultimately "win." Geee... that sounds like... FUN!?!?!


The second picture there is what it really looks like when you lose and your opponent has ahold of both of your cheeks and you haven't got either of his!! Fun game, huh?? Had to take a couple of pictures of this one...

Well, there's your fun update from Japan. Classes are in full swing now, so I won't be jaunting off anywhere very cool for awhile. I'll probably have to confine my travels to the Tokyo area. That'll be good because I'm very unfamiliar with this area. :-)

Hope all is well wherever you are!
Take care!

Sunset in Kokubunji

Funny thing about living in Tokyo... you can't always take a good picture of the sunset. In fact, two days ago the rain stopped and the sun came out in time to give us a really nice sunset. Only problem?? I couldn't get high enough to avoid buildings and homes to get a view of just the sunset. I knew it had to be pretty... if only I could get away from the crowdedness of the neighborhood near where I live.

Unfortunately, I was not really able to get that far... but I did take some interesting pictures that will have to fulfill the "Tokyo at sunset" portion of my picture album. :-)

Me looking at the sunset. I thought this picture was kind of funny...
The next is the sun shining through the trees... and there you have the best pic of a Tokyo area sunset!! haha...

Things are beginning...

Well, things are beginning to settle down a bit. And in no time, things will start to actually become routine. (Funny that!?!) That will all start to happen once classes start next week. It seems like I've been here forever, time creeps by when there's no fixed plans... and as soon as you feel like your life is beginning... the time will begin to fly and in no time it's all over.... trust me... I've been here before. :-)
I took SO many pics when I was up North I thought I'd share some more with you... hope you don't mind. :-)
Believe it or not behind that huge white cloud in the pic there's a really nice mountain!! It's called Mt. Chokai and sometime next summer I plan on climbing it... again. I've tried to climb to the top a couple of times but have always been foiled. ;-)This is also a picture of the town where I used to live... and this pic is perfect because it highlights the rice and the mountains nicely.

I couldn't help but sneak in another great pic of Haguro. It was such a stunning day... I could have taken SO many pics! But decided to limit the number to just really cool pics... I hope I don't make anyone jealous. ;-)

Here's a novelty pic... I finally got to eat sushi when I was in Sendai. Now this is kaiten sushi, conveyor belt sushi. I just thought it would be funny to take a pic of ALL the sushi that was going round and round on the conveyor belt. :-) It amused me!!


I hope my pics have amused you all as well... Talk to you again soon.

love,
lish xx

BIG Yamagata update!

Ok... so last weekend/this week, I spent a lot of time back in Yamagata. Shonai to be exact. It was kind of weird in one way, because it kind of felt like I didn't belong. But in another way, it felt like I was finally home. i got to see some of my old students, I even got to help teach a few classes. Man, am I ever glad I'm not still doing that job. Filling in for a bit was fun, but 3 years of doing English lessons all day was quite enough. So... the following are some pics from my time up north... heck, north is always where I feel comfortable!

Me at Haguro on the red bridge... Ahhhh... I love that place!!
It also helped that the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day too!!



This is a pic taken from Haguro of the Shonai plain. Can't see it too well, but it's there... and you can tell that it was really nice and sunny that day too! Could hardly believe it. :-)
This one is a great Bond-girl pose, don't you think?? These little 4th graders were all playing with airsoft guns (surely they're a bit young!?!) so we had to pose like this. Was really funny seeing how these kids have grown up a bit. :-)

This last one is me and one of my old students, Naoya. He's currently studying to get into the pilot's program for the Japanese Self-Defense force (Jieitai). He's a really bright kid and I can't wait to see what he does next, once he graduates high school. :-)

These are just a small sampling of pics... there's LOTS more. May have to do an update part 2 or something. Hope you like this sample, I had tons of fun at "home."
Love you all!

Hockey in Japan!

So, the other day I was able to see a scrimmage between two university hockey teams here. It was a long cry from UAF-style hockey, but it was still hockey and I had a great time watching. I will definitely be watching a LOT of hockey this year. Yay!! I'm stoked. I had to rub it in with some pictures as well... ;-)
It was defininitely fun to be watching hockey again... :-)

Hope I made everyone at home a tiny bit jealous!!! ;-) Love you guys!!

Fun and Games in Japan!

So there's always something amusing about Japan. You've got this country with ancient culture, but HUGE highrises... you've got station wagons that are completely G-ed out because they are in fact the coolest mode of transportation and there's even coffee that is apparently trying to make people "deep-ressed." Go figure!?!
With the combinations of interesting and absurd, this country is a MUST visit. If for the sole fact that you want to see if the coffee will indeed leave you "deep-ressed" or not! ;-)
Hope these pics make you smile... :-)

First Japan update!

So, I made it back to Japan in one piece. No major issues... except for a HUGE epiphany about the Chinese language. It's UGLY and I don't really like listening to it. No more flights via Taipei for me!! ;-)

I've only had a few days and I've decided I like where I'm going to be living this year. Pretty lucky, eh?? ;-) It's a little ways from where I'll be going to university, but that's better because I'll be in the middle of Tokyo for school. It's nice and quiet out here in Kokubunji.

I have taken a few goofy pictures since I got back... so I'll attach the best of them. Don't worry... there will be plenty more pics being taken in the near future. And then I will post them right on here!

Anyone remember the Oz swimming star Ian Thorpe. Well in Japan he's famous enough that he gets his own sports drink!! In case it's blurred... it's called THORPEDO!! ;-)

Alisha's a REAL girl!!

I went to a wedding a week ago... and I even dressed up! :-) As you do when you go to a wedding. Much to the amazement of my guy friends... I am a girl... who wears dresses and heels and everything. :-) Here's some proof!
Dress is old... shoes are new... and there's a whole, new feminine Alisha... who knew!?!

Adventures in Alaska!!

So... these are pictures from camping with my Dad. We went down to Healy (near Denali Park) to work on the cabin that my parents bought (it was only half finished) last year. We've got the view... my camping face... and my Dad doing all the hammering. Too bad I'm too small and all I could do it measure the boards. Bummer!! More pics to come soon!! ;-)

Pictoral update!!

So, I know that I have been remiss in posting pictures of things and activities in my life. SO... here's the grand update with everything from pictures of Hawaii to me and Yo (my boyfriend!). I'll add commentary when needed. ;-)


This first picture is of the view (toward the mountains) from my apartment in Waikiki. It was quite the experience... but I would have to say I'll not be living in Waikiki whenever I do return to Hawaii. ;-)








This is my fantastic roommate Nicole! We were actually heading out for a great night out in Waikiki when we got one of our other roommates to take this pic. We had a blast that night and I miss her so much!!






This next pic is of Nicole, Mimmi and me on Easter. They wanted to come to church with me, so we all made a jolly group as we headed to church. After the service we had a fab brunch at the church. They were so impressed with church and the food afterwards. It was a great Sunday and I'm so glad we all went together.













Here's a picture of a beach that Yo and I went to. It was pretty, but windy that day.










And this next picture is also that day. Yo and I took a bajillion pictures... but for some reason I kept closing my eyes! (I took off my sunnies, you see!) So, we finally got a good picture in. ;-) Anyway, these are my updated photos. I just returned from an interesting weekend of "camping" so I'll be posting some of those pics soon!

*SIGH*

I've been house-sitting for the last couple of weeks. Living away from the ol' family. Driving their nice Toyota Highlander. It was GREAT! But now they get back tonight. Which means I'm heading home to be with the fam again and give up the nice freedom of NOT being at home. And so... I sigh. ;-)

However, I really need to start a countdown to Japan. It's getting close... I have 56 days to go!! Yay!! Am really, really, really stoked!! So, if there's anyone who has ever had an itch to explore Japan... now's your chance to come visit. ;-) I'll be there from September '06 to end of July '07. Exciting!!!!!

Hope all's well with everyone!

Have you ever seen....

a rainbow growing? It was SO cool. I left work the other night around 11pm and there was this bright sliver of rainbow off in the distance. As I drove along... the rainbow started to grow. It got to be about half a rainbow. And then I noticed I could see it growing as I drove along. I'd NEVER seen that before! As I got to the house where I was house-sitting the rainbow was full... AND HUGE!! It was so amazing! I've live in Hawaii... and seen a ton of rainbows. But the one the other night was by far the coolest!!

Just wanted to share! Hope things are well!!