Last week in Tochigi

Last week we had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off for national holidays. So, Shimon and I went to Tochigi Prefecture to help his father fire some pottery. Sadly, Shimon has all the pictures of the kiln (I'm so forgetful sometimes!). But I did take a few other fun pictures.


This was our little friendly frog... he stayed on that leaf for an entire day. He only moved around in a circle.


Chestnuts! It's fall!!


I thought this was a nice picture... a ginkgo leaf.


Fisherman on the river... they were there all day!


Empty rice fields. This really is the ultimate sign that fall is here.


Right before we headed back to Tokyo I got ahold of this little guy. How cute is he!?!

Graduation Party

These are some of the photos from after graduation, in particular the graduation party with my fellow zemi (seminar) members. :-) We had a lovely night. The reason Shimon isn't in any of the pictures is because he's taking them all. :-)


My personal photographer is fantastic isn't he??


The party from above. It really was a nice restaurant.


I love this picture of Sunaho and Lia. :-) Such lovely girls!


Flowers from the zemi group! What girl doesn't like to get flowers. ;-)


The three graduates... Will, Wakako and me.

After four long years, two different programs and a lot of work... I am a MASTER!! Thank you for everyone who's been cheering me on over the years. :-) I've appreciated all the of support.

Graduation

Graduation was yesterday. I had the best photographer for the occasion. I have many more pictures than the ones here... these are just a taste.


Me with the sign announcing the graduation ceremony.


Actually being given my degree. I didn't do all the bowing right, so Shimon didn't have a chance to get very many pictures of me on stage! :-)


Me on the steps outside of the hall where the ceremony was held.


The Fall 2009 graduating class from the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies!


Shimon and I with my degree. :-)


These are my friends (and two are fellow graduates) from my seminar group. Will and Wakako are the other graduates. Mike (in the khaki blazer) will be graduating in March.

Hope everyone can take a peek at the photos. I'll try to post some more very soon!

New Shoes

So, graduation is tomorrow. I have decided on a black and white dress (mostly black) to wear, which means I needed to find some nice shoes to go along with it.

There is the cutest shoe shop on the South Side of Shinjuku Station. So I headed there in search of some black shoes.


From above...


From the side...

They are sparkley, but not overly so. I really liked them. The other ones I tried on (that were far too big!) were patent leather and a bit sparkley too. But these fit and are cute and feminine.

Here's to starting a new chapter... the chapter when I can afford to splurge on some girlier items of clothing! :-)

(P.S. This post is for my friends Melissa and Lia as they like to give me fashion advice... I hope the shoes get your approval!)

Thursday.

Hooray for Thursday! I am so glad that the week's nearly at its end. :-)

This week is not a particularly busy week, but I feel drained just the same. I guess it's the new schedule of waking up at 6am three days a week that is probably doing it. I'm getting more used to the schedule, but I really want to start running again and that has to be after getting to the chiropractor.

I thought that finishing my thesis would leave me with more time of my own, but alas that has not been the case so far. Luckily, by the weekend I should be able to sort out the chiropractor and start running on Saturday. It'll be a relief to start running again. I'm very glad to finally have the time to begin doing that again. :-) Now, if I can only find the will power to go with the time. :-)

Again, I say thank goodness for Thursday... the weekend is right 'round the corner.

The delayed camping photos!!

So, a few weeks back (nearly a month really), I went camping. We used Shimon's new tent!! And had a great time. There were a few things missing... s'mores and marshmallows! :( It will be remedied in the future. I also learned that ramen is a GREAT camping food. Totally easy if you aren't able to grill hotdogs on a stick. :-)
Our camping adventure included some canoeing too, but as I didn't want to damage my camera there aren't any pictures of us canoeing. However, there are pictures of us (mostly Shimon) hiking around near a waterfall. And after that sub-par explanation... here are the pictures!


I'm just the amateur... he's the professional photographer!! :-)

This is only something you'd see in Japan... an entrance to a shrine right on the edge of the lake! How cool. ;-)

Climbing near the waterfall area... he nearly blends in... but for the yellow shirt!


And what a campfire... it took two to make it, but it was a goodun'!
One half of the fire-making duo!! :-)

Hope you like the pics now that they're finally up!!

Remembrance

9/11.

I think it is safe to say that 9/11 is our generation's Pearl Harbor or Kennedy Assassination. No one can forget where they were when they turned on the TV and witnessed the events of September 11, 2001.

I think the difference between Pearl Harbor or Kennedy's Assassination is that 9/11 was an event that touched people outside the borders of the United States in different ways. Because of the age of the internet and worldwide news broadcasts, people from all over the globe were able to see, and be touched by, the events of that fateful day.

Remembering 9/11 for the tragedy and also for the amazing outpouring of love amidst a great tragedy still remains as one of the many legacies of the event. Though 8 years have past, I think it would be good for people across the globe to remember. Remember the people whose lives were lost. Remember the people who were the heroes that prevented more lives from being lost. And remember that there is a common bond between all human beings despite all matter of differences.

With these thoughts, I remember.

Camping photos can wait!

Ok, so my brother is getting married. I am meant to be in the wedding as a brides maid. I have pictures of my options for dresses... Erm... yeah, I'll post the four options and ask for feedback. Keeping in mind that I can fit into all of the dresses (am about a 4 or 6), so that is really not the issue. The issue is: which is the lesser of all evils!?!?


Dress 1


Dress 2

Dress 3



Dress 4

The dresses will be in cobalt (the color in the pictures). I like the color! It's really nice. Please help me choose a dress!! :-) Vote and give a reason if you feel so inclined. ;-)

5 bags of trash

That's how many bags of trash I threw away this morning. I had to make two trips to get it to the pick up place! And the sad thing?? That's not even close to getting rid of all the stuff that needs to get thrown out. BUT, I have a 50 pack of garbage bags and some time next week... I WILL be cleaning!

I would like to have an organized apartment before I start my new job next Friday. It may be an ambitious goal, but I think with a bit of help and organizing I can make a lot of progress. :-)

Wish me luck!

re-juvenated?

So... I decided that if I really wanted to rejuvenate my blog, I actually had to find a template that fit the title. I think the one that I chose fits quite well... what d'ya think?

Tuesday...

It's Tuesday. I lied. I have not gotten camping pictures up yet. One reason?? I didn't take as many as I would have liked Second reason?? I am lazy... or just easily distracted. There's a lot to do before I start a new job in a week. :-)

Today I turned up at my short, intensive course lesson this morning. To figure out the school (without notifying me) had changed the start time of the lesson. That's something I would have liked to know, if for no other reason than I could leave my house later! :-)

Luckily, the lessons went well and it all worked out.

I'm now trying to talk myself into doing some hard core cleaning this evening. There's a lot to do... and in preparation I bought a whole bunch of cleaning products! So this means I need to follow through, right? :-)

Ouch!

SO much for the keeping up the blog rhetoric... it's now Saturday... a week after I posted last. I've discovered the problem with me keeping up with my blog. When I get busy, I tend to neglect blogging. It's not that interesting things aren't happening. Nope. It's the fact that I'm too tired to do much else but watch the Daily Show when I get home at night! :-)

Well... a week in summary.

Last weekend, Shimon and I went on a great camping trip! It was just overnight, but it was exactly what I needed to recharge and relax. We did a bit of canoeing, had a campfire and enjoyed being out in nature and not in the city. It was great!

This week I've been teaching an intensive course at a girls junior high school. It's good money, but honestly I don't think the girls are getting much from it. They simply don't have the English level to do civics lessons in English (that's the course, Civics in English!). And for just one week, it's insufficient to say the least.

Today is the last day of the course. I've decided to not make a real lesson, instead I had them look up information about the Olympics (sports in particular) and we're going to play a round of Jeopardy instead. I think it will be a big success and then we can end on an up note! :-)

There will be some camping pics up soon... :-)

When you need to get out of the city...

It's time to go camping! That's right, I am going camping this weekend. And in the process of getting ready, I have realized how privileged I was to grow up in Alaska. Camping in Alaska is like second nature. I never had to think about what I needed to go camping because we always had everything or could go into town to buy any odds and ends that were needed.

In Japan, camping is so different! A) It's very expensive and B) it's trendy! Huh!?! I just don't get it really. Also, because only some people camp (unlike EVERYONE at home) it's not like you can call someone up and borrow camping stuff - nope - you've gotta buy it yourself!

However, the great thing about buying all new gear - BUYING ALL NEW GEAR!!! Haha. I had forgotten how fun it is to tinker around with lamps and camp chairs... all the stuff that makes camping so much fun!

This weekend's expedition will be the no frills adventure, but it will be fun all the same. It's been a really long time since I went camping. Even longer since I've been canoeing (I get to do both!!), so I'm really looking forward to it.

Viva la camping!! :-)

Spilled Milk

As a kid, I remember adults always saying, "it's no use crying over spilled milk." At that time in my life, it was usually because the milk was already running off the edges of the table and it was time to grab a towel and not a time to cry.

How about crying over a bad recipe? Or a bad pasta dish? I know it sounds idiotic, but last night I made a recipe that I'd never tried before and... it was tasteless and horrible! And I just cried. I used to be GOOD at cooking. And forget about cheesecake, that is where I am queen! ;-) (Or something like that...) Is it really possible to lose your touch? Really the only excuse I can give is that I followed the recipe.

I think I need to re-learn how to cook. I feel like I'm in a horrible position. I can't cook like this is the States ('cuz it isn't) and I can't cook a lots of Japanese foods because I need a taste-tester for that. Argh! Where to begin. Oh, by the way I have no oven. (They're expensive here.) Range (two burners), a fish grill (very handy) and a microwave!

Sigh, I'm not crying over spilled milk, but I am lamenting the hurdles to re-educating myself. I'm going to start grocery shopping regularly this week... If anyone has easy recipes that I should try (confidence-boosting recipes!)... throw them my way. :-)

Edith Wharton

So, about a week ago, I was lucky to find a book store that sells used English books. I picked up Corelli's Mandolin (I will never see the movie based on the book - would NEVER do the book justice!), a collection of Edith Wharton short stories, and Exodus (as recommended by a friend).

I have finished Corelli's Mandolin - WOW! It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. Each page was dense and I couldn't fly through it like other books, but that's something else I loved about it. I could relish it properly as I was reading it. Anyone who wants an excellent read, I highly recommend it.

I am now working my way through the Edith Wharton stories. A friend of mine was told she ought to read some Wharton, and when that friend had, she recommended that I read her as well. I haven't read anything more that the short stories, but they have been very good and I am looking forward to reading more Wharton in the future. :-)

I will also be frequenting the used English book shops more often - I got three books for less than the price of one on Amazon! :-)

I think I'm failing...

At this blog thing. But I have a decent excuse... my life, contrary to what people might think, is not all that exciting.

Today, I went to my internship. Then went to work. Then came home and ate dinner. Dinner was nice because the lady I had worked with made me a nice type of sushi (doesn't actually have fish in it, thus I could transport it home). I watched the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Talked to my guy. I've taken a shower and will be heading to bed soon.

And that folks, is a wrap! When I start my new job in September, teaching at a private girls' school... I think I may have a few more stories. In fact, if I don't I will be worried. Students in a school are always full of interesting ideosyncracies. Woot!

Tomorrow, I may have a story. I am going to the Immigration Bureau to begin the process of renewing my visa. I have a sponsor (YAY!!) and all the paperwork (minus two photobooth visa-sized pics that I intend to pick up on my way there) and want to get the process started. The Immigration Bureau is NOT a fun place to visit. It makes foreigners feel like it's literally a holding tank to separate them from mainstream Japanese society. ALL foreigners hate going there. That hatred is compounded by the fact that it's really out of the way. Also, if you go in the afternoon it means you WILL be waiting for quite awhile. So, I will aim to arrive around 9:00am, right when it opens.

Maybe there will be a good story tomorrow. More likely there will be a story of me being extremely cranky for the wasted time. :-D Either way, there will be a story to post!

Cleaning...

Until I turned in my thesis, I excused myself from large amounts of cleaning. Basically, my apartment was overtaken by papers and books and things that had to do with my thesis. Well, the thesis is in. The exam is over. I am just biding my time for graduation.

I have to admit, I still haven't cleaned my apartment! Ack! It is a big mess and will only get bigger if I don't start MAKING myself tackle it. Really it's all about trashing stuff I don't need and vacuuming. The rest is pretty ok, it's not like I have a whole lot of space. It shouldn't take too long to clean a REALLY small apartment. But with me, I guess it does. Blah! Oh, well.

Here's to motivation!! And to watching my cat run away when I bring out the vacuum. :-)

CHARGE!!!!!

In a rut!

I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm done with my thesis, so I have all sorts of free time, but I'm as a loss as to how to spend it. I guess that's what happens when a masters degree takes 4 years instead of 2. You forget how to spend free time because it's non-existent!

What should I do in my free time? I need some suggestions!

I would love to beginning running again. I'd also like a running buddy because I have the hardest time staying motivated if I am running alone. I get up good for about a week and then I slack off.

I'd love to do some volunteering. However, I have no idea how to go about finding a volunteer organization that would want me to help. I'm sure there are ones out there, but I don't know how to go about finding the best one. Japan does not have the same culture of volunteerism that we have in the US.

Here's to getting out of a rut!!!

FIRED UP!

I had lunch with a good friend yesterday. We talked a lot about searching for jobs. She gave me so much good advice for searching for jobs in Japan and how to go about everything. I am so grateful for all of her advice!!

So now I'm fired up to get out there and find a job that I really want to do! Watch out Tokyo - here I come!!! :-)

Tired.

I thought that once you are done with a thesis there is a certain amount of time that you get to vedge away and relax. If that's true, why am I tired?? Haha. Seriously though, I am tired and I feel like I haven't DONE anything lately. Yeah, I go in to my internship and I go to work. But I did those things when I was doing my thesis.

I guess I'm just waiting for things to be different now that I'm truly done with school. Guess not. Life still keeps going... and sometimes it's not that exciting! :-(