Today was the opening ceremony at my school. It consisted mostly of a lot of bowing followed by even more bowing. :P I kid, but seriously, the hour-long ceremony was probably 45-min worth of bowing and 15-min of actual talking. The new teachers were introduced (which included me) as well as the students who are first years this year (we call them 7th graders back home, lol). I was feeling really sick and gross this morning, but as the day went on, I started feeling better. My school's kyoto-sensei (Vice Principal) even drove me and the other English teacher like me to 7-11 so we could pick up lunch, since there was no school lunch today.
I got to wander around the school with the other teacher, Ken, and we started to figure out where things are. It's actually a really nice school despite a slight lack of Western-style toilets. :) My first day actually teaching isn't until Wednesday, so I still have some time to get adjusted.
I took some pictures but wasn't able to put them on here, but anyway, today I saw Mt. Fuji from my apartment!!! It was so beautiful. I can't believe I'm living someplace where I can actually see Mt. Fuji over the beautiful Lake Suwa. This place is so perfect. :) It helps the homesickness to be less... haha. Anyway, bye for now!
Oh no!!! Is there at least one western style toilet somewhere in the building? Hopefully the stall door goes all the way to the bottom. It would be kind of embarassing if people could see under. X-D
ReplyDeleteI will be praying you will feel better. Being sick and trying to work is super hard. Thankfully, you will have a few days to recover.
Was it a real 7-11? Also, I can't remember if they have Starbucks over there. I would think they would because the seem to be everywhere! Lol!
I am so elated to hear that you finally got to see Mt. Fuji! What a special treat to be able to see it directly from your window. Kirei keshiki desune! I can't wait to visit you. I have been practicing my Nihongo in preparation. :-)
Love you so much, Mika-chan! Keep up the fabulous work and blogs. I enjoy hearing about you adventures. :-)
There is one really nice western style toilet in the wing furthest from the teacher's room, lol, but there are also a couple scattered throughout the school. It took me a while to find them is all. :P Japanese bathroom stalls are completely private- no gaps anywhere. It's really great. XD 7-11s are everywhere here. There's at least 2 in my town (and it's a small town). There are Starbucks in Japan but the closest one to me is the next town over, about 20-25 min biking. I really want to go when I'm well! I can't wait for you to come visit!! Both of our Japanese will be a lot better by then. Haha. I got to see Mt. Fuji again today!! I actually rode 2 min on my bike to the lake so I could take a pic of Mt. Fuji from the shore. It was really beautiful. Hopefully I can post pictures soon. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, it means a lot to me, especially right now when I don't have consistent access to internet. :) TTYL!!
DeleteYou should exactly like me! Lol! I would stake out all of the good toilets too. X-D, especially the ones that are kind of hidden that no one really knows about. Hehehe!
DeleteDo the 7-11 actually have slurpees and other American convenience food? That would be so crazy to see! You must take me there.
Did you hear that Renate is having twin boys? My world is going to get just a little bit crazier this fall but it should be lots of fun having them around. She showed me the ultra sound picture and speaking of toilets. The picture looked like the picture was taken from the bottom of a toilet up on their bottoms. X-D
Not too much has changed around here in Portland. Though spring is really starting to emerge and the birds are loving it! I wake up to their singing every morning. Erica and I will be heading out to Fort Stevens and Fort Clatsop today. I am really excited! I have never gone to the first and it has been a while since I went to the second. It should be a fun day! :-)
The first line should be "You are exactly like me!". Sorry!
Delete7-11s here are quite different from America. They're much nicer and actually sell healthy food. :P Though of course they sell candy and junk food, too. They don't sell slurpees but their tea and coffee is quite good. And they sell ice cream and pastries, too! :P I will definitely be taking you to at least one when you come. ^_^ My mom just told me about Renate!!! That is so exciting!! I'm so happy for her. That is so funny!! I bet you're all going to be really busy getting ready for them over the next six months. Aw, I love spring. It's still winter here really, we even had snow yesterday, but the cherry blossoms are supposed to begin later this week, so I'm super excited for that. Speaking of birds, there are eagles here! They make really cool calling sounds and swoop over my apartment building. :P How was your trip to the forts?? I've been to Fort Stevens but not the other one. I'm jealous! :)
DeleteI think the Japanese 7-11s could teach America a thing or two! I can't believe you had snow! That is such a rare treat for the month of April. Is it because you are in the mountains? I imagine you will get to see all sort of fun wildlife up there. I hope I will get to see and hear one of those eagles. That would be amazing! This weekend's trip was very fun! On our way out there, I saw a large herd of elk simply browsing in someone's non-fenced backyard. It was ridiculous! Can you imagine waking up to that? I thought I was in Alaska for a second. Lol! I loved exploring old abandon buildings of Fort Stevens and Battery Russell. I am glad Erica was there. I definitely would not have been brave enough by myself. Some of those corners where quite dark and since they are ruins, no one installed electricity and no light switches...:-( I had to chuckle at the signs that said, "These are ruins with steep drop offs, watch children and enter at your own risk." They weren't joking! Some of those holes were big! Fort Clatsop is pretty cool! It is a replica of the fort that Lewis and Clark built and stayed in while they wintered in the PNW. Lewis and Clark had to stay in a big room together since they were the captains of the expedition. I started wondering if they ever were annoyed with each other. I imagined they might have since they had to spend so much time together. Since I went there this weekend, I am interested in research what their expedition was really like! Would that be kind of cool to find out? The whole day was quite rainy but what do you expect from Oregon, right? Today was gorgeous though! I thought it was Summer. I should have wore shorts to work! It was 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!
DeleteHow are you doing? Have you made it down to the lake yet?
The elevation here is about 2500 feet, so there's definitely more snow than in Portland, although it's warm enough now that it won't stick. Wow, that sounds like an epic trip! I wish I could have gone too. Lol. I remember Fort Stevens being a bit creepy, although I went with a group of my family so it wasn't too bad. I'm so bad with American history I never really learned that much about Lewis and Clark, lol, but it probably is really interesting if I'd taken the time. :P Lol, I bet they did get annoyed with each other. Oh wow, that sounds like a beautiful day! It's very nice here today (it's about noon) but still chilly. It should start warming up in this part of Japan pretty soon. I'm almost over my cold. Still coughing a bit, but I'm feeling a lot better. I haven't actually started classes yet and I'm kinda overwhelmed with everything, but I'm slowly figuring things out. I've been down to the lake twice just to take pictures. :) It's super beautiful but freezing cold. :P
DeleteI am so glad to hear that you are almost free of your cold! :-D I assume you have been up to quite a bit since you haven't posted too much lately. I have been too! I toured the Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, and the Oregon Gardens. They were all quite lovely in their own respects. Have you ever been down to the Oregon Gardens before in Silverton? They have the cutest little children's garden with a hobbit house, miniature plants and these people made from pots. It was really neat! I hope you are doing well and hope to hear from you soon!
DeleteIt was a pretty busy week although I only taught twice. :P Just made a new blog post! Oh wow, you went to all three of them?? Haha, were you in a garden mood? I haven't been to the Oregon Gardens but I want to go! That sounds super cute. XD I'm doing well despite my cold going away SUPER slowly. :P
DeleteDude!!!!! An actual real life opening ceremony!!! It's like manga!!! And loling about the bowing!!! Does Ken live in the same apartment complex as you? That's nice that you aren't the only new teacher at your school. And that you have time to plan your attack before Wednesday. ^^
ReplyDeleteTotally like a manga. Lol. Ken lives in Okaya, which is a neighboring city about 5 min walk from my apartment. Lol. Yeah, it looks like the only classes this week are Wednesday, and even those are probably mostly introductions and so on. It's good since I'm not over my cold yet. -_- And no I haven't tried a Japanese one yet, I'm still too scared, lol.
DeleteAlso, concerning the lack of western toilets, have you tried the Japanese one yet??? So legit!
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