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The videos are at the bottom. It may take a while for them to all load properly.

Another holiday! A much needed holiday too. It is Autumnal Equinox and today’s goal was to sleep. Except way back when I agreed to play this volleyball game with the teachers and the PTA at 9 a.m. on my day off! What was I thinking? Anyway, I went to the game and had a good time. My team lost in the first round so we got the job of cheering everyone else on. I actually fell asleep on the stage during one of the games—well, it was more like a cat nap, but everyone noticed and now they are all worried about my health.

Afterwards I went out to lunch with Satomi Norimura, Rie Masumura, and Koichiro Yamaguchi. They are all teachers at the school. I was so happy to be invited and we had such a good time! We went to Kamigoto for ramen (now one of my favorite restaurants) and then even celebrated our day off with some karaoke. I didn’t realize that you can do karaoke during the day and without drinking a lot. I figured you had to be pretty drunk to enjoy embarrassing yourself that much.

But I learned a lot today. The point is not how well you sing, but participating. So I did, and I’m learning how to choose good songs. Some songs just don’t work well for karaoke, but I didn’t know that until I chose one and had to suffer through it. My favorite song was actually the Titanic theme song. I never would have chosen it, but Rie did and surprising it was really fun! It's easy to do on karaoke.

So, I came back home and slept a little more (surprise, surprise) and now I’m getting to bed early so I’m not tired for school tomorrow!

Oh! I want to post some pictures and this video (hopefully) from my school’s Sport’s Day practice yesterday. My first time for the video so I hope it works!

Love and Karaoke,
Sierra

Some pictures in case the video doesn't work. First they march around in the dust with these flags. Each class (1, 2 and 3) are split into two groups (A and B) and there is a leader and a sub-leader in each group holding the flag and sign.

Then they do this syncronized dance. Yes! The whole school learns this dance so they can perform it as a group. The few students with their backs turned are the leaders and subleaders--they are directing their peers! Cool, huh?

And here are the videos!! (May take a while to download on slow connections. It took me about 30 seconds to load each one on my DSL line.)

Here are the students marching away! Can you imagine an American high school doing this?

Here is a video of the dance that they do. I actually think this is a common exercise that some business offices in Japan do together everyday to get the employees' blood flowing. The song sounds familiar because I think it was performed at my orientation in Portland. I guess some schools where ALTs are working might do this everyday in the staff room!


The last video of the dance. It's a little bit longer than the others, but it's so funny. Sorry about the wind in the speakers.

If you’ve invited someone over, plan to be home when they arrive so they don’t have to ask your neighbors and your supervisor where you are, then hunt you down at taiko pratice. (Read on to hear this one!)

There’s something wrong with me (no snickering); over the weekend we determined that I’m probably anaemic. At first that idea really bothered me because I would like to think that I'm a healthy person and responsible about my diet. But I guess that even if I’m trying to eat the same as I do at home, breads, cereals, cheeses, meat, fruit and vegetables, I’m not getting the same nutrients out of those foods. The bread here is only white, the only cereal is frosted flakes or choco-flakes, the cheese is processed, I’ve replaced almost all meat with tofu because of the price, I’m purchasing only the very cheap fruit (bananas and kiwi mostly) rather than getting the wide range I get at home and vegetables are just different and therefore I eat fewer. To make things worse, I can’t read labels to see what’s in the food I do buy. I’m not eating a typical Japanese diet, but I’m not eating my normal diet either. Anyway, hopefully with some iron and multi-vitamin supplements I can get back in check soon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was so exhausted that I actually fell asleep at my desk for a while. I was really embarrassed, of course, so I didn’t sleep that long or hard, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. When Takeda-sensei asks me if I’m genki (lively, healthy, well) I’m supposed to say “Genki, genki!” but now I just say, “No.” Everyone looks at me, tilts their heads and says, “You must be tired.” Tell me about it.

Kyoto-sensei asked me to go running with him and some students for an hour after school today. I agreed because exercise is suppose to give you more energy and I wanted to anyway. At 4:30 we did start running and they timed us down to the second. We ran for an hour straight! I tried to keep up with the high school boys track team, but after about two laps I slowed down to my own pace. Almost halfway through the run I saw a boy playing shooting a soccer ball on one side of the track. Because I’ve openly confessed to being a soccer nut, I yelled, “Pass!” and so every time I circled the track we passed the ball to each other a couple of times. It attracted some attention and soon there were kids hanging out of the school windows watching me pass back and forth. Talk about pressure to pass accurately! But it was really fun and eventually we even started passing and shooting too! I considered stopping the run entirely to play, but I had promised to run for the full hour.

And after running I had to race back to the staff room and gather up my things for taiko practice at 6 p.m. I decided to go straight there because I didn’t have much time. At about 6:15 Yamanaka-san showed up at practice and asked me where I was. I was so confused… I’m here, at taiko practice. Oh, crap! I invited her and her husband over for dinner tonight!! Ahhhh!

Rule #1 for being a good hostess. If you’ve invited someone over, plan to be home when they arrive so they don’t have to ask your neighbors and your supervisor where you are, then hunt you down.

I felt so absolutely horribly awful and bad! I kept saying to myself, “Who does this?” “What’s wrong with me?” “Why did I do this?” Luckily, Yamanaka-san is the most wonderful, forgiving, and accepting person ever, so we just went back to my apartment and started making dinner together. Her husband had even gotten off work early to head down to Narao for the event and was just waiting around for a call to find out WHERE I WAS! Once we got home I decided, it was a mistake and the best thing would be to put it behind me and try to have a nice evening, and we did! The Yamanakas are really fun! Masami works in the career center at the high school (she speaks excellent English--that’s how we know each other) and her husband, Kazuya is an engineer at the oil plant in Aokata. They brought and made half the dinner, French bread and salad rolls and I made spaghetti (my specialty) and edamame and grapes for dessert. I wanted to learn how to made some Japanese food and get to know them better so it was a perfect plan—all except that I forgot about it.

My goal was to get to know at least one Japanese person or family every week by having them over for dinner or going out together, but now I have this horrible reputation so no one is going to want to come! Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but really, you can’t get away with this at home either! We ended the evening with some German cake (Masami brought from the north) and Erin Brockovich, the movie. It was taped off a Japanese channel so it was in English with Japanese subtitles! They stayed late, but tomorrow is a day off so I can sleep in as much as I want!

Love,
Sierra

Back to Fukuoka. On Sunday we woke up and at 11 a.m. went to use the showers, but it was so much more that! There was a sauna and onsen (jacuzzi) and everything you need is provided for you: shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, razors, even blow dryers and hairbrushes!! The showers are these relaxing, sit-down events, with mirrors and scrubies and fresh body wash. We all took our time getting ready for our day—I felt so pampered by the end of it! Capsule hotels are the way to travel, if for nothing other than the onsen and wonderful showers. It’s only $40 a night, and in a big city that’s pretty good.

I’m sorry to admit that breakfast, or by this time lunch, had to be fast food. We saw a McDonald’s and we just couldn’t pass it up. We don’t have any fast food restaurant on our entire island, much less a McDonald’s. There’s just something so familiar about it… Anyway, I had chicken nuggets and French fries. I was a bit disappointed there was no root beer, but Fanta is the next best soda anyway.

Catherine, Leah and Kerry enjoying McDonald's!!

Quickly we all went to Uni Qlo, this business-clothing store that is famous for its cheap imitation clothes. Things were not only cheap, but came in Western sizes: XL! I didn’t actually buy anything, but it’s good to know that I can get some good deals if I need to. We also found some great “Engrish” t-shirts with some embarrassingly bad English on them. Of course, I think everyone came away with at least one to take home as a memory.

Kerry and I didn’t feel up to shopping so we decided to go to the tourism booth, pick up some maps and explore the city. We hopped on a bus and rode down to the waterfront (Momochi, I think it’s called) to see Fukuoka Tower and Fukuoka Dome. I was feeling especially brave with Kerry, who has done lots of spontaneous traveling by herself through the UK and Ireland. I'm not sure I would have gotten on a bus without her—you never know where it’s going to take you, how much it’s going to cost, how you’re going to get yourself back, all while working with a foreign language I can only say a few phrases in! But it was really easy and not scary at all!

A hotel near the dome that is huge and beautiful. I was going to stay here with DT next weekend. =( More to come on that!

Walking to Fukuoka Tower--that's the dome behind me.

The dome was a dome, basically. There were no games going on so it was closed and we couldn’t see inside. But Fukuoka Tower was really great. We paid to ride to the top and see Fukuoka’s skyline. We could see a lot from up there, but, like on every observation point I’ve been on in Japan, there seemed to be a gray haze impairing a long distance view. Obviously pollution is the cause in Tokyo, but even gazing out from Narao’s observation point, I am disappointed in the limited visibility. Could it just be my bad luck of going on cloudy days? We picked up some omiyage (gifts to bring to work and friends after going on a trip or meeting someone for the first time) in the gift shop—snacks as always, and headed to the beach.

Views from Fukuoka Tower

Kerry and me at the top of the tower! Shashin o onegaishimasu?

A little girl hanging her fortune.

Kerry hanging her fortune.

This is Marizon, or Wedding Island. There was a wedding going on as we watched from above.

Momochi Beach is an eclectic affair. When we first walked in I immediately thought Rastafarian from the music and shops, but walk a little further and it’s this elegant, wedding-ready set-up—and today a wedding was to be held! We couldn’t see much, but I enjoyed the bustling atmosphere that is eminent when there’s a wedding to take place! We sat on the boardwalk, watched the ocean, the beaches and boats go by. The weather was perfect and the only thing I wished for was my bathing suit.

Here is Momochi Beach.

Kerry and me enjoying the sunshine!

And Marizon, or Wedding Island.

There's a perfect view of the tower from marizon.

We planned to meet Catherine, Laura and Leah at Starbucks in Tenjin Station at 4 p.m. so we headed back to the bus stop, thinking we had plenty of time to get there. Afternoon rush-hour meant gridlock in the city and each block we traveled took forever. It was tempting to get off the bus and walk—we were sure we could walk faster than drive—but we weren’t sure of the route, how many blocks, how many turns? It seemed safer to stay put and wait it out. Eventually, the annoying bus driver with his extremely aggravating growl-of-a-voice (…seshimaaaaas) drove us off the bus before our stop.

After just one wrong turn, we made it to Starbucks, (only an hour late) to hear that our companions had gone ahead to Canal City. There were three other Oita JETs in Starbucks that passed on their whereabouts and one even let us use his cell to call them! Thank you! After a mocha and scone we also hailed a taxi in search of Canal City.

Canal City is a mall, but it is the most exciting mall I’ve ever been to. It has canals of water flowing through its center, huge plants growing off the balconies, and all the shops you can dream of: Gap, Comme Ça, Abercrombie & Fitch, J Crew, a Wendy’s (!!) and probably many more although I didn’t spend much time looking around because we decided to take this opportunity to go to the cinema! Catherine, Leah, and I coughed up $18 to see The Village (I recommend it highly for those who love unexpected outcome movies like the Sixth Sense.) and it was money well spent! A theater is the other thing we do not have on our island and so like the fast food, was something we just had to do.

Canal City at night.

We all went back to the capsules to get changed for dinner. We met the Oita JETs Max, Sarah and Gareth outside our hotel for Indian! Oh, it’s so good to eat something besides Japanese and Western imitation! I ordered way too much food, of course, and stuffed myself silly trying to get my money’s worth. But I just couldn’t let that nan sit on my plate unfinished! We went to a rooftop bar for drinks and good, long conversation . At midnight we sang Laura Happy Birthday, but called it an early night as most of us were very tired.

Enjoying Indian. From left to right: Max, Sarah, Garet, Sierra, Kerry, Leah, Catherine.

Monday we woke up early to take the train back with Leah, who left her car at a station and was planning on driving back home via Sasebo. There is a cheaper ferry (about $15) that leaves Sasebo in the afternoon that just makes more sense than taking the midnight ferry from Fukuoka. It would have meant arriving in Aokata at 6 a.m. and going straight to work on Tuesday without any real sleep after our long weekend. Although I’m happy to mention that’s the ferry DT will be taking this Friday!! Can I get a whoop whoop? It was a very beautiful drive and I was glad to see even part of Sasebo. We had our last Western meal: spaghetti and bread before the two hour ferry home.

A great sign in "Engrish" on the train. At least they have an anti-smoking campaign!

The ferry from Sasebo to Arikawa! Sleeping on the floor.

Laura and Catherine eating StarChips on the ferry home!

Back in Kamigoto we decided to do our last bit of birthday celebrating by eating cake (of course!) and going out to dinner with Yuka and Peter. I gave Laura her gift—a collection of household items that we inevitably use because her apartment is the hang-out spot. Toliet paper, tissues, and soap!

My gift!

The bag I packed it in--almost as good as the gift!

I thought this was creative! Kerry, Catherine and I prepared her “cake” complete with candles, Crunky chocolate, and waffle ice cream!

It's Laura's birthday!

For dinner we went to Country House (same place we went our first weekend in Kamigoto with Blaine) and had a wonderful time. But the weekend had to come to an end, didn’t it? Catherine and I were actually happy to head back to Narao and settle in for our 3 day work week. (We have Thursday off too, another holiday.)

Love and Starbucks,
Sierra

Catherine's Plaster. (I'll keep it a secret. She's suffered enough humiliation this week.)