Dartboard

Has it already been a week since I’ve written? Well, things are only beginning to slow down since Daniel left. I mentioned Catherine’s bug bite, but it was more serious then we all expected. She ended up spending six nights in the hospital!! It got infected and she had to be put on an antibiotic drip twice a day. I went and visited her on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but I had to leave for a business trip in Hirado (an island, but connected to the mainland by bridge) on Thursday afternoon. I was in Hirado and Sasebo all weekend and by Sunday when I got home Catherine was just getting out of the hospital. She says she was pretty bored all week there, but I’m telling you, when I need someone to explain medical terms I’m asking Catherine first. She’s knows the ins and outs of Narao’s hospital.

Bored in the hospital, Catherine toughs it out!!

Here are Laura and Kerry telling Catherine she is NOT allowed to leave the hospital until she’s fully recovered. Catherine was insisting she’d be out Wednesday, but stayed ‘til Sunday!

The beautiful flowers and gifts from friends. Shingo bought her fruit, a cutting board and a knife! Isn't that sweet?

The English conference in Hirado was alright. I was pretty bored through most of it honestly, but I just kept thinking about the $400 sitting on my desk for “trip expenses.” The ferry was $37 roundtrip, the bus fare $15 and two nights in a hotel was $80 so I was generously compensated. I loved the opportunity to meet/see other JETs too. I saw some JETs that I hadn’t seen since the orientations in August so it was nice to catch up. To save on a night in a hotel, on Friday I stayed with Danielle, a second-year JET in Hirado.

On Saturday Danielle and I spent the entire day shopping and exploring in Sasebo. Sasebo is a port city that hosts a US Navy Base and about 20 ALTs. There are foreigners (mostly Americans) all over the place. I bought so much at the hyakuenya (¥100 or $1 stores) and foreign food shops. I also got some warmer clothes because my winter clothes box is stuck in customs in Kobe and probably will be a few more weeks out. Japan has pretty good deals on clothes. I got a fleece jacket for just $10 and a pair of warm pj pants for $7. I also bought a black laptop bag for going to work everyday. (I’m the only one at school who uses a sport backpack.) Finally, the best purchase: An Engrish T-shirt that says: “She who is attractive.” on the front. =) Ha ha!

The only picture of Sasebo that I got and it’s not even good. My camera, which wasn't working all weekend, decided to work temporarily while I was sitting in a Starbucks.

Saturday night there was a huge AJET Halloween party in Dreamer’s Bar in Sasebo. I think there are many JET parties on the mainland, but I’ve never been to one because it’s so expensive to get there. I met lots of friendly people and even have prospective visitor’s/people to visit now! I ended up staying up until 3 a.m. like a real party-girl! So the new additions to the address book are, in order of appearance:

Peter, an Idahoan living ALONE on an island called Takeshima. He’s not really alone as there are other Japanese people—like the ones he teaches—living on the island, but as the only English speaker, he gets my sympathy. I’d go crazy if I didn’t have my fellow Kamigotons. He does name the spiders in his apartment so I guess we can’t yet rule out that he’s not gone crazy himself… In all seriousness, he’s a fun guy that I look forward to visiting sometime.

Andy Loveland. Gotta love that surname. Andy is English and… can’t be helped. (Inside joke, I guess.) and actually lives just outside of Sasebo!! It’s so exciting that maybe I have another someone to visit on the mainland!

Finally, Dean, a New Zealander living in Sasebo! It’s great to have a contact in Sasebo because it’s the cheapest port to the mainland. He’s hard to understand (the accent) but I think he’s engaged (!!!) and he let me hug him when I needed some human contact. They all seem really nice and I can’t wait to see them again at our Mid-Year Conference in two weeks.

Sunday I took the ferry back to Arikawa. It was the slow ferry (2 1/2 hours) but cheaper then the 1 1/2 hour ferry. The water was a bit rough and I started to feel nauseous. I usually just sleep on these ferries rides, but I had to walk around and get some air. It ended up being a really long trip and I was feeling lonely with no one to chat with. But once I was on solid ground and walking to my car in the parking lot, I felt, “It’s good to be home...”

…Home?? …What? Am I home? Am I beginning to feel comforted when I return to my little island? Well, it was very nice to get into my Midori-chan, roll down her windows, play the tapes Kerry gave me for my birthday and drive through the sunshine. I was really happy.

(And here’s a picture of me and Midori because Harald doesn’t seem to believe I have a car…? Here’s as much proof as I can give you.)

I saw Peter biking up north as I drove south. I knew he planned on visiting Catherine this weekend and helping cure her boredom in the hospital. I left a message on his machine and he called me when he got home. He updated me on Catherine and invited me to go sailing on Wednesday, it’s Culture Day, a national holiday.

Ah! Karate is in just 12 minutes!! I’ve got to rush out the door!
As my students would say, “See you letter,”

…

Cool! I got to learn another new kick tonight. It was a jumping kick—I’m starting to look so professional. Well, maybe I just look silly, but I feel great! And Use-sensei (Tuesday night master) has starting talking to me. He’s been pretty shy around me; I think ‘cause we’re both young and he’s pretty cute (unfortunately married with a newborn girl). But we practiced our green belt kata and he came over to help me. He even said “neck” while showing me where to aim so I know he speaks English too! It’s very exciting!!

Anyway, so Monday I didn’t have to teach any lessons, but I brought a pumpkin full of Halloween candy to pass out to students at the high school and junior high. I bought it off the foreign buyers club so it cost me a fortune, but it was real American candy with ghosts and ghouls on the wrappers!! Of course I gave all the teachers extra chocolate, just to remain on their good sides. At Wakamatsu I put these sticky, rubbery worms in the pumpkin so a few kids got a surprise when they reached in. The girls screamed and the boys tried not to look grossed out. It was as much fun for me as it was for them.

So, today’s Tuesday and beside karate I’ve done a whole lot of nothing. I wrote some letters and studied Japanese for hours at school. I’m enrolled in a correspondence Japanese course (paid for by the JET program) and this first month is pretty easy, stuff I studied already or picked up along the way. But counting in Japanese is absolutely ridiculous. There are about 12 ways to count objects and they make little sense to me. You count large animals differently than small animals. Long objects (like pencils, roads and movies) and small objects each have their own counters. And chopsticks—they are important enough to get their very own set of counters. Of course, there are ordinal numbers to learn too, and they’re just as irregular as in English. I got frustrated and haven’t decided if I’m even going to try learning such a silly counting system.

So, I’m off to take a shower and go to bed. I’m sooo looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow! Three cheers for culture!!
Love, Sierra