31st Aug 06
Ok I have come across a stumbling block. 'Haggis' in Japanese means 'bald'.
They're NEVER going to take me seriously now....
Nourinn Koko - 29th Aug 2006
Visit school today and had 3 classes - feeling a bit deflated as they were pretty rowdy 1st years and actually couldn't speak any English. The teacher insisted that I still do my introduction even though they won't understand, so whilst I blabbed on about Crieff, haggis and Nessie the girls curled each others hair (don't know WHERE they got their battery powered tongs from!!), played various hand gesture games and the boys mostly slept...with their heads on the desk and everything! My teacher just explained that it was too hot (no kidding!) and that they were all tired...
Hmmm have to re-do my entire year's worth of lesson plans I think!
Visit school today and had 3 classes - feeling a bit deflated as they were pretty rowdy 1st years and actually couldn't speak any English. The teacher insisted that I still do my introduction even though they won't understand, so whilst I blabbed on about Crieff, haggis and Nessie the girls curled each others hair (don't know WHERE they got their battery powered tongs from!!), played various hand gesture games and the boys mostly slept...with their heads on the desk and everything! My teacher just explained that it was too hot (no kidding!) and that they were all tired...
Hmmm have to re-do my entire year's worth of lesson plans I think!
Time to Teach - 28th Aug 2006
Today, I was officially introduced to Minami Koko and its 400 students. I had prepared a speech in Japanese (check me?!) and first had to talk in front of the 30 or so teachers in the staff room and then my big speech in front of all 400 students! It was nerve-racking to say the least but I got through it without too many mistakes and for the rest of the day pupils were shouting "Maderin Sensei, Maderin Sensei" as I walked past them all! I also had my first class today and boy am I glad to have got that over and done with. It was a small class of 18 who had all chosen English as their elective, so were relatively keen. I told them about myself and they asked questions so I'm fairly happy with the way it went.
Visit school tomorrow in Nourin so fingers crossed the horses are still there... and in the same form as last week!
Mx
Today, I was officially introduced to Minami Koko and its 400 students. I had prepared a speech in Japanese (check me?!) and first had to talk in front of the 30 or so teachers in the staff room and then my big speech in front of all 400 students! It was nerve-racking to say the least but I got through it without too many mistakes and for the rest of the day pupils were shouting "Maderin Sensei, Maderin Sensei" as I walked past them all! I also had my first class today and boy am I glad to have got that over and done with. It was a small class of 18 who had all chosen English as their elective, so were relatively keen. I told them about myself and they asked questions so I'm fairly happy with the way it went.
Visit school tomorrow in Nourin so fingers crossed the horses are still there... and in the same form as last week!
Mx
Kurohime - 25th - 27th Aug 2006
After a long and tiring week at school preparing for next week's lessons, the girls and I were looking forward to a weekend of Gaelic Football (!) at Kurohime (Lake Nokujiro). Of course I had not only never played Gaelic Football, I had also never even heard of it so was slightly apprehensive to say the least. The weekend was advertised as more of a watersports weekend with a BBQ and a bit of football thrown in so thought we'd give it a go - plus get to see more of Nagano prefecture.
We joined about 35 other GAAs (Gaelic Athletics Association) who turned out to be mostly Investment Bankers from the south of Ireland - and as the only JETs there we were able to meet some very interesting people who have lived in Japan for years working for real Japanese companies. They were all a good bunch and welcomed us 'newbies' with open arms...although they did try to get me to sing Flower of Scotland as part of an initiation test but thankfully someone piped up with Swing Low Sweet Chariot and managed to divert the attention (phew!)
Our accommodation for the weekend was a HUGE Japanese style chalet complete with futons and comunal showers and bath (note singular bath) which was really comfortable and clean. Friday night was really just getting to know everyone as they arrived (most were coming from Tokyo) and then up early on Saturday morning to participate in either golf or wakeboarding at the lake (top picture). I was really keen to try wakeboarding (after being too chicken to try at Loch Earn) so for £15 each the girls and I (plus a canadian guy called Tim) boarded a speedboat with a Japanese guy called Ken (picture) for a morning of wakeboarding. The lake was stunning and very clean so we were looking forward to having a swim!
Tim turned out to be a bit of an expert so he went first and impressed (and scared) us all with his jumps and other tricks. Kyla was up next and took to it really easily - she was standing up almost straight away and held on for ages! After I made sure Ken understood the meaning of 'slow' I was happy to take my turn next (and DEFINITLEY didn't ask what sort of 'things' live in the lake). Needless to say, I wasn't very good but really enjoyed it all the same. I stood up on my first go - albeit for about 3 seconds and then after than I could hardly get out the water! So many things to remember. So don't get excited - the next pic is NOT me, I couldn't stand up long enough to get a picture so this is Kyla instead!!!
Pretty good eh?!!!
Kat went next and thankfully was just as bad as me (sorry Kat!) so we all had a good giggle!
After a lazy morning soaking up some sun and chatting with everyone, it was time to start playing some football... well, time for 2 hours of intensive training! The boys team went off and did their own training and then started to play a match, whilst the girls started off with 2 laps of the baseball pitch, some stretching and a sprinting exercise. Followed by some kicking and hitting the ball in pairs (GAA is a cross between football and volleyball) and some more sprinting. After another round of sprinting they decided to go easy on the newbies and let us train a little with one of the injured players called Caroline who taught us the kicking and hitting techniques as well as letting us try some tackle techniques. The warm down was then a lap of the pitch again and more stretches. The poor boys had to then run the 5km road back to camp and do 60m sprints after their game! Thankfully though, it was a lot cooler in Kurohime than what we've been getting used to here in Iiyama - if this was not the case I am 100% serious in saying I might have died during training... which would not have made a very convincing impression!!!
Back to the camp for a feast of BBQ and beer (whilst trying to stay awake) and everyone getting excited trying to convince us to sign up for the tournament in Shanghai... hmm they obviously didn't see me collapse after the 'warm up'. Up early again and back to Iiyama on Sunday to get ready for my speech to 400 students in Japanese tomorrow morning for school starting. Although I feel like I've been hit by a bus today, I can proudly say I tried 2 new things in one day here in the lovely Japan!
Me, Kyla and Kat - on our boat BEFORE attempting to wakeboard!
Hi everyone, I'm back!
Well, its been almost a week since my last update so thought I'd better put pen to paper..or at least fingers to keys!
So, been pretty busy getting ready for kids to start school these last few days but still managed to fit a little traditional soba making into my plans.
After another sleepover in Nagano (thanks again Kyla!) with dinner, SATC and lurvely £2-a-bottle Japanese white wine we were up at 6.30am to meet up with the Japanese students at 8am who were taking us up to a place called Togakushi...an area up tut'mountains! We were told to bring warm clothes as it can be a bit colder up North...a rumour we were soley relying on to make our day. We were praying for a nice cold breeze as it already read 30 degrees at 8am on the city temperature tower! But when we got there it was the same old sticky heat...was it too late to ask for my money back!?
We were put into groups to make some soba noodles - a traditional dish made in blah blah blah...anyway, when we were done we got to eat them! After our lovely lunch, we were treated to some soba ice cream (eh em...) and started off on our 'hike' to "an area of interest", not quite sure where but it was a very beautiful temple and we did the whole group photo thing. We were all quite excited at the next activity which we were told was a "live band in a bar", but to our dissappointment it was a classical version of x factor with votes and everything - in a conference room. On the way home, Kyla and I stopped in for a Mos Burger (kinda like a cross between McD's and Starbucks?) and then I hit another 100 yen store before heading for bed. Sunday brought some more shopping (gym stuff I'll have you know!!) and then I went out for dinner with the CIR in Iiyama (Jo) and her supervisor. He took us to a fairly Western bar in Iiyama for beer and snacks (some Japanese-related, some not i.e. "crazy fries" which to my delight turned out to be wedges!).
I was at my visit school today (Tues) - I have to go to another school once a week as part of my contract. This school is mainly for agricultural students - not quite so focused on English studies so should be a little more light-hearted. I was shown around the land and introduced to the animals (!)...there were even a couple of ponies and one had a foal! And no, before you ask, they were NOT bred for eating...
Missed my stop off the bus on my way home 'cos this random old lady (she must have been pushing 100) was talking to me the whole way. I kept saying "wakarimasen, wakarimasen" (I don't understand, I don't understand) much to the amusement of the other passengers but she just kept rambling on...and was practically sitting on my knee to stop me from getting off the bus!
Anyway, next weekend should bring some good chat - am hoping to join the Gaelic Athletic Association for a weekend of watersport(s) and BBQ!
Cheers
Madzx
I found Starbucks!
Hi All!
Well,I have had a good couple of days - spending most of the weekend in Nagano, the nearest big city. I found Starbucks - see picture as proof - AND the Bodyshop so as you can imagine I am very happy! The girls (Kyla and Kat) and I even managed to catch a movie at the cinema and some of you may even be surprised to know that I quite happily sat through Mission Impossible 3! It was all in English with Japanese subtitles, we sat in huge bucket seats in a generously air conditioned room and were even handed clean fleece blankets for when it got a bit chilly. Bliss!
After our offical welcome ceremony on Friday we were treated to free flowing food and beer for around 15 pounds. They even served up chips and tommy k!
I was back to school on Monday and had my first lesson in the evening with an older local man called Makoto. My pre-decessor used to give him private English lessons and I have decided to continue the lessons with him. It`s really informal, he just likes to chat to practice is spoken English. He reads books and newspapers in English but still struggles with TV so I have to talk quite slowly. He has also asked me to teach him all about British culture...but not really sure where to start! There is another student joining the class next week so I have a few days to prepare something! I refused to take any money from him so as a thank you he brought me a fresh watermelon from his family farm! Result...those things are like 10 quid over here! Now, if I could only find my samuri sword to cut it open.
So Tuesday I decided to attend Japan`s biggest firework festival at Lake Suwa. It took me a good 3 1/2 hours to get there AND had to even change trains twice but I still survived. Even though I don`t have a clue what the various station signs say, you can pretty much set your watch by the trains arrival and departure times so as long as I know when the train is meant to leave I can pretty much gaurantee I`ll get on the right train!
I met up with some others and we found our spot by the side of the lake. The locals usually come about a week before the event and put down their tarpolins to secure the best spot so when we got there at about 11.30am, there was a sea of tarps featuring "hello kitty" and friends. Once we had our spot set up we all got comfy to people watch for the next 7 hours - fireworks didn`t start until 7pm! Needless to say, we all got way too much sun and for those who sampled the "squid on a stick" delicacy (not I!!!) it was a very long day!
The fireworks were absolutley spectacular when they got going and lasted about 2 hours. The bangs echoed off the surrounding mountains, so much so it made your teeth shake! And the fireworks lit up the entire valley, reflecting over this huge lake. It really was very pretty to watch.
Then came the time to embark on the journey home. It took us an hour and a half to get to the station - moving a couple of inches every time a new train came along. Once we made it to the train, they squashed us all on like sardines and away we went. When the doors first opened, there was an actual stampeed - no one was spared, women, children, dogs and even old ladies were being crushed left right and centre! In fact, it was the old ladies who were doing the crushing - I guess in this situation "you snooze you loose"!!!
After what felt like days on the train, the Iiyama possy (Matt and me) were chauffered back in the comfort of our AJET president`s airconditioned car...thanks again Julia!!! And I was safely tucked up in my bed before 1am. Pretty long day as I caught my first train at 8am, but well worth it!
Well that`s all for now folks - hope you are still all enjoying reading my blog!
Japdzx
Konnichi Wa!
I`ve finally worked out the computer! There`s a sneaky wee button next to the tab key that every time I hit turns the whole lot into Japanese!!!
I have tried to attach some photos of Iiyama for you all to see - I hope they work! These are only going to be testers and once I get my offical photographers certificate I will of course post some better ones i.e. when Dave comes over in September ;-)
Remember in my first post when i was rambling on about the toliets in Tokyo? Well, unfortunately they are completley different in Iiyama. My own toilet is pretty average - no extra buttons, jet sprays or even a drying function in sight. And as for the ones at my school...well lets just say anyone who has been to Malaysia will know what I mean.
So my love for Japanese toilets has been replaced. The new "super toilet" is now "100 yen stores"!!! I have pretty much kitted out my ENTIRE appartment for under 50 quid AND they do everything in pink! To give you an idea, 100 yen is a mere 50p and of a relatively high standard. The idea is everytime there`s an earthquake and everything gets broken, you can fire on down to the nearest 100 yen shop and replace everything for a fiver. Pretty good eh?!
On Saturday night I went into the Nagano for the city`s annual BINZURU festival. Managed to get to station, buy a ticket from the guy who spoke no English and board the right train. Got off the train at the right stop and found the festival. The whole thing is located on their main street where 100s of people (young and old!) dance a set routine from 6.30pm to 1am. They go up one long street (princes street size) doing the same dance routine to the same song with a few varieties depending on what they are advertising i.e. karate clubs, hair salons, McDonalds. Kinda like floats but on foot. Anyway they dance with loads of energy and dress up in funky kimonos and stuff. Each set goes on for half an hour and then they all stop and have 5 mins break and then start dancing again for another half an hour. This goes on until 1am! Its quite funny cos drinking on the street is SO allowed and everyone is too proud to litter so it actually works. Each group of dancers has a guy at the back with a trolley and loads of BIIRU (you guessed it, beer!), and then hands it out during the break. They also go around picking up litter at every stop break too. The best thing about this festival is the fact that it is for no reason at all! The mayor of the next city (Matsumoto) has a festival to celebrate some god or something and the mayor of Nagano city was like “hey, we need a better festival than the Bon Bon festival in Matsumoto so lets all dress up, dance in the street, get drunk and then clean up afterwards!!” Brilliant!
Did a massive food shop at the supermarket at the weekend and managed to find green tea flavoured Hagen Daas - I`m definitely in Japan now! When Ｉ was in school today, two teachers each brought in a huge bag of peppers, egg plants, courgettes and tomatoes from their farms so i`ve got a LOT of eating to do to get through it all! I was very grateful though as one of them doesn`t speak any English and we still managed to `chat` on Friday about the Loch Ness Monster (which involved me waving around a Nessie keyring from Dave`s parents) and she named all of the mountains surrounding Iiyama.
Ok so this is getting a bit long, but one more Japan-ism for you. On a whole, the country is very particular about it`s rubbish and recycling. When I moved into my appartment i had 3 different rubbish bins in my kitchen, each labelled with what kind of rubbish to be put in. I then received by post a note about when to dispose of what. Pretty simple you think? Well, not really as everything must then be separated into burnable (paper and some plastics), non-burnable (other plastics, tins, glass etc) and PET bottles (with label removed and cap washed out). They also make you write your name on EACH bag of rubbish you chuck out so that if it is not separated correctly then they can hunt you down and leave it on your doorstep until you do it properly! Needless to say, I didn`t sleep very well the night I put out my first lot of rubbish! Oh and oddly enough, I can only throw out batteries on a Tuesday or Thursday in June or October?!
So, I`ll sign off now as I`m sure your eyes are all sore! I hope you like the snaps - more to follow!
Japadzxx
Sorry guys - photos didn`t work! I`ll have to wait until i have internet in my appartment.
I`ve finally worked out the computer! There`s a sneaky wee button next to the tab key that every time I hit turns the whole lot into Japanese!!!
I have tried to attach some photos of Iiyama for you all to see - I hope they work! These are only going to be testers and once I get my offical photographers certificate I will of course post some better ones i.e. when Dave comes over in September ;-)
Remember in my first post when i was rambling on about the toliets in Tokyo? Well, unfortunately they are completley different in Iiyama. My own toilet is pretty average - no extra buttons, jet sprays or even a drying function in sight. And as for the ones at my school...well lets just say anyone who has been to Malaysia will know what I mean.
So my love for Japanese toilets has been replaced. The new "super toilet" is now "100 yen stores"!!! I have pretty much kitted out my ENTIRE appartment for under 50 quid AND they do everything in pink! To give you an idea, 100 yen is a mere 50p and of a relatively high standard. The idea is everytime there`s an earthquake and everything gets broken, you can fire on down to the nearest 100 yen shop and replace everything for a fiver. Pretty good eh?!
On Saturday night I went into the Nagano for the city`s annual BINZURU festival. Managed to get to station, buy a ticket from the guy who spoke no English and board the right train. Got off the train at the right stop and found the festival. The whole thing is located on their main street where 100s of people (young and old!) dance a set routine from 6.30pm to 1am. They go up one long street (princes street size) doing the same dance routine to the same song with a few varieties depending on what they are advertising i.e. karate clubs, hair salons, McDonalds. Kinda like floats but on foot. Anyway they dance with loads of energy and dress up in funky kimonos and stuff. Each set goes on for half an hour and then they all stop and have 5 mins break and then start dancing again for another half an hour. This goes on until 1am! Its quite funny cos drinking on the street is SO allowed and everyone is too proud to litter so it actually works. Each group of dancers has a guy at the back with a trolley and loads of BIIRU (you guessed it, beer!), and then hands it out during the break. They also go around picking up litter at every stop break too. The best thing about this festival is the fact that it is for no reason at all! The mayor of the next city (Matsumoto) has a festival to celebrate some god or something and the mayor of Nagano city was like “hey, we need a better festival than the Bon Bon festival in Matsumoto so lets all dress up, dance in the street, get drunk and then clean up afterwards!!” Brilliant!
Did a massive food shop at the supermarket at the weekend and managed to find green tea flavoured Hagen Daas - I`m definitely in Japan now! When Ｉ was in school today, two teachers each brought in a huge bag of peppers, egg plants, courgettes and tomatoes from their farms so i`ve got a LOT of eating to do to get through it all! I was very grateful though as one of them doesn`t speak any English and we still managed to `chat` on Friday about the Loch Ness Monster (which involved me waving around a Nessie keyring from Dave`s parents) and she named all of the mountains surrounding Iiyama.
Ok so this is getting a bit long, but one more Japan-ism for you. On a whole, the country is very particular about it`s rubbish and recycling. When I moved into my appartment i had 3 different rubbish bins in my kitchen, each labelled with what kind of rubbish to be put in. I then received by post a note about when to dispose of what. Pretty simple you think? Well, not really as everything must then be separated into burnable (paper and some plastics), non-burnable (other plastics, tins, glass etc) and PET bottles (with label removed and cap washed out). They also make you write your name on EACH bag of rubbish you chuck out so that if it is not separated correctly then they can hunt you down and leave it on your doorstep until you do it properly! Needless to say, I didn`t sleep very well the night I put out my first lot of rubbish! Oh and oddly enough, I can only throw out batteries on a Tuesday or Thursday in June or October?!
So, I`ll sign off now as I`m sure your eyes are all sore! I hope you like the snaps - more to follow!
Japadzxx
Sorry guys - photos didn`t work! I`ll have to wait until i have internet in my appartment.
HI AGAIN EVERYONE!
I HAVE NOW MOVED ON FROM TOKYO TO THE NOT SO BRIGHT LIGHTS OF IIYAMA, NAGANO. WHAT CAN I SAY...IT IS SO VERY DIFFERENT FROM TOKYO. I LIVE IN A TINY 2 ROOM APPARTMENT WITH A BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE HILLS...ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL SCENERY! ONLY DOWNSIDE TO THE HILL`S IS I HAVE TO CYCLE UP THEM TO GET TO SCHOOL. RED FACE, FRZZY HAIR AND A RATHER DAMP FOREHAD IS SO NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR SCHOOL. ALL THE JAPANESE ARE SO COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED SO I`M SURE YOU CAN IMAGINE THEIR FACES WHEN I STUMBLE INTO THE OFFICE, MUTTER SOMETHING IN JAPANESE (WHICH IS PROBABLY INSULTING ALL OF THEIR MOTHERS BECAUSE THE ALTITUDE HAS AFFECTED MY BRAIN) AND COLLAPSE ON MY OFFICE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE FAN!
ＢＹ THE WAY APOLOGIES IF THIS DOES NOT COME OUT PROPERLY - I HAVE TRIED TO EMAIL MOST OF YOU BUT FEEDBACK IN GENERAL IS "STOP WRITING IN JAPANESE"! AND I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVE NOT ADVANCED TO 9TH LEVEL JAPANESE IN 7 DAYS, I JUST HAVEN`T QUITE WORKED OUT THE KEYBOARD. ITS ALL IN HIRIGANA/KATAKANA AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO NAVIGATE!
ANYWAY, I DON`T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS IN MY APPARTMENT YET BUT WHEN I DO I PROMISE YOU`LL GET SOME EMAILS SENT OUT AND ASK HOW YOU ARE ALL GETTING ON.
SO, IIYAMA - BASICALLY A LITTLE MOUNTAIN TOWN WITH HONDA GARAGES, MCDONALDS AND TESCO-LIKE ＳＴＯＲＥＳ ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEN RICE PADDY`S WITH TINY LITTLE HOUSES THAT LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD FALL DOWN IF YOU EVEN MUTTER THE WORD EARTHQUAKE! MY FIRST 24 HOURS HERE WAS VERY SURREAL AND WAS DESPERATE FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO IN ENGLISH! ALTHOUGH SLOWLY I`M STARTING TO GET MY BEARINGS AND THE TOWN FOLK ARE GETTING USED TO THE GAIJIIN THAT`S CYCLING AROUND IN CIRCLES. I EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE TRAIN TO THE NEXT BIG CITY (A MINI KYOTO I`VE BEEN TOLD) WHICH HAS A STARBUCKS AND A BODY SHOP (YAY I`M SAVED) ALTHOUGH I`VE YET TO FIND BOTH OF THEM.
I HAVE LOADS MORE TO FILL IN BUT THE KEYBOARD IS STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES...THIS HAS JUST TAKEN ME THE BEST PART OF ＡＮ ＨＯＵＲ！ Ｉ ＡＭ ＯＦＦ ＴＯ ＭＹ ＦＩＲＳＴ TEACHERS CONFERENCE TOMORROW BUT HOPE TO BE BACK IN SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY TO UPDATE YOU ALL.
HOPE YOU ARE WELL , PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR UPDATES OR SEND ME SOME TRASHY MAGAZINES TO...
MADELEINE EASSON
450-1-204
SHIZUMA
IIYAMA-SHI
NAGANO
389-2255
JAPAN!!!
JAPADZ XXXXXXXXXXX
I HAVE NOW MOVED ON FROM TOKYO TO THE NOT SO BRIGHT LIGHTS OF IIYAMA, NAGANO. WHAT CAN I SAY...IT IS SO VERY DIFFERENT FROM TOKYO. I LIVE IN A TINY 2 ROOM APPARTMENT WITH A BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE HILLS...ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL SCENERY! ONLY DOWNSIDE TO THE HILL`S IS I HAVE TO CYCLE UP THEM TO GET TO SCHOOL. RED FACE, FRZZY HAIR AND A RATHER DAMP FOREHAD IS SO NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR SCHOOL. ALL THE JAPANESE ARE SO COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED SO I`M SURE YOU CAN IMAGINE THEIR FACES WHEN I STUMBLE INTO THE OFFICE, MUTTER SOMETHING IN JAPANESE (WHICH IS PROBABLY INSULTING ALL OF THEIR MOTHERS BECAUSE THE ALTITUDE HAS AFFECTED MY BRAIN) AND COLLAPSE ON MY OFFICE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE FAN!
ＢＹ THE WAY APOLOGIES IF THIS DOES NOT COME OUT PROPERLY - I HAVE TRIED TO EMAIL MOST OF YOU BUT FEEDBACK IN GENERAL IS "STOP WRITING IN JAPANESE"! AND I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVE NOT ADVANCED TO 9TH LEVEL JAPANESE IN 7 DAYS, I JUST HAVEN`T QUITE WORKED OUT THE KEYBOARD. ITS ALL IN HIRIGANA/KATAKANA AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO NAVIGATE!
ANYWAY, I DON`T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS IN MY APPARTMENT YET BUT WHEN I DO I PROMISE YOU`LL GET SOME EMAILS SENT OUT AND ASK HOW YOU ARE ALL GETTING ON.
SO, IIYAMA - BASICALLY A LITTLE MOUNTAIN TOWN WITH HONDA GARAGES, MCDONALDS AND TESCO-LIKE ＳＴＯＲＥＳ ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEN RICE PADDY`S WITH TINY LITTLE HOUSES THAT LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD FALL DOWN IF YOU EVEN MUTTER THE WORD EARTHQUAKE! MY FIRST 24 HOURS HERE WAS VERY SURREAL AND WAS DESPERATE FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO IN ENGLISH! ALTHOUGH SLOWLY I`M STARTING TO GET MY BEARINGS AND THE TOWN FOLK ARE GETTING USED TO THE GAIJIIN THAT`S CYCLING AROUND IN CIRCLES. I EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE TRAIN TO THE NEXT BIG CITY (A MINI KYOTO I`VE BEEN TOLD) WHICH HAS A STARBUCKS AND A BODY SHOP (YAY I`M SAVED) ALTHOUGH I`VE YET TO FIND BOTH OF THEM.
I HAVE LOADS MORE TO FILL IN BUT THE KEYBOARD IS STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES...THIS HAS JUST TAKEN ME THE BEST PART OF ＡＮ ＨＯＵＲ！ Ｉ ＡＭ ＯＦＦ ＴＯ ＭＹ ＦＩＲＳＴ TEACHERS CONFERENCE TOMORROW BUT HOPE TO BE BACK IN SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY TO UPDATE YOU ALL.
HOPE YOU ARE WELL , PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR UPDATES OR SEND ME SOME TRASHY MAGAZINES TO...
MADELEINE EASSON
450-1-204
SHIZUMA
IIYAMA-SHI
NAGANO
389-2255
JAPAN!!!
JAPADZ XXXXXXXXXXX
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