making snowmen!

so as you probably already know, on monday i signed my contract! it was big and scary and it was all super official sounding (its japan so i would expect no less) but i did it and now my fate is sealed here until at least april when we renew our contracts for 2012.  i could still fail miserably and have them send me home but the chances of that happening arent that big... lol. i found out during our contract signing that over 2,500 people applied throughout the year and only 100ish got in.  30 in the nagoya area.  my chances of making it this far were pretty slim and i am grateful that ive made it this far.  i try to remind myself every day of why im here and the things i hope to accomplish while im here.

i dont know if ive mentioned this previously but i am subbing until the end of this year.  basically, since i am starting midway through the school year, i am taking over some classes and subbing for others.  i have 2 regular shifts which will begin in january (at a new school even!) and then i am subbing the other 3 days of the week.  i will have a full regular schedule filled with my own classes once april comes around... til then i sub mostly.

anyway, today was my first day teaching real classes! my schedule is mom, tues-sat.  mon-fri ill be working 3-9ish and then sat from 10-4.  my shifts are 6 hours each.  ^_^  so anyway, today was my first day.  i was subbing for someone and it was the last lesson of the year! basically i made crafts in all my classes. it was amazing! in the toddler class we decorated christmas trees... then in my 6ish age group we made santa beards and wore them around all day... then in my 9-10 yr old class we made snowmen!

not to brag, but i think my snowman is pretty darn cute!  he has coffee bean eyes, toothpicks for a nose, cane, and stand, and also holding his body together....  the kids were super quiet and obedient.  they worked quickly and they were really smart.  it made me really happy to work with them.

after those ended, i had 2 private lessons.  these lessons are about 40 min long and we have books that help them along with conversational english.  the first was with a girl who is really new to english.  it was amusing trying to get my point across but i did and i could see her brain working on overtime to understand phrases.  apparently japanese people have a hard time saying the word: alps.  she kept saying arupusu.  hehe.  we worked hard on that one!

the second private lesson i had was super AWESOME! he was a doctor and his specialty is infertility.  he does micro intro something or other... basically he can take one good sperm and one good egg and make a baby.  he is known all over the world for his work and he has to give talks at conferences and such.  he just wanted to chat about life, work, school, etc. so thats all we did.  he says since women are waiting longer and longer to have children, his speciality is becoming more and more important.  he helped over 1200 couples have babies this year! he was soooo smart.  i am still in genius awe.  we worked on helping him to sound more natural in speech.  japanese people have a tendency to pronounce every single letter in every single word... so we worked on the flow of a sentence.  like, i am going to go to my parents house.  we say that sentence more like, i am going tago to my parenshouse.  he was also super passionate about what he does, so that made the conversation that much more interesting.

anyway, its getting colder here... supposed to snow in parts tomorrow... and for sure this weekend... thankfully i am flying home on friday! weee! i have one more day of classes tomorrow- also final lesson type- more crafts!

im pooped! thanks for reading! ^__^

Excitingly uneventful.

So Saturday marked the end of my first week of training!  We do training in 2 6-day parts.  The first part is kids training (the hazing) and the second week is adult training.  I spent the days jumping around teaching english to small children... never a dull moment!  I had at least 3 solid hours of cardio per day! It was great, except that my knee is absolutely killing me! lol.  I've had my knee brace on for 8 days now... I sleep with the super powerful one at night and wear the light one during the day.  I use ben gay in abundance and advil is my new best friend.  My knee is noticeably less swollen now than it was when I got here but I can definitely feel every stair as I walk down.  It's nice to be sore again though! It really is a great workout!

On Saturday I got to shadow a teacher who has been here for 3 years. ^_^ He's from Scotland! And he has a heavy accent! I love accents. I also realized I am very easily distracted by things... every time he spoke, I was listening more to the accent than to him... and then I kept having to catch up with the conversation. hehe.  But he was a nice guy and super helpful.  I got to see many of the types of classes my company offers.  I learned how to handle *problem* kids and of course it was nice to see the training in action.  Also, he is a vegetarian... good to know I'm not the only one! lol.  Good guy though.  I got to learn a lot from him.

Monday I started adult training.  If you can imagine, it's a lot less running around and jumping and a lot more discussion and dialogue.  It's equally interesting but entirely different.  Today I am doing some adult demos.  These are a big longer and a bit more challenging mentally but this was also my favorite part of shadow day, so I hope it goes well. ^_^

We had an earthquake yesterday!  It was my first biggish earthquake while in Japan (5.0)!  Ok, 5.0 isn't that big but it is big enough to notice and I was on the 9th floor at the time. 9th or 10th...? I keep forgetting.  Anyway, my coworker from Australia had never experienced an earthquake before so that was kinda cool.  I am more excited than nervous about earthquakes so I had an amusing time watching how everyone else reacted.  I was reading aloud when it started and my instructor told me to just keep reading, which I did.  Pretty excitingly uneventful for an earthquake.  It didn't even make the news. lol.

Otherwise I have 3 days of training after today, then I am officially signing my contracts and an official teacher for ECC!  It's all very new and exciting still.  I am trying to keep these moments important in my mind for 6 months from now when I am tired and things are less exciting. ^_^

Time to start the day!  Hope everyone has a good one!

<3 me. ^_^

Fushimi Station

I live off of the Fushimi Station exit.  It's quite nice to be situated in the middle of the city.  Things are always lit up and there's always stuff going on.  It's odd how I always feel so much safer in the city... I know it's completely wrong to think it is safer... but it's where I am comfortable and so it feels that way.

So this is the end of my first official week in Japan and last night marked my first good sleep.  It was a REALLY GREAT! ^___^ Thus far, everyone has been super friendly and helpful.  Of course there are negative things to say about Japan, like there are a lot more smokers here..., but I cannot say that I have had any negative experiences with anything personally.  I am learning where to find all the things I need... I found a good market, a Daiso, and a few other places (like the Apple store) that have come in handy.

Training is going really well.  It's super intense.  Yesterday we trained for 6 hours with only 2 10 min breaks.  I was soooo freaking hungry by the time I got home.... but I learned and today I packed super dense snacks to eat during my short breaks.  That helped me greatly.  I also gave my first presentation/demo today.  I felt bad because I am pretty sure it was super boring... but my feedback wasn't all bad... it was actually quite mild, so maybe it wasn't terrible.

There was also a small mix up in my schedule.  The 23rd of Dec. is the emperors birthday so its a holiday... but the 24th isn't so there was a chance that I would have to work... I sent them an email telling them that I booked a flight home (but that I could change it) and they replied that I could have the 24th off.  *whew* So, it looks like I will be home for Christmas after all. ^_^ I miss my dog! I look at his pictures all the time... sah.  I also need a good picture of Beka for my wall.

Otherwise things have been very uninteresting.  I am trying not to do anything interesting during my training because I really need to focus and spend all my time learning what I can from these sessions... I figure I can save the fun stuff for later.

I am going to try and do some light Christmas shopping though... if you have any requests from Japan, please let me know!

Side note: I've tried both the Urban Decay All Nighter Spray and the MakeUp Forever Setting Mist and the MakeUp Forever easily takes the cake for keeping my makeup on all day! It looks like I just put my makeup on! Snazzy!

Ok! Time to get ready for tomorrows presentations! I have to teach like 6 new songs tomorrow! EEK! <3

na-go-ya not na-ga-no!

so many of you probably already know this but last year my friends and i went to nagoya.  we had one day left on our jr passes (train passes) and so we came here and ate spicy chicken wings - something nagoya is famous for.  it was a lot of run... but for some reason i could not get the name of the city right. i called it nagano ALL NIGHT! even when i was trying, and focusing, i got it wrong.  anyway, i found it amusing and quite fitting, that i ended up here in nagoya.

its day 2 here already.  time is going by so fast!  i have thus far: navigated my way through nagoya airport (no small feat), figured out how to send my luggage to my new apartment, taken a taxi, checked in and out of a hotel, gone grocery and home goods shopping, and purchased my train card.  buying the cleaners made me a bit nervous.  i read the labels very carefully so i didnt end up trying to clean my toilet with toothpaste. ^_^" also, learning what food is cheap and what food is expensive was a bit of a learning experience.  obviously japanese food is cheaper and imported foods are more expensive, but also learning what is in season here and what the local specialties are is important.  i found cheese today at a reasonable price... sooo happy! ^_^

i must admit, all the experience ive had with ECC thus far has been great.  my housing agent worked for ECC and has been in japan for 16 years.  he started as an english teacher and knows a lot about the company.  he was coworkers with the person who hired me... so theyve known each other for quite some time.   bruce (my housing agent) picked me up from the hotel i stayed at my first night. i had omiyage in hand (omiyage = gift)! i bought some sees chocolate at the airport... ^_^ anyway, he picked us up then took me to the ward office so i could get my alien residency card (wooohooo! i am an alien!!!) ... then we met the other 2 people in my training group.  bruce took us to this bigger store/market with lots of stuff.  they sell bikes, household items, etc. and so we got our first round of supplies.  thrift stores are often a good place to find things here... theyre called recycling stops. i got a dresser for my apartment.  my apartment came fully furnished but it didnt have enough space for my clothes!! so i got this dresser for about $30! bar-gain!  then bruce left us... but he also is working on getting our permanent internet connections set up, which is really cool. i dont know any housing agent that does that much for a tenant!

so now im in my new apartment.  ill take pictures as soon as i can clean up a bit. >.<" as soon as i got settled here, the luggage place brought my luggage to me and things havent quite gotten to where they need to be... also, trash in this place is serious business.  trash goes out every day of the week but we have to recycle EVERYTHING in different groups... suuuuuch a pain!! here is a brief explanation if youre curious : http://www.nic-nagoya.or.jp/en/dailyliving/housingandsettlingin/garbage.htm <---tres complicated.... in other words, i have trash EVERYWHERE! like seriously, i cant figure out the trash (ok, i havent really read the info yet)... so i havent thrown anything away. lol.

my apartment is fairly large. its larger than what i expected.  i have a full size bed, 2 love seats, a table with 2 chairs, a dresser, an armoire and some small shelves.  my kitchen is a kitchenette.  i have 2 burners, a toaster oven, a microwave, and a fridge.  my fridge is like... the size of 2 mini fridges. i dont have an oven.  my bathroom is roughly, 1/4 the size of a normal bath in the u.s. my bathtub is 1/2 the size of a bathtub back home.  LITERALLY 1/2! i can touch the ceiling with my hands (easily).  im pretty sure kurt (or anyone over 5'5) would be uncomfortable... i know i am! but its doable for now.  i have a solid heater and a/c for when it starts getting hot/humid, so i figure thats all i need!

i am right next door to a flower shop.  going one direction i have one market and going the other theres another market! within 2 blocks theres a movie theatre (its currently showing 50/50 which i really want to see but i am afraid to see it cause i dont watch sad movies...). i live roughly 7 min away from the train station.  did i mention there are like 500000 restaurants on my block?? i live smack in the middle of downtown nagoya! city center is one block away! its fantastic!!! ^___^ and its sooo pretty!! the christmas lights are out and everyone is dressed in coats... i <3 it!

what else... my coworkers seem nice.  one lady is from australia.  she speaks funny! ^_^ i keep forgetting her name... but im sure ill learn it.  shes married and a bit older than i am but her husband supported her coming here to fulfill a dream - which is awesome!  the guy is meh.  hes quiet and i cant tell if hes anti social or shy, but so far i dont have a read on him.  hes from los angeles though... pasadena actually.  i wont say more cause he'll probably read this at some point. ^_^ um... im in training starting saturday for 2 weeks, then i have a week of work and then its the holiday! ^___^.

random things:

there are no birds here. no bird noises, no bird poop. why are there no birds here??? i know there are birds in japan! ive seen them!!

my house key is weird.  ill post a picture soon... but i dont really get how it works.  it looks fake. ^_^

today my coworker and i were heading to her place so she could change and since our apartments dont have any walls (NO WALLS EEK!) i waited downstairs in the entryway.  turns out she never made it upstairs cause her super was there waiting to talk to her about the trash.  so they talked for like ten minutes or so and she came out of the trash room and waved to me... so i did that wave/bow/smile thing the japanese do to indicate hello/yes im still here/ its fine that i am still waiting, etc., and so she heads up to her apartment to change and the super comes out to me and asks me if i speak japanese, to which i reply "a little." then he goes on to tell me that i look like ive lived in japan for a while and wants to know how long ive lived here... random! so i told him that i studied japanese at university... so he goes on to tell me that he is impressed (which i think is a standard phrase to say to foreigners who can speak any japanese).... he said that he had to explain the trash to her because its complicated.  then he goes on to tell me his name and that if she ever has problems or has questions that we can ask him and that i should come by the apartment so he can explain things to me first and then i can translate them for her... interesting conversation in japanese! lol.  im just glad i understood all of it. hehe.

to that end, my japanese is holding up fairly steadily.  i am shocked (and relieved) that it came back to me so easily.  i owe my senseis for that.  they were obviously ah-mazing if they got me to learn japanese! lol.

and so with that, i end this blog.  i think i wrote enough to give you an idea of what ive been doing here in the last 48 hours or so.  its been a whirlwind.  

to be updated fairly soon...! (6 days til japan!)

so here we are just a week out from my trip (move actually) and ive finally decided on a name for my blog.  taken from my love of middle english... 

maken: to make

travialle: to work and in middle english (old french)- to travel.  

since ill be doing both, i put them together and viola! (yes, i amuse myself greatly.)

anyway, im sure you'll be hearing more from me as the travel actually begins.  

if nothing else, i hope i provide you with some sort of entertainment through my random (mis)adventures.  ^_^