My Birthday

As most of you know, my birthday was last Sunday and Shawn and I celebrated in style. First, we woke up in the wee hours of the morning and Shawn gave me a birthday present. He wrapped it so beautifully in this cool silver confetti, so I gave a celebratory throw!



He got me a CD of a Japanese Band I wanted; their name is the “Rad Wimps.” Cool band name! Also a handmade Japanese tea pot. Thanks, Shawnie!

This year it has come to my attention that Shawnikins has never ridden a roller coaster! I knew that situation had to be rectified immediately so for my birthday we went to Kijima, an amusement park. It was so fun! I had forgotten how much fun amusement parks are.



This is Shawn just before his first upside-down-loop-roller coaster. He looks scared.



Shawn found a new friend.



Cool lego guy guarding this awesome lego castle.





Shawn tried to get out of riding some rides because he was too short...but I saw straight through his tricks.



Good thing he was tall enough! This was our favorite ride. We rode the swings five times!





His horse was way more exciting than mine.



The Japanese touch to the amusement park, a hot foot spa for your tired toes. It felt great.



The park at night. Check out Shawn’s muscles! He’s been working out, you know.



Our ferris wheel umbrella.



And now to commemorate our experience here is a short video.



Thanks to everyone who sent me their birthday wishes!

Tsurusaki Festival!

Monday night our little town of Tsurusaki transformed into a bustling festival! For three hours, and three hours only, there were food stalls, festival games, live music, karaoke and dancing all along the main street. It was really really fun. Of course, since it was in Tsurusaki, Shawn and I felt like proper movie stars as we wiggled our way through the crowd. It's always a shock to students when they see us around town and when they see us together it's an extra bonus. We couldn't take a step without hearing, "oh! Shawn! Tori! eeeeh!!!" We were full on attacked by a few groups of students who were that excited to see us. Those of you who have been in Japan can imagine these sounds of shock and awe, but those of you who don't know, please ask me to demonstrate when I get home. It never gets old. :)

At the festival there were lots of things. Let me show you!

Many many people:



Plastic masks that are really popular with the kids:



Fried squid. It wouldn't be a festival without it:



Yukata! Yukata! Yukata! The choice summer wear for festivals and celebrations. They are so beautiful:



Baby Yukata:



Crazy mobs of students sporting the all important 'peace sign':



Which reminds me...my Dad asked me what is up with that peace sign in pictures. To be honest, you'd be lucky to have a picture in Japan without it! It's as essential as a smile for young people and old people alike. I have no idea why, but now I can't seem to take a picture without flashing one myself!

Low light for taking cool pictures:



The festival atmosphere is awesome and during the summer there seems to be some kind of festival every weekend! Shawn and I are both equipped with Yukata that we recently purchased so before we leave Japan we will get dressed up and sport our traditional Japanese wear. Will post pictures of that momentous occasion soon!

Then, to top of the night we headed to a dinner in Oita to say goodbye to the Longs! We'll see you two soon. The awesome group picture:



All pictures courtesy of the Fabulous Shawn. He manned the camera and I, the video camera. We are quite a spectacle with all our gadgets!

Ciao!

Prolonged Goodbyes

I hate saying goodbye, and even more I hate drawing out the goodbyes for weeks. Since Shawn and I are among the last ALTs to leave we have been to many goodbye parties and events which inevitably conclude with the phrase, "oh my gosh, is this the last time I'll see you?" I would much rather sneak off without an official goodbye, just to leave the "see ya later" feeling and mindset intact.

I have 18 classes to say goodbye to, and have been teaching "last classes" since a week ago finishing into next week. There's the ESS Club, my adult English class, the boys I eat lunch with every Monday, my Spanish class, and assorted people around town that I also want to say goodbye to.

One last class:




As people scatter to their corners of the world I just want to post a few faces (by all means not inclusive) that have really become special to me this year.

Jared and Steph. Coolest couple ever.


Tom. How will we survive without his wit?


Justin. Accomplished shark ventriloquist and filmaker extraordinaire.


Christina. Will miss you, friend.


Phil. Shawn's other musical half.



People start taking off beginning this Saturday and we are beginning our final two weeks. We're doing things for the last time, visitng favorite restaurants and shopping places and stocking up on last-minute souvenirs and gifts. It's very surreal and I'm definitely in a state of denial. Mentally I know it's coming, and preparations are in order, but emotionally it's still being kept at bay.

This will not be the last blog entry about Japan, but until the next one. See ya soon.

How convenient!

I'm surprised when my students say large words like 'convenient' instead of 'easy' or 'difficult' instead of 'hard.' They may not even know the meaning of shorter words like easy or hard, but they will automatically recognize convenient.

When things are going well or something happens to one's favor they usually describe it as being convenient. For example: "I forgot my umbrella today! Well, it turned out ok because it didn't rain. How convenient!"

Let's take a look at all the convenient things in Japan!

Convenient hamburger vending machines! No time to get to McDonalds? No worries. Just stop by this hamburger vending machine and wait one minute for it to be heated and voila! hamburger to go. I have eaten such hamburgers and they actually aren't too bad!



Convenient noodle bowl vending machines. Complete with a hot water spicket for on the spot cuisine.



Cold outside waiting for a train? Try one of these convenient hot/cold vending machines! The red labels indicate hot beverages, the blue labels indicate cold. Also sold are cups of soup.



How about the necessities of life? Don't worry, there's a vending machine for that too. Behold the ice cream vending machine...



...and the beer vending machine! No ID needed.



There is no end to the vending machine parade. According to Wikipedia Japan has the highest vending machines per capita, about 1 machine for every 23 people. Other vending machines I have seen in Japan: popcorn, cigarettes, fried chicken, french fries, magazines, batteries, rice, and in some restaurants there are even vending machines that print your order that you then submit to the food counter. In the hospital I had to use a vending machine to pay for pre-paid TV cards.

Ok people, say it with me:
How convenient!

BBQing Jellyfish on the 4th of July

The English teachers decided to throw my farewell party a month before I was leaving, which was last weekend! Much to my relief it was really chill and really didn't focus on me at all. We had a lovely dinner, they gave me a really cool present and that was that. Then I went to school the next Monday.

Here is me with two of my favorite teachers (on the right)...the other lady is just ok.


My life saver, Watanabe-Sensei


Shawn met me afterward and it started pouring rain! The large paper bag came in so useful.



The next day we had the great idea to go to the beach. It's man-made and one of the few that are in Oita Prefecture despite a very long coastline. It was balmy warm and a nice temperature for swimming, but much to our surprise there were jellyfish all over in the water! Our first clue that they weren't dangerous was when kids happily swam through a pack of jellyfish and proceeded to pick them up out of the water much like this kid:



Shawn was so brave! I could only get in the water once because I was too scared! But it was fun to go to the beach anyway. Close up of the underbelly of our jiggly friends.



Yesterday was July 4th! So, we took the day off and invited some friends for a BBQ and fireworks. For some reason we have no pictures of the BBQ, but this really cool one of Shawn playing with sparklers.



Hope you all enjoyed your holidays!