Photos of Our Trip to Arima

Walking through the town

Our delicious dinner that night

Andrew being a goofball

Some foods are still hard to get used to...

Wearing our yukata robes before going in the onsen

Part of our room at the hotel

Having tea

Japan has crazy spiders!

New Job

I started my new job last week. Everything with it is pretty dandy. So far the Japanese English teachers that I have met are extremely nice. I can come and go as I please during my breaks unlike at Time. There is a lot less stress, I have complete control over my classes and I get to decide what to teach and not teach the kids unlike at Time. The classes are better structured so I don't have some super advanced kid in with a bunch of beginners either. I rotate every week between 3 schools. The Sanae school, which is the first school I started at last week was rather interesting. I have to ride a moped to get to it. I have come to the conclusion that riding a moped makes you feel like a badass because you a riding a motor powered bicycle but at the same time when you look around you realize you aren't that badass and actually kind of look retarded. But hey, I am in the country of crazy fashions where men dress like women so I have determined that I can get away with anything that might be considered borderline gay. Anyway, back to the point at hand, my classroom reminds of me kind of that old storage room that you find at most elementary schools. It smells of old papers and has tons of dust that I have discovered that I am allergic to. Mr. Nakamura, however, is really nice and I look forward to working with him. He is a little strange but any Japanese people that I meet with an outgoing personality is always amazing to me. The Sanae kids are really loud and noisy, I will have to somehow make the classes more disciplined but keep them fun. Also, Japanese children think its funny and friendly to give adults kanchos which is when the kids take their hands and put them together and make a big fist with their index fingers pointing out and literally poke you in the butt as hard as they can. Not the meat of the butt but they always find the hole. Along with this and the effort I have to put forth to keep the kids from trying to put their fingers in my butt I also have to contend with the kids attacking from the front. They also think it is cute or friendly to head butt or punch me in the balls. So when I walk around and I get surrounded by kinds I have to protect my lower half.
I started today at the school closet to the house. It is really fun working with this teacher. He kind of reminds me of Mike(my brother) because he is really laid back and has the same posture. I taught two little kids today and that was all that I taught in my classrooms today so nothing really big to report. I am amazed however, that the largest of the three kindergartens has the least amount of English classes. I will write more about this school and the students when I learn more about them. The classroom actually is a little house that has a kitchen and everything in it. The classrooms (2) are separated. One is for the older kids and the other is for the younger kids.
The new house is really amazing and currently we are only using about half of it. We are still not sure what to do with the other two rooms or the massive amount of storage that we have. There are a really cool places around here and fun parks to go walk around. It is outside of the city and there is a lot more greenery too. I don't have any pictures to post of the apartment yet however. We hope to get some up soon.

I'll write more when I have time.

Andrew

Emails to Friends & Family

So here is our new blog site! Below I have posted a few emails that I sent out to my family after arriving here, in case anyone is interested in reading what was going on before we started this. For those of you who have already read them, just skip this post...

Email from 9/14/07:

Hi Family!

Well I am here! I sort of feel like I am on another planet... so very far away from all of you. The flight was not bad, and there were no problems for me getting through customs. I think it probably took less than 5 min., so I'm not sure what those DIA ladies were freaking out about who thought I might be immediately deported. Andrew was there waiting for me, and after we rode the train and then lugged everything back to the apartment, the lack of sleep really started to hit me and I was almost feeling sick. I passed out pretty early, so I'm sorry I wasn't able to call, but I know Andrew called for me to let you know I was here safely. It is really humid here... way more than I expected. At least we have an a/c (or "air con" as they call it here) in the apartment that works fairly well, but I am already looking forward to cooler weather. It's not even all that hot here, just muggy. I'm sure once it gets cold I will be complaining about that too. :) Well I have to say it is a pretty big shock finally being here. It is definitely going to take some getting used to. It's very different than being any place in Europe, and you feel even more out of touch with the environment because everything is written in kanji (with the occasional English translation), but it just looks like a bunch of drawings and I have no idea what anything is. I am so glad I have Andrew here with me. We are really excited because today he got that new job he was hoping for! He signed the contract this morning (for a year and 1/2 commitment). It's in a city not far from here called Hirakata, which is a bit more in the country, closer to parks and things. He will be teaching at a kindergarten school, and they will provide us with that 3-bedroom house/apartment I was telling you about. It will only be $130 more a month now than we are paying for this little 1-bedroom, and Andrew says it is really nice and even bigger than his old apartment in Portland, which was quite spacious. In our apartment now we have a bed, couch, tv, washer, two armoires, a little kitchen, and a shower. It's pretty neat because the bedroom is closed off by those Japanese-style doors that slide open. I don't know what they are called, but you probably know what I'm talking about. I have yet to go walk around outside other than walking back here last night because I am still sort of out of it. From what I saw of the city from the train, it's a weird mix of newer looking buildings with very traditional looking Japanese ones. We are definitely right in the middle of the "action." Just around the corner is a big market with all sorts of different food and other products. Unfortunately Andrew has to work today until 9pm and also tomorrow, so I am on my own. Then he'll have Sunday and Monday off. I have already done almost all of my unpacking and now I will probably just rest up as much as I can.

I really love you and miss you so much. At times I feel scared and just want to cry because it is so overwhelming being here. I know it will be a great experience that I have wanted for a long time, but it's always different when you are REALLY in the moment. Plus I got so used to being around everyone all the time. I can't believe how blessed I am to have each of you in my life. I have a feeling it's going to be harder being away from you than I thought...

I'll send another update when there is something new. The internet is working now in the apartment.
Love,
Amber

Email from 9/24/07:

Hey Everybody,

I just thought I would send you another update now that I have a chance. Actually for most of last week I wasn't very busy, but there just wasn't much to talk about. Andrew was working every day until 10pm, and I was having a bit of a rough time being here. I was feeling depressed and homesick, and I think with him being gone so much it just added to everything. It can be kind of intimidating to go out around by yourself here, especially not speaking the language, so I was having difficulty finding the motivation to even leave the apartment. Also it has been so hot and humid that it was making me miserable. Well at least I got lots of sleep because that's about all I felt like doing...

Anyway, after the past two days I am feeling much better! He had Sunday and Monday off, so we did tons of biking. That is definitely the way to travel here, and it saves a lot of money when you don't ride the trains. There are SO many cool temples and things to see that are just scattered throughout the city. We came across this gigantic one Saturday night with this river running through and around the whole thing, and this really neat wooden bridge over the water. It is so nice here at night because everything gets so quiet. It's amazing with the amount of people living here and how busy it can get during the day, how still and peaceful it becomes at nighttime. We could even see stars, which, from what I've been told, are not something you see all that often in Osaka. Maybe it just depends on what part of the city you are in... Oh yeah, we also went to a "Denny's" that night, just to see what it would be like. First of all, it was actually quality food. But the only dish there that was actually something you would find at a Denny's in the U.S. was French toast. Everything else was a strange combination of Japanese and American-esque food.

Sunday we ran a bunch of errands and then biked to Namba where there were WAY more people than I had been around so far. We walked around the city and looked in the many little shops there. I had my first experience with seeing the "cosplay" and other um... interesting people in Japan - people dressed up in all kinds of crazy outfits, some trying to look like certain characters. It is not unusual to see a girl walking around looking exactly like Little Bo Peep (from head to toe). This is just an everyday thing for them, like Halloween year-round. The fashion here is just absurd and I found myself wide-eyed for most of the time or trying not to laugh out loud because it all looks so ridiculous. You can definitely see through the way they dress how repressed the culture must be in other ways. There are clearly a lot of people here who are doing whatever they can to stand out from the crowd. It's weird... but it makes for some interesting people watching. :)

That night in Namba we met up with some of Andrew's Japanese friends for a little "welcoming party" for me at this Australian themed restaurant. The place was really cool and laid back and they had food that was supposed to be more American/Australian. (All the different food we've eaten so far has been delicious). They even had a guy there playing an acoustic guitar and singing different songs in English. It made me feel right at home for a little while. After the restaurant we all went to do some karaoke, which is a very popular activity in Japan. I had no idea what it was like here, but it is so much fun! I was expecting something similar to my previous karaoke experiences where everyone is in a bar together taking turns singing, but instead it is this big building, with many different smaller rooms. A private room is assigned to each group of friends or whatever party you are with. You each sit around this table together and there are a couple of microphones and a t.v. and huge books of songs you can choose from. A waiter brings you drinks to the room and so you can all just hang out in there and laugh and sing and have a great time.

I made friends that night with one of the Japanese girls, Madoka, who came out with us. She is the same age as me, and her niece and nephew learn English the company Andrew teaches at. She just got back a couple weeks ago from spending three years in California. She is really down to earth and speaks excellent English. We are both feeling a bit lonely here since she also doesn't feel like she has any friends after being gone for so long. It's nice to find someone who I can relate to and communicate with, so that should help. I have heard back from two different companies so far that seem eager to schedule an interview with me. After the quick response from them, I am not worried about finding a job, but I really want to find one that will be somewhat close to where we will be living in Hirakata. We will be moving there in about one month. Andrew will have a week off between jobs so in a way I don't want to start my job until he starts his new one so we can have that time off together. Hopefully it all works out that way. I am also very interested in learning Japanese now, and I want to try to go to school here if I can.

Well today I will probably go out and bike some more and explore the area. In the last couple of days it has significantly cooled off; I feel so much better. We should have some really beautiful weather now for a while before it starts to get cold. Yesterday was overcast with several hours of rain, but I loved it! It reminded me of being back in Portland again. :) I haven't really taken many pictures yet because I've been more interested in just taking in the sites, but when I have some I will send them.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Love,
Amber

Email from 10/5/07:

Konban wa!
(Good Evening)

So I just wanted to share the great day we had Monday. My interview went really well. They said they would call in a few days or about a week to schedule a second interview. It would be teaching mostly young children (probably 2 to 7 years old) at a company called Epion - this is where Andrew's friend Tonio worked for about four years and his friend Chris still works there. It's main location is actually just a short trip down the road from where we will be moving to on the 14th of this month (in Hirakata). Andrew's new job is SO ideal for him. He will be working for an actual kindergarten school and will be the only English teacher there, doing 20 min. classes with the kids all day. On Monday, before the interview, we went to look at the apartment we will be renting through the owner of the school and also so I could meet him and we could see the school (actually there are three schools, but they are all very close to each other). The main one is about five min. away from the apartment, and the other two are just across town. He can use the company car or mo-ped whenever needed. The kids are adorable! They look like a bunch of munchkins running around, all in little uniforms with matching shoes and backpacks. And they are so open and friendly. Right away they were giving Andrew high-fives, and this one little girl just came up to me and started holding my hand and making these butterfly symbols to me. It was really cute. The owner's name is Harry (he's Japanese but lived and studied in Oregon for about seven years). He is SO incredibly nice and is pretty much willing to do anything to help us. He said his family makes monthly trips to Costco and if we want we can go with them. He lives with his wife and two sons, ages 17 & 19, on the 4th floor, the penthouse, of the same building we will be living in; we are on the 2nd floor. He picked us up from the train station, showed us the apartment, took us to the schools and introduced us to the employees, and then took us out to lunch at this amazing sushi restaurant where I had the best, freshest sushi I think I've ever had.

I am really excited to move because the apartment is very spacious with three bedrooms, a full bathroom and big kitchen, and there are even some things left in it from the teacher who lived there before - a computer desk, coffee table, t.v., books, dishes, bathroom stuff, vacuum, microwave, toaster oven, fridge, washer, etc. Harry said if there is anything else we need he will ask around to his friends first and see if they might have an extra or one they are looking to get rid of. And he said we can use the bicycles there so we don't have to buy them. We don't have to pay a deposit, and normally the apartment is rented for $830/month, but since Andrew is working for the school, we only pay $530. It is a very nice place, something we can actually make into a little "home" with plenty of room for people to visit, and the balcony has a great view of the town. Right now we are basically living in the middle of a big city and so it will be comparable to moving to the suburbs. There are so many more trees in Hirakata, a park made for walking/running right next to us, a huge Zen temple, and then in town, all the stores we would ever need, including a Starbucks - woohoo! It's just perfect for us, and I really hope I get that job at Epion because it will be so convenient. Monday night we went out around Namba and saw some of the famous areas of the city where everyone likes to take pictures. There are tons of people and big bright lights everywhere. We had a couple of beers at a brewery there, dinner at that Australian place we went to before, and then walked around a beautiful park. It was a wonderful day...

Love you all,
A & A

Blog Start

Finally have internet back. Here is our first post and test.

Andrew