Friday, October 16, 2009
♥ Hmmm
There's about a million things I could write here about. Like how I spent four hours butt naked in front of of a bunch of strangers, or how I participated in a nine-person slumber party, or how I was called cute by two Japanese men who tried to guess my age at a bar... well that summarizes the past few days anywho. I've done nothing at school. I've planned, printed, and potty mouthed my way through the week, and I am VERY glad its the weekend. I just had a delicious little melon cake thing and signed up for one of the things I have been insanely excited about: The Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido!
http://www.snowfes.com/english/
I'm so stoked. There's no snow in Shizuoka, and I've always wanted to see a fuckton of snow. I've been in blizzards, but like 3 feet max, this will be crazy... and there will be snow and sledding and it's going ot be amazing! Hell if it costs $600, I don't care, I'm so excited. :)!!!
Speaking of trips, for Halloween I'm going to Tokyo first to see the rugby game between Australia and New Zealand, Halloween hijinks, and then to Disney Sea! eeeee! The weekend before that, aka next weekend, I'm volunteering at a Halloween and Thanksgiving camp for little kids and get paid $100 to do it, sweet. Despite the fact I'm descending into stage two culture shock of doom, I am excited about future prospects... just not the dwindling amount of my wallet. The 21st couldn't come soon enough for sure.
Ugh, too much cake.
--
My name is Kristina Manente, and I have endorsed this message.
http://www.snowfes.com/english/
I'm so stoked. There's no snow in Shizuoka, and I've always wanted to see a fuckton of snow. I've been in blizzards, but like 3 feet max, this will be crazy... and there will be snow and sledding and it's going ot be amazing! Hell if it costs $600, I don't care, I'm so excited. :)!!!
Speaking of trips, for Halloween I'm going to Tokyo first to see the rugby game between Australia and New Zealand, Halloween hijinks, and then to Disney Sea! eeeee! The weekend before that, aka next weekend, I'm volunteering at a Halloween and Thanksgiving camp for little kids and get paid $100 to do it, sweet. Despite the fact I'm descending into stage two culture shock of doom, I am excited about future prospects... just not the dwindling amount of my wallet. The 21st couldn't come soon enough for sure.
Ugh, too much cake.
--
My name is Kristina Manente, and I have endorsed this message.
3:56 PM
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
♥ Yaizu
I owe a lot of posts here, but instead let me placate you with pictures from my new home, Yaizu City.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024302&id=67100995&l=dd9627735d
I'll put up proper pictures of my neighborhood and such very soon.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024302&id=67100995&l=dd9627735d
I'll put up proper pictures of my neighborhood and such very soon.
3:46 PM
Thursday, October 8, 2009
♥ Typhoon #18
That is the official Japanese name of Super Typhoon Melor that decided to smack into Japan last night. Shizuoka generally escaped unscathed. We're extremely windy even now, and a tree was done on my street, but we don't have the horrendous flooding others parts of Japan have.
I've come to the conclusion that the stupid earthquake has cause a knee-jerk reaction of immobilizing fear whenever I hear the doors rattling of my apartment. It is the worst sound possible and it just makes me feel like such a child. I actually curled up in my ploosh and just kept asking for it to stop. I hate that sound. When I finally went upstairs around one in the morning, since the wind was really starting to pick up, as well as the rain, it only got louder. I did manage to sleep for around an hour or two before waking up to see my curtains blowing, except my doors weren't open. The wind was so strong it was pushing the glass and shoji doors and causing the curtains to blow. Weirdest thing ever. By 5am I couldn't take it anymore and was legitimately scared the doors were going to shatter, so I went into the spare room upstairs and slept on the floor. The way the wind was blowing, the windows there weren't in danger of breaking. I slept until 7:15 when my mum called me to see what was up. Checking the TV I realized Shiz was actually rather lucky. We got some rain, but other parts of Japan are flooding like crazy, rivers in the streets.
I've been through hurricanes before, but I was in elementary and middle school, so I had mom, candles at the ready, and I never really had to worry. I just hate the fact Japan has no damn insulation in their houses, so everything shakes, rattles, and rolls. Aagh. Well, the fact is, to my knowledge, everyone is fine. Yes, its still windy and I'm eying the tree that is being flung about outside my school staff room's window wearily. Morning classes are canceled (subsequently the only ones I had for today) so I have a free day to do fuck all.
I am going to take a nap on my desk.
I've come to the conclusion that the stupid earthquake has cause a knee-jerk reaction of immobilizing fear whenever I hear the doors rattling of my apartment. It is the worst sound possible and it just makes me feel like such a child. I actually curled up in my ploosh and just kept asking for it to stop. I hate that sound. When I finally went upstairs around one in the morning, since the wind was really starting to pick up, as well as the rain, it only got louder. I did manage to sleep for around an hour or two before waking up to see my curtains blowing, except my doors weren't open. The wind was so strong it was pushing the glass and shoji doors and causing the curtains to blow. Weirdest thing ever. By 5am I couldn't take it anymore and was legitimately scared the doors were going to shatter, so I went into the spare room upstairs and slept on the floor. The way the wind was blowing, the windows there weren't in danger of breaking. I slept until 7:15 when my mum called me to see what was up. Checking the TV I realized Shiz was actually rather lucky. We got some rain, but other parts of Japan are flooding like crazy, rivers in the streets.
I've been through hurricanes before, but I was in elementary and middle school, so I had mom, candles at the ready, and I never really had to worry. I just hate the fact Japan has no damn insulation in their houses, so everything shakes, rattles, and rolls. Aagh. Well, the fact is, to my knowledge, everyone is fine. Yes, its still windy and I'm eying the tree that is being flung about outside my school staff room's window wearily. Morning classes are canceled (subsequently the only ones I had for today) so I have a free day to do fuck all.
I am going to take a nap on my desk.
9:01 AM
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
♥ かんそう
It's raining.
And it will continue to rain. The sky is sort of this bland light gray that is neither dark nor sunny. If I didn't know better, I would say it looked as if it were about to snow. The rain is dripping down, landing on the back of your neck as it finally falls from the tip of your umbrella, causing you to shiver and try and move more underneath your already too-small coverage. The wind blows, but it does so in a stern breeze, no gusts yet. I wandered down to get some milk tea when I passed the office staff looking hazily out the window, staring at the sky, curious as to what it will do, perhaps a little eager for it to change. We're all wearing sweaters. It's cold, but not too cold. It's the chill before the storm. It's very quiet outside. I suppose that has to do with it too. The winds and rain roar down south, but here, it is quiet. I don't really like it when its too quiet. I get nervous, like something is wrong. When it is so quiet, the moment a noise comes it seems ten times louder than it is. Constant noise at least puts things in perspective.
My respect for Mother Nature has not waned, though I don't fear the typhoon as the media would like me to. Respect is not fear and fear is not respect. I have learned that.
The rain has stopped, if only for a few moments. Droplets of water peer off the leaves of trees, causing the leaves beneath them to bounce with the sudden weight, and thus propelling the droplet further down until it crashes into the ground, joining its companions.
Regardless of what happens, the teachers must arrive tomorrow, if only to prove they are the most devoted civil servants in the country. Even if one cannot see, they must come, or use their precious holiday time to excuse themselves. I have been told I am included and excluded from this. I haven't the faintest idea. In the end, I suppose, I am a teacher. In the end, however, I am also not. Why are the simplest decisions here so very difficult? And why is there a creepy elephant on my milk tea box?
I wonder what tonight shall be like.
I have an ideal vision.
I would be wrapped in my purple ploosh my mother and sister bought me, a cup of PG Tips in my hand, a book by my side, staring at the fire in a grand hearth, drowing out the sound of the storm bustling about my apartment and the port. However I have no fire place, nor PG Tips, and while I may have a book and the ploosh, its hardly quite as comforting as the whole picture. Alas, adaptation comes in many forms, even in the imagination.
Sometimes when I'm only half paying attention, Japanese sounds like Russian.
And it will continue to rain. The sky is sort of this bland light gray that is neither dark nor sunny. If I didn't know better, I would say it looked as if it were about to snow. The rain is dripping down, landing on the back of your neck as it finally falls from the tip of your umbrella, causing you to shiver and try and move more underneath your already too-small coverage. The wind blows, but it does so in a stern breeze, no gusts yet. I wandered down to get some milk tea when I passed the office staff looking hazily out the window, staring at the sky, curious as to what it will do, perhaps a little eager for it to change. We're all wearing sweaters. It's cold, but not too cold. It's the chill before the storm. It's very quiet outside. I suppose that has to do with it too. The winds and rain roar down south, but here, it is quiet. I don't really like it when its too quiet. I get nervous, like something is wrong. When it is so quiet, the moment a noise comes it seems ten times louder than it is. Constant noise at least puts things in perspective.
My respect for Mother Nature has not waned, though I don't fear the typhoon as the media would like me to. Respect is not fear and fear is not respect. I have learned that.
The rain has stopped, if only for a few moments. Droplets of water peer off the leaves of trees, causing the leaves beneath them to bounce with the sudden weight, and thus propelling the droplet further down until it crashes into the ground, joining its companions.
Regardless of what happens, the teachers must arrive tomorrow, if only to prove they are the most devoted civil servants in the country. Even if one cannot see, they must come, or use their precious holiday time to excuse themselves. I have been told I am included and excluded from this. I haven't the faintest idea. In the end, I suppose, I am a teacher. In the end, however, I am also not. Why are the simplest decisions here so very difficult? And why is there a creepy elephant on my milk tea box?
I wonder what tonight shall be like.
I have an ideal vision.
I would be wrapped in my purple ploosh my mother and sister bought me, a cup of PG Tips in my hand, a book by my side, staring at the fire in a grand hearth, drowing out the sound of the storm bustling about my apartment and the port. However I have no fire place, nor PG Tips, and while I may have a book and the ploosh, its hardly quite as comforting as the whole picture. Alas, adaptation comes in many forms, even in the imagination.
Sometimes when I'm only half paying attention, Japanese sounds like Russian.
10:48 AM
Thursday, October 1, 2009
♥ Let Me X-Ray Your Face... wait what?
I spent nine days roaming around Kyoto, Nara, and Shikoku... and while I will regale you with those tales of mischief, murder, and matcha at a later date, allow me to update you on my recent battle with the plague.
No sooner had I arrived on Shikoku to visit the darling and ever lovely Chen did I come down with a rare cough of doom and despair that left me unable to breath or function properly (I have come to the conclusion I become incessantly stupid when I get sick). I nearly lost my voice a few times and with the beauty of benadryl was able to normally function most of the time. That was until the last day when, getting up at the ungodly hour or 6, I attempted to refuel my body with the fascinating drugs when they decided to spill out of my body in an unpleasant way. Not only did I lose their magic power, but I deprived poor Crescenda of her last bits.
Worst. Guest. Ever.
We both decided, along with the ever correct health opinion of Mummy, that I should sleep a bit more and I eventually made my way back home later that day. 5.5 hours on a shinkansen is far too long.
I started to feel a bit better until Tuesday when, what I believe to be, allergies were just getting too much. So I wrote down my symptoms in Japanese and went to Smiley-sensei to ask if they were correct. However, before I could proceed any further, we shuffled off tot he health room and I had a doctors appointment later that day. My original intention in showing him was for me to leave early and go tot he drug store, but its funny how these things turn out. So around 2:30 we wound up at the clinic and i had my first experience with the Japanese Socialized Health Care system. It's quite efficient really. Originally we were supposed to get a time to come back, but they said to just wait a bit and only like 10 minutes later I was in the next room, and five minutes later I saw the doctor.
Opponents of socialized health care take THAT.
Smiley-sensei was my interpreter and explained everything I explained to him. The doctor was... interesting. Did the normal look down my throat thing (Interesting Fact: As in American we say "aaaahhh" when opening our mouths for the doctor, in Japan they say "eeeeehhhh"... it amused me), but then he put this tube up my nose and sprayed it with air and then stuck a stick up it. I swear I was about to me mummified. He hands it to the nurse and we never see it again, and then proceeds to tell me that he wants to x-ray my face. After I got over the shock of this and my confusion, I figured it was to see if I had a sinus infection. However, I've never had my face x-rayed before, so the poor nurse was having trouble trying to tell me what to do. Eventually I sort of balanced my head on this plate thing and looked up and it was done. We went into the second waiting room for all of like 3 minutes and then came back. He said I didn't have an infection but was putting me on five drugs. Apparently from the x-ray and what I said he deduced i had a cold and hay fever and they were mixing.
Anywho, woke up today feeling like hell so I called out and around lunch time Bakery-sensei called me and asked how I was doing and if she could get me anything. She's so sweet and if I had to pinpoint anyone, I'd say she's most likely the "mom" figure. I said I was fine and was very sorry about not being able to come in, but she said it was alright and for me to sleep a lot and she'd call again in the evening. I spend most of the day cleaning and making chicken noodle soup... which is rather bland, but oh well. Drank a lot of tea and around 6ish she calls again saying she is leaving school (just! gah, they work too hard) and if I needed anything. Since she was asking I asked if she could bring me orange juice and around a half hour later she arrives with an entire bag filled with orange juice, yogurt, and pudding for me, as well as Blueberry-sensei. They ask after me and tell me to drink a lot of tea, water, and to sleep a lot, and its okay if I don't come in tomorrow. Bakery-sensei said I looked better than she would have thought, though they were wary of my temp hitting 99.5 dun dun duunnn. Not quite a fever, but close.
It was just so sweet of them. Teachers here are so selfless and so dedicated. Even the vice-principal who I have to tell if I can or cannot come in gets so worried, and i know a lot of it is just the way Japanese react to sickness, but it makes me feel more comforted that they do worry about one another, and I'm included in that group.
I want to know where she got this orange juice from though, it's freaking delicious.
No sooner had I arrived on Shikoku to visit the darling and ever lovely Chen did I come down with a rare cough of doom and despair that left me unable to breath or function properly (I have come to the conclusion I become incessantly stupid when I get sick). I nearly lost my voice a few times and with the beauty of benadryl was able to normally function most of the time. That was until the last day when, getting up at the ungodly hour or 6, I attempted to refuel my body with the fascinating drugs when they decided to spill out of my body in an unpleasant way. Not only did I lose their magic power, but I deprived poor Crescenda of her last bits.
Worst. Guest. Ever.
We both decided, along with the ever correct health opinion of Mummy, that I should sleep a bit more and I eventually made my way back home later that day. 5.5 hours on a shinkansen is far too long.
I started to feel a bit better until Tuesday when, what I believe to be, allergies were just getting too much. So I wrote down my symptoms in Japanese and went to Smiley-sensei to ask if they were correct. However, before I could proceed any further, we shuffled off tot he health room and I had a doctors appointment later that day. My original intention in showing him was for me to leave early and go tot he drug store, but its funny how these things turn out. So around 2:30 we wound up at the clinic and i had my first experience with the Japanese Socialized Health Care system. It's quite efficient really. Originally we were supposed to get a time to come back, but they said to just wait a bit and only like 10 minutes later I was in the next room, and five minutes later I saw the doctor.
Opponents of socialized health care take THAT.
Smiley-sensei was my interpreter and explained everything I explained to him. The doctor was... interesting. Did the normal look down my throat thing (Interesting Fact: As in American we say "aaaahhh" when opening our mouths for the doctor, in Japan they say "eeeeehhhh"... it amused me), but then he put this tube up my nose and sprayed it with air and then stuck a stick up it. I swear I was about to me mummified. He hands it to the nurse and we never see it again, and then proceeds to tell me that he wants to x-ray my face. After I got over the shock of this and my confusion, I figured it was to see if I had a sinus infection. However, I've never had my face x-rayed before, so the poor nurse was having trouble trying to tell me what to do. Eventually I sort of balanced my head on this plate thing and looked up and it was done. We went into the second waiting room for all of like 3 minutes and then came back. He said I didn't have an infection but was putting me on five drugs. Apparently from the x-ray and what I said he deduced i had a cold and hay fever and they were mixing.
Anywho, woke up today feeling like hell so I called out and around lunch time Bakery-sensei called me and asked how I was doing and if she could get me anything. She's so sweet and if I had to pinpoint anyone, I'd say she's most likely the "mom" figure. I said I was fine and was very sorry about not being able to come in, but she said it was alright and for me to sleep a lot and she'd call again in the evening. I spend most of the day cleaning and making chicken noodle soup... which is rather bland, but oh well. Drank a lot of tea and around 6ish she calls again saying she is leaving school (just! gah, they work too hard) and if I needed anything. Since she was asking I asked if she could bring me orange juice and around a half hour later she arrives with an entire bag filled with orange juice, yogurt, and pudding for me, as well as Blueberry-sensei. They ask after me and tell me to drink a lot of tea, water, and to sleep a lot, and its okay if I don't come in tomorrow. Bakery-sensei said I looked better than she would have thought, though they were wary of my temp hitting 99.5 dun dun duunnn. Not quite a fever, but close.
It was just so sweet of them. Teachers here are so selfless and so dedicated. Even the vice-principal who I have to tell if I can or cannot come in gets so worried, and i know a lot of it is just the way Japanese react to sickness, but it makes me feel more comforted that they do worry about one another, and I'm included in that group.
I want to know where she got this orange juice from though, it's freaking delicious.
Labels: musings, sick, yaizu chuo
7:17 PM
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