Sorry I haven't posted in a while...things have gotten quite busy lately!
I've spent a lot of my time buying groceries and home supplies. Although my apartment was supposed to be 'furnished', I've had to buy a lot more things than I thought I'd need to buy. Such insanely high start-up costs! >.< To combat this, I've found that dollar stores are the best place to buy miscellaneous goods, although they are also dangerous because you often feel the need to buy stuff that you don't really need there. The 100 yen store in my area is 2 stories tall! So...much...interesting junk...
And I don't know if you guys saw the other video, but I did get a futon! I'm not sleeping on the ground anymore (although it really wasn't all that uncomfortable). Emma took me out to go get that futon and my temporary residence paper (juminhyou). It's so nice that she's willing to go out of her way to help all of the ALTs in Southern Nagano while we're settling in. She said she knows it's difficult living before you get your cell phones (etc) sorted out.
Later that day, I had my first enkai (work party). It was to welcome me and to say thank you to my predecessor, Steven. The food was good and it was an all-you-can drink (nomihoudai). I mostly had non-alcoholic beverages, although I did try wine. I didn't know wine was so strong...not enough to get me buzzed, but enough to know that it would be potentially dangerous if I had more haha Anyways, after eating, there were lots of toasts and moving speeches (possibly alcohol-fueled). One of my co-workers, Kasahara-sensei, was very emotional! I think she's really gonna miss Steven. Anyways, I learned from the enkai that I'm going to be working with what seems like a great group of people! I can't let them down!
Other than that, Emma and Daniel took me and another ALT, Liz, to the famous place in my area called the Komagatake Ropeway. Basically, we take a long bus ride up to an area where we get take a gondola to a higher part of the mountain. From there, you can hike to the top of Mt. Komagatake! It was tiring, but not even close to how tiring climbing at Yosemite was... (I'm cringing just thinking about that...). We got to the halfway point, Nakadake, but didn't continue to the top of Mt. Komagatake because the fog rolled in. Bummer. But, this gave us enough time to go back to Mori to Mizu lake and play in the river! On the bus ride back down the mountain, Liz and I made faces at a little Japanese kid, who kept turning around and staring at us. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention haha We had a blast entertaining him, but he left without saying goodbye! To quote Liz "I thought we had something...we shared a moment!!" Anyways, after lazing around at the river, we went to Cafe Goo's again! I ordered "Indian Spaghetti" and it was really good...but nothing about it was Indian...it was just like curry over spaghetti. Someone else ordered a waffle later and let me try a little bit. I may or may not have an obsession with Japanese waffles now! It was sooooo good. I can't eat those often though or I'll get huge-normous! >.<
Speaking of huge-normous, I found the biggest bruise on the back of my arm today. No idea where it came from, but wow! It scared me a bit haha xD
These past few days at work have been very slow. Everyone is taking paid leave because of the holidays (it's Obon Period, which is a holiday to honor your elders), so many people are not here. It's difficult to get into the English room sometimes! I'm one of the only teachers at school now. =/ Kinda strange being at work but having nothing to do...
Anyways, that's it for now! I'll upload more pictures soon. Keep your fingers crossed that I receive my Residency Card in the mail soon!!
I've spent a lot of my time buying groceries and home supplies. Although my apartment was supposed to be 'furnished', I've had to buy a lot more things than I thought I'd need to buy. Such insanely high start-up costs! >.< To combat this, I've found that dollar stores are the best place to buy miscellaneous goods, although they are also dangerous because you often feel the need to buy stuff that you don't really need there. The 100 yen store in my area is 2 stories tall! So...much...interesting junk...
And I don't know if you guys saw the other video, but I did get a futon! I'm not sleeping on the ground anymore (although it really wasn't all that uncomfortable). Emma took me out to go get that futon and my temporary residence paper (juminhyou). It's so nice that she's willing to go out of her way to help all of the ALTs in Southern Nagano while we're settling in. She said she knows it's difficult living before you get your cell phones (etc) sorted out.
Later that day, I had my first enkai (work party). It was to welcome me and to say thank you to my predecessor, Steven. The food was good and it was an all-you-can drink (nomihoudai). I mostly had non-alcoholic beverages, although I did try wine. I didn't know wine was so strong...not enough to get me buzzed, but enough to know that it would be potentially dangerous if I had more haha Anyways, after eating, there were lots of toasts and moving speeches (possibly alcohol-fueled). One of my co-workers, Kasahara-sensei, was very emotional! I think she's really gonna miss Steven. Anyways, I learned from the enkai that I'm going to be working with what seems like a great group of people! I can't let them down!
Other than that, Emma and Daniel took me and another ALT, Liz, to the famous place in my area called the Komagatake Ropeway. Basically, we take a long bus ride up to an area where we get take a gondola to a higher part of the mountain. From there, you can hike to the top of Mt. Komagatake! It was tiring, but not even close to how tiring climbing at Yosemite was... (I'm cringing just thinking about that...). We got to the halfway point, Nakadake, but didn't continue to the top of Mt. Komagatake because the fog rolled in. Bummer. But, this gave us enough time to go back to Mori to Mizu lake and play in the river! On the bus ride back down the mountain, Liz and I made faces at a little Japanese kid, who kept turning around and staring at us. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention haha We had a blast entertaining him, but he left without saying goodbye! To quote Liz "I thought we had something...we shared a moment!!" Anyways, after lazing around at the river, we went to Cafe Goo's again! I ordered "Indian Spaghetti" and it was really good...but nothing about it was Indian...it was just like curry over spaghetti. Someone else ordered a waffle later and let me try a little bit. I may or may not have an obsession with Japanese waffles now! It was sooooo good. I can't eat those often though or I'll get huge-normous! >.<
Speaking of huge-normous, I found the biggest bruise on the back of my arm today. No idea where it came from, but wow! It scared me a bit haha xD
These past few days at work have been very slow. Everyone is taking paid leave because of the holidays (it's Obon Period, which is a holiday to honor your elders), so many people are not here. It's difficult to get into the English room sometimes! I'm one of the only teachers at school now. =/ Kinda strange being at work but having nothing to do...
Anyways, that's it for now! I'll upload more pictures soon. Keep your fingers crossed that I receive my Residency Card in the mail soon!!
So you finally get a taste of the awesome food produced in Asia. Master Chef isnt Master Chef for no reason. He has inherited the will of food hahahaha
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