A Big Hike With Some Good Friends

Today, I went on a big hike with Darryl, Caitlyn, our supervisor Nakagawa-san, and two of his friends. It was a blast. It was also one of the hardest workouts I've had in awhile! Which, I know, is kind of sad for me....I am so out of shape these days! We got up early...like 5:30 am! We caught a train to a town not far from here, then a short bus ride, then we were to our starting point. We started our hike at a beautiful looking lake/reservoir. (I hope to go back soon to try bass fishing!).


We proceeded up the mountain from there. It seemed easy at first. Then, it got more steep and more difficult. The weather was great and the trail was really pretty. We passed some streams and waterfalls which were beautiful.

After maybe three hours of hiking, we reached the summit. We ate lunch up there and took in the amazing view. We could literally see the ocean on one side and many, many cities linked together as we looked the other way. I couldn't believe how far we could see! We took it all in for a little while before we headed back down.




The hike down was the really hard part! My little chicken legs were shaking like jello! Thankfully, I had walking sticks to put some of the burden on my arms and shoulders. Also, the trail was so muddy and slippery and we were hiking in slick-bottomed New Balance tennis shoes...so we were slipping all over the place. The walking sticks were lifesavers for balance as well as taking some of the burden off of my legs. Caitlyn fell several times...laughing hysterically each time! It was pretty funny. After finally reaching the bottom....exhausted and trembling (me anyway)....we had the privilege of enjoying an onsen. It was so nice to shower off (in a hot shower I might add!) and soak my tired muscles in the warm water. Afterward, we headed off for home. It was a great day and one of my most treasured Japanese experiences so far! I hope to go again in the future on other hikes with Nakagawa-san and my friends....and hopefully Sarah can/will join in next time as well.

Japanese Boys in Love

My second day of school was another learning experience. Everyday the entire school has a cleaning period (for 15-20 minutes). It's actually a Japanese thing...all the kids in all schools have to do it. They all have designated areas and tasks such as sweeping, vacuuming, etc... Brilliant! Kids in the U.S. should have to do that! Plus, at the beginning of class, the students have to stand up, bow & say "good morning/afternoon" and then at the end of class they stand up again, bow and say "thank you" to the teacher. They are a very respectful culture!!

The kids are so funny here and they are always saying "Hi!" I feel like most of the boys have a limited vocabulary...some of them just say "I love you" and "Hello".

The girls are pretty up-front too. They are very complimentary and sweet. They like to try and speak English and they usually get excited to say something simple like 'Hello!' and then I usually ask 'How are you?' and they everyone ALWAYS answer 'I am fine.' I think that's the standard response they are taught because almost every kid says that answer (unless they try to step it up a notch....and say "I'm hungry or I'm tired!" Then, that's a bonus!)

Brandon and I have decided our favorite Japanese restaurant/type of food here is 'yakitori' (pieces of meat or vegetables on a stick...nothing too fancy about it). So, we were excited that we were going to a yakitori place for dinner tonight (we went with Darryl, Ira, and Deji...all guys from our apartment building).

This is the 2nd time we've eaten yakitori. Yumm!
This is a picture of grilled chicken and onions.

It was pretty good. Pork, onions, steak, garlic, chicken skins (not a big fan, but it was better than other stuff), mushrooms...all on the skewers. As long as it doesn't involve quail eggs or seafood....this food is pretty tasty!

~Sarah

Yogurt Won't Stop Me!

I made it to school on time, even after spilling yogurt down the front of my pants. So, for anyone else who tries adjusting an umbrella in the rain with yogurt in your hands...you will probably spill it ALL OVER YOU!

It was a big day at school for me because I had to give a speech in front of the whole school. That means everyone....more than 1,000 people. It really wasn't too nerve racking, though. I doubt they understood most of what I said anyways. Prime example: I used the word "rusty" to describe my Japanese speaking ability. I later found out that this word is very confusing to them. I have to constantly remember to simplify my English and talk slowly. It went alright....I just had to bow at the right times and I was good! Overall, good first day!

~Sarah

Night Conversation Class

We taught our first adult conversation class tonight! It's a side job that Brandon & I have; we teach English conversation to adult Japanese students. It was a lot of fun & we'll earn an extra $300/mo. We just have fun talking with interesting, nice people!

What is that white stuff?

I found out yesterday that I would have the next two days off. Correction, I have two days to "work at home."So, I started that by "working" on my sleep! I slept in and eventually made my way to the post office, grocery store, and bakery-- all by myself. That's the first time I've really ventured out alone. I didn't have any problems either.

In fact, I found baking powder! Brandon and I had grabbed a bag of what we thought was baking powder (it looked like the same white texture?), but we were never able to figure out what it said! Anyways, I asked a grocery store employee if they had it (in my very broken Japanese)...and they did!






After my bike ride home I decided to take a refreshing shower. Actually, it is only refreshing if you work up a sweat and have some kind of heat generating because it is a cool wake-up call.

I was excited about dinner because baking powder was the final ingredient for the flour tortilla recipe I had. Fajitas were a nice change of pace even though my tortillas had an odd looking shape to them. Delicious! However, "Rosas" sounds even better!

Kind Coworkers

It was my 1st day of work and Baba Sensei offered to pick me up (she is so sweet!). The car ride was about 15 minutes, so not bad at all! Just a side note: when you address a teacher, you add the word "Sensei" after their name. I go by "Sarah Sensei"....but most teachers use their last name. I know that sounds funny, but that's one of the many things Brandon and I are getting used to (having the word "sensei" attached to our name).



This is a picture of the teachers' Office. It's one big room and about 70 teachers have their desk in here, side-by-side. Off to the side are a couple of small rooms, one is a room with copy machines (no problems with the copiers so far!), the other is a coffee/tea room (the bottom picture).





Two other really helpful people are: Nakashima Sensei and Sano Sensei. They had tons of useful information, school-related and Japanese phrases for me to learn.

I met a few students throughout the course of the day...and I got my first marriage proposal from one of the boys. It caught me off guard and I told him I was already married and he said he wished that he would have been born earlier (I was surprised at how clever he was!).

I jumped right in and taught some English to the kids. They have a lot of trouble with "r,v,th,sh, and l". They gave great effort, though!

Baba Sensei was also so sweet to take me and help me get a bus card! In the middle of our trip, I had mentioned that I liked sweets and baked goods, so she decided to make a pit stop at a bakery! How awesome! On top of that, she had me pick something out...her treat! She went far above and beyond and I am very thankful for people like Baba Sensei. It was a refreshing 1st day of work...a welcoming environment for sure! Oh yeah, this last picture shows my desk and that pile of papers you see on the left was my first assignment (as a teacher). I had 350 essays to grade by next week!! Yikes!!

I caught the bus home and didn't realize I had to change buses, but thanks to the help of a random McDonalds' employee (obviously, she had her uniform on, so that's the only reason I knew that)...I got on the right bus. The help of strangers is something we have found to be extremely refreshing because without them...Brandon and I would be lost!

We watched "Hancock" at Darryl's apartment; there were about eight of us gathered around his laptop to watch it! My rating for the movie was an "ok"...kind of funny, but nothing special.

~Sarah

Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008: Lost Passport and Wallet!

Waking up late on the weekends is so nice and we were able to get a few things done around the apartment and then we wanted to go to the store. First, we biked to the bakery so we could get some thin sliced bread (that sounds weird, but it's hard to come by). After the bakery, we did some shopping at the grocery store.

Mode of transportation (equipped with a basket, bell & a headlight for biking after dark)

About half way home from the grocery store, Brandon noticed that his wallet...with his passport, $200 in cash, insurance card, credit card, bankbook, etc... was missing from his pocket! We both frantically biked back along the path we took to see if we could find where it was dropped. Not seeing it the whole way back, Brandon used charades to communicate to the cashier what he had lost and she joined the frantic search. I went over the bike path toward home to check again while Brandon looked at the store. Eventually, the cashier's husband happened to show up with his car and she instructed him to take Brandon to the police station (this was all in Japanese by the way...they spoke no English). The man drove Brandon to a police substation (which looks like a little one room box) near the train station on the path home. The man went in, used a little phone on the counter, and then some police in a car showed up within a couple of minutes. I'll let Brandon tell this part:

Okay. So I am feeling like a complete idiot for losing my wallet AGAIN after already losing it once in Mexico less than 2 months ago! And this time...it contained my passport! Anyway, when the police arrived at the substation...they talked back and forth with the cashier's husband in Japanese and somewhere in the conversation I heard "Eric-san" and "Texas". That was music to my ears. They walked me into the station, had me sit down, and then unlocked a cabinet drawer and pulled out my wallet! I was ecstatic! That meant that someone found my wallet, turned it into the police, they had locked it up and left the station all within about 20 minutes of me losing it! I was so happy! They knew it was obviously me and they returned it in exchange for a fingerprint and a signature. The money, passport, credit card, bank book (equivalent to a check book/visa card...important bank account book)....everything was there! The men gestured that I could go so I stood up and said "Thanks!" and turned to leave. I heard a "uh-humm!" behind me, so I turned around, and one of the cops pointed to my cell phone that I had left sitting on the counter...."idiot" is all I could think about myself....I'm sure that is what they were thinking! Then I tried to walk out...but couldn't seem to get the door to open. I pushed, then pulled, then finally figured out that it was a sliding door! Needless to say, I didn't give the police much confidence in the minds of Americans! Although embarrassed, I was extremely happy! Okay, I'll let Sarah take it back from here.

Brandon was on "Cloud 9" when he got home. With relief, we decided to go ahead and go down to GooDay "the hardware store" to get a few more things. This time, Brandon carried his wallet in his "murse" (man + purse= murse) for security. Thank goodness the hardware store isn't far, because we loaded those bikes down like crazy! We looked really goofy riding back with bags strapped down and wallpaper rolls sticking out every which way. Quite a sight! But you do what you can when you're only transportation is a bike!
















Brandon was really antsy for a haircut, he says all of the extra hair was making his head hot! haha! So, we borrowed clippers from a friend and I gave it a shot. It seemed easy enough, even though I had never done it before. I figured that it will grow back eventually if I make it too short....sure enough, I buzzed it. I didn't plan on it, but oh well, he at least he feels cooler now!
~Sarah

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008: Karaoke!

We slept in late and eventually got around to biking to the cell phone store (Softbank). I didn't have one yet and apparently it's quite a process! Brandon thought it was going to be impossible since we weren't able to take a Japanese speaker with us. Our solution was to bring Brandon's contract and the paperwork and I would need...we just presented that and pointed a lot! The whole process took a few hours, including those times we went across the street to the 100 yen store to shop, but I ended up walking out with a shiny blue new phone! We were very proud of ourselves (and once again, Brandon thought we wouldn't be able to do it...and it looks like I was right!).

Afterward, we met Ira, Caitlin, and Darryl for dinner. Ira ordered for all of us (which is typical since we don't know what we're doing) and we were brought several different dishes to share (very typical in Japanese dining). It was pretty decent overall, however, I didn't try the raw fish dish or some fried dish I didn't recognize. Brandon and I have come to the conclusion that we like having our very own dishes to eat without worrying about sharing. Actually, we constantly miss our American favorites like Cattle Call BBQ, Rosas, and Texas Roadhouse.


After dinner, we stopped at a "kombini" (convenience store) to get drinks and snacks for our night out at a karaoke place! Before walking in, a teenager hanging out in the parking lot with friends flagged me down because she wanted to have her picture taken with me. I think that was my first real dose of culture shock...it's crazy that some stranger would want a picture with me.



We got to the karaoke place and one of the guys reserved us a room. Pretty much, you come with a group of friends and rent out a private room with a karaoke machine and TV. It's pretty fun (even though I really, really don't like singing in front of people) and they had a great variety of American music...Shania Twain, the Beach Boys, ACDC, Otis Redding, etc... We brought our own food and drinks because it was cheaper. Ira, Darryl, Caitlyn, Brandon and I seemed to enjoy it for the 2 hours we reserved it for.
~Sarah






























Karaoke Fun! The top picture shows Caitlyn, Darryl, Ira & Brandon. Then, I jump in for the next picture. In the 3rd picture, Darryl's probably belting out 'Boys 2 Men' in this picture and then we sang Shania Twain's 'Any Man of Mine'...haha, actually, it was ALL Brandon!

Friday Aug. 22, 2008: A Busy Day and Hole in the Floor Toilets!

I didn't have training today, so I rode my bike to Brandon's work so I could meet him and then we could attempt to open my bank account. Luckily, the door greeter at the bank spoke great English! We were thrilled!! That makes a huge difference and it made the process much easier. She even gave us her personal phone number...people are so sweet! It is funny because Brandon was convinced that we wouldn't be able to set up an account...not only did we do that, but we also made a new friend in the process!


Later that afternoon, I had an appointment to visit my school, Kaho Koko High School, for the first time. Yukari (an employee from the OWLS office picked me up to take me there). We walked in the school, took off our shoes, and put on red visitor slippers to walk through the school. I met the principal, vice principal and a few English teachers. Pretty much the whole time I was just smiling and nodding. Yukari would sit there and talk to them (about me), meanwhile, I had no clue what was being said. It's an odd, helpless feeling. However, when I met some of the English teachers, they spoke good English (which makes sense, but apparently some don't speak very good English). Sano Sensei (you put the word "sensei" after a teacher's name, to acknowledge their title) was so energetic and she greeted me with "Welcome Aboard!" She may only be 4'8", but she is going to be a HUGE asset to my life at the school (I can already tell). The school is big! Over 1000 students. Sano Sensei was so polite, sweet, and kind. She even offered to give me a ride home.

Kaho Koko High School (I love looking at the mountains...such a great view!)
Side note: high schools over here only have three grades and they typically have to pass tests to get into them (it's not required to go to H.S.) & I will be teaching mostly first year students.

By the way, this whole time, Brandon was trying to get a hold of me because I had our one and only copy of our house key. He took the matter into his own hands...he went back to our apartment and tried to scale the building (we're on the 3rd floor). He didn't try too hard to be Spiderman because it was raining and he probably would have broken his neck if he fell. Yikes! I eventually got to his office (this is after he tried climbing). We both went home and the man from his office was able to come clean the junk off our balcony (which is why Brandon was so desperate to get in).


















We met up with JD and Cara for dinner in Hakata (about 45 minutes to an hour away by train). JD's Japanese expertise is so handy and he was able to track down a yaki torri restaurant. It was pretty good! Pork, chicken, bell peppers, cheese wrapped in bacon, potatoes...each on skewers. JD was able to order and communicate flawlessly with our waiter. We looked around for a coffee shop after that...coffee and pastries for dessert. Yummy! The only drawback to this fun night was that we dropped about $50 or 5000yen for everything...that is just how it is when we go out.

When we made it back to the station to catch the train, I used the bathroom...it was a 1st for me using their "hole in the floor" toilet. So, you have to really get good at squatting and they even had toilet paper (which I'm told may not always be the case).

These are just a couple examples of a typical "Japanese" toilet. The first one is at my school and the other at a restaurant! So, you guessed it... everyday I get a thigh workout, but at home, it's back to sitting because we have a "western converter." It's like putting a plastic potty over the hole in the floor.

~Sarah

Wed, Aug. 20, 2008: Sleeping on Trains

One thing you'll notice a lot...people sleep on the train. That may not sound unusual, but they way some people doze off looks really uncomfortable. They just shut their eyes and barely tilt their head down...sitting upright, of course. If that were me, my head would be nodding occasionally and probably start to ache from holding that constant position. Oh, and everyone is constantly listening to an iPod of some sort.

I am such an idiot. I got off the train when I wasn't supposed to, but I asked around (in my broken Japanese to get back on the right track.....it's sooooooo frustrating not knowing the language!!).

Training was pretty informative today. Afterwards, we had 2 hours to kill....so Cara (Parker), my new friend Shannon, and I went to an internet cafe for only 700 Yen...we had a private booth (each of us), complete with a comfy chair, computer, TV and free drinks, slushies, popcorn, and/or soup! How cool is that?! Quite relaxing and awesome! Even though we passed some guy (in one of the booths) who was looking at naked girls....eewwww! I mean, I just happened to glance around and I sure didn't expect to see that! Anyways...I think I could have even taken a shower at the place or paid more for a night's stay! Crazy! Plus, they have tanning beds and nail salon services.

We then went to to our welcoming party. It was really a lot of fun...I got to meet a few new people and spend lots of time talking to a couple of different guys about Australia and the best places to visit (like Cannes is the cheapest in December, because it rains a lot and it's hot, hot, hot...Sydney's a big city atmosphere, and expensive...Brisbane has Steve Irwin's zoo not to far from it...Perth is pretty buy probably expensive to get to). It got me really pumped about visiting sometime!

Welcome Party (me, Shannon, Saiko, Neil, Cara)

It's crazy that I've officially been here a week, it seems like its been longer.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008: Train talk

It was pouring outside this morning. It let up just as we were about to bike to the train station and then another round of showers. At this point, we have our umbrellas in tow, however, Brandon and I only have 13-14 minutes to walk to the station. I start panicking that I wouldn't be able to make my train. Then, it got down to 12 minutes or so, so we caved in and Brandon called a taxi. It was about $7 and I got there with 5 minutes to spare...however, my bills were too large for the machine....so I went inside the ticket office, waited in line, and missed the train I had planned on! Thank goodness for cellphones and internet! I called Brandon and he was able to look up, in English (Hyperdia.com is a lifesaver. We can find out train times and train station connections), when the next train was. My last train even had a couple of guys from "OWLS" (the company I work for) that I recognized. So, that was comforting to know I was on the correct train and we got there early. Edem and Shaun (the guys I talked to on the train) are pretty funny and they were real familiar with Japan...so they had stories to tell. Apparently, the crime in Okinawa is pretty rough with the marine crowd being there. On the other hand, I've seen pictures of some of their beaches...crystal clear water, paradise-type of landscape. Some people call Okinawa the "Hawaii" of Japan. I want to go there!!

Okinawa, Japan

Training was pretty uneventful, although we did get our own business cards! On my train ride home, I was more observant of the towns we passed. It seemed like no matter the size of the house...they still hung their clothes to dry. You would think someone would by a dryer (I have yet to see it...of course I haven't seen any multi-million dollar homes either). Brandon and I made sure to stay up late so we could make some phone calls via Skype (wonderful technology!! We can call the U.S for only $6/mo. and for people who have Skype...we can both dial from our computers and talk for free). I called Mom and my surgeon, Dr. Langley (I still haven't felt right, since the surgery).

Monday, August 18, 2008: Taco Yaki

I woke up ready to go this morning, yet a little nervous to ride the train by myself. However, it worked out and as soon as I walked out of the Kokura station, JD Parker (our friend from Texas who is studying at a local university) was right there waiting to show me to the building and floor. It totally caught me off guard because I didn't expect to see him...he had dropped his wife, Cara, off and was going to venture back to Fukuoka to get some paperwork taken care of.

When I walked in the training session, I spotted Cara right away! There are only a few of us girls in a group of 30. Several from the States, some from England, Australia, Jamaica, Papa New Guinea, Scotland...several countries are covered! The training session was pretty fun and helpful...this guy, Neil, behind us was funny and informative...he's been there a long time. His wife is Japanese and he is British.

Brandon's friend, Ira, has a Japanese friend, Yuni, with a car. So a group of us went to see "Dark Knight" at a mall about 20 minutes away. We got there early and grabbed something to eat...I tried octopus for the 1st time (it's called "taco yaki"). There were bits of octopus, mixed with a creamy sauce...in a fried ball of dough...not really sure what it's called, but it wasn't awful. Put it this way...I would probably try it again, but I'm not tempted to order a whole plate of it! They all (Caitlyn, Ira, Yuni and Brandon) laughed at me for making a weird face the whole time I was eating it. Yummm! We then saw the movie and I was totally freaked out by Heath Ledger's character, "Joker"...and really by some of the realistic tones of the movie. It was well made, but no a fan of the fear factor. Everyone else liked it.

~Sarah

Sunday, August 17, 2008: Kokura culture

I'm spoiling Brandon because today I made French toast (minus the cinnamon and powdered sugar)...still good! We wanted to try the train again (for a trial run) today, so we planned to catch the 2:47 pm one. Meanwhile, we rode our bikes to "GooDay"...the hardware store...just a few minutes away from our apartment. It's got a Home Depot feel to it but also a twist of Wal-Mart (maybe not those low prices, but the added variety of items is similar to Wal-Mart). We saw anything from grills, fans, cleaning supplies, curtains and shoes to pet food, picture frames, home decor and chairs. Very handy for when we want to fix-up a few things in our apartment.

We had an hour to kill, so next stop: "Daiso". It's what they call the 100 Yen store...translation: Dollar Store! Music to my ears...finally a spot to get a bargain! We looked for a while and found just about everything you could find in a dollar store back home...snacks, stationary, kitchen items, toiletries, spray paint, hair accessories...all kinds of stuff. We didn't buy anything because we didn't want to carry it all day long.

We rode to the 7-Eleven next (there are tons of those around), to grab something to eat before we caught our train. I got a Jell-O fruity cup with a piece of chocolate swirl bread (with chocolate chips) and Brandon got some beef noodles meal (they even heat it up for him).

Figuring out the train wasn't too bad...thanks to Brandon. We rode for about an hour and 1/2 and made our one train connection without problems. The landscape is really gorgeous...lots of lush, green fields, rice fields, plenty of tree-covered mountains. Brandon also showed me parts of the mountain where it had been stripped for minerals.

Train ride to Kokura and this is the heart of the city!

Once we arrived in Kokura, it took me a matter of 10 minutes to find my building, extremely easy (which is a rare occasion...to call anything easy over here). We had read about Kokura Castle on our way over, so we decided to navigate and find it before it closed.

Kokura Castle & gardens

It was probably a 20 minute walk from the train station, right in the middle of the city...equipped with a moat and garden off to the side. We were the last people they let in the doors and we had 1/2 hour to walk through.

It was an interactive museum throughout the interior of the castle walls, climbing all the way to the top floor...pretty amazing view of the city...some of the windows were even open, so you could really look down and see how high the castle stands. We were pretty tuckered out by the time we got to the bottom again.

We walked back through this outdoor mall and saw ladies in Kimonos teaching kids how to dance around in a circle. They were playing music and speaking on a microphone, so it seemed pretty lively.

It looked fun, so I started taking pictures...which apparently drew attention to me. The guy on the mic put me in the train of kids and explained the steps (in English) along the way. After Round 1, I was ready to leave my humiliation behind, because a crowd was gathered around watching...Oh no! The ladies on stage wanted me up there with them, so....for another song, I proceeded to stumble through several "High 5's" after my second performance and then they allowed me to dart off, with Brandon laughing and saying how cute I looked. Ridiculous is more like it!

We were almost out of the mall when a little old lady caught up with us. She rambled off all kinds of Japanese while she was motioning for me to come back to the dancing area. Oh no! I wasn't about to embarrass myself again! However, a younger guy met us on our walk back and it turns out, both of them were wanting us to know that we got coupons for a free snow cone. So, my dancing efforts paid off! Both of us were drained by the time we got back home...train ride and bike ride from there.