Thanksgiving

Pics from today, our ex-pat Thanksgiving in Japan.

We were at the apartment of Jenn and Brendan, who are friends of Lizbet, who's my friend from church. So I guess I can call them friends of friends? Anyway, their apartment is amazing. It's huge. The kitchen is huge, and the dining and living room are not only adequate for a party of up to nine people but downright spacious. Supposedly this apartment building was built with ex-pats in mind. Whatever that means.

We didn't have turkey, but we did have chicken with homemade gavy, and mashed potatoes and vegetables and other sides. People laughed at my "Japanese portions," but it was quite good. I had a small glass of white wine with dinner, and it took a while to wear off. Luckily I didn't end up going drinking tonight too, or going to work tomorrow would be a real pain!

From left to right, Olivia, Lizbet's husband, me, Brendan, Lizbet, and Anne Laurel.

After dinner we pretty much just hung around, discussed music preferences, and played trivia games. A major plus is that the place had wifi, and I was finally able to register my new nook with glowlight! This is definitely something to be thankful for. Thanks, mom!

As if I hadn't had enough food that day, I ended up doing a late dinner with one of my Sharehouse friends. We ate Tenpura Soba, so I guess this counts as trying both at once. This dinner turned out a little awkward, since I don't speak much Japanese and he spoke minimal English, so there was a lot of pointing, guessing, and Google translate. Looking at photos also helped. Well, asking a foreigner to dinner when you can't speak their language takes more guts than I honestly have.

Japanese notes of the day--

Jen: Does anyone want some ice cream?
Me: (Nodding emphatically) Nnnn!
Jen: (laughs) You sound Japanese

Also, I've learned that the correct intonation for "Sumimasen" can be very similar to the American "Hey, you!"

Settling in...Maybe

Last night I had my first detailed nightmare about work. Not just being late or not having the books, but I was actually in the middle of a lesson and I had only taught two sentences, and neither related to the lesson goal. So I guess this means the mindset of the Berlitz lesson has sunk deep into my subconscious.

Now that I actually have a place, my feelings are half "Argh I never want to move again!" and half "Next October is a long, long time away..."

I still have dreams where I wake up at home without the trouble of airplane travel. I miss everybody back in Fremont! It would also be nice to see all the old places again, and go shopping in a store where people speak English.

Some Halloween Pics

Looks like both I and my family back home got up to some fun on Halloween...

There's Dad, William, and Hobbes waiting for trick or treaters.

Luckily, my hostel had a Halloween party on the Saturday before Halloween! Even though I work on Saturday, I got off work in time to go to the party after. I even met a friend from church (Mitaki Green Chapel) who was staying at the hostel for one night. What a coincidence!

Everyone thought the police outfit was very cool. And about five people wanted pictures with themselves being handcuffed by me. It was a little awkward when someone's brother-in-law turned out to be a real member of the Japanese police force...but I don't think he was offended by the slightly irreverent outfit.

In Japan people like the Halloween stuff, but there aren't really any traditions for celebrating it. I said there wasn't enough candy at the party, and was told "But candy is for kids! We're adults so we have alcohol!" Maybe candy flavored alcohol would be a big Halloween seller in Japan...

Top 3 Reasons for Not Writing Blog Posts

3. Stuff is either not interesting or too complicated.

2. Teaching sucks up all of my English skills.

1. "Meh" is not a good attitude for writing blog posts. "Meh" is probably the best attitude I can come up with at the moment.

Hiroshima!

At long last I am finally free of Ark and checked into my Hostel in Hiroshima. Training starts on Tuesday, so I will probably spend the weekend reading the pre-training materials and shopping around for more business clothes. And pumps. Real pumps.

Of course, Hiroshima is a beautiful city, and I think there will be lots to do here. One thing I definitely want to do is check out one of the churches on Sunday. There's also a cool-looking art gallery downtown. Wonder whether I'll have time to make it down to Miyajima and the floating gate...

The hostel is very clean and new-looking. Mostly like a really nice college dorm. Pics will come later. However, I do have to admit that the four-bed dorm is slightly smaller than my own bedroom back home. Apparently, things ARE tinier in Japan.

Already met a nice French man in the lobby studying Hiragana. I told him in French that I spoke a little french, but rather badly. :)

I did get a little nostalgic for Innoshima on the bus going over. I kept thinking, "Goodbye Ikuchi bridge! Goodbye cafe I never went into! Goodbye Daiso! Goodbye freaky weird dinosaur!"

The Suit

Well, I've got a job interview in Hiroshima on Sunday, which is good news overall in my job search. However, I've spent the last few days worrying about how I'm going to find a suit (at least one), since I didn't need to wear a suit at Ark and consequently didn't buy any before I left. :P Planning...It's never about what you think you'll need.

This morning I'm happy because I managed to drive over to the mainland and buy a suit!

That doesn't sound like much, I know...But to do that I needed to A) decide which city and which store to go to, after receiving conflicting advice from several different people, B) navigate over two bridges and through an intersection with several bypasses, where many of the signs were in kanji, and C) communicate with a salesclerk where our pool of common words ranged at about 5.

This could have gone horribly wrong in so many ways...But actually it turned out to be really easy. Turns out I CAN drive over freeways in a foreign country. And the store was easy to find and had good selection--and helpful people, even if we didn't speak each others' language.

So I ended up going to a more upscale place to get a more expensive suit, but overall it was worth it. $200-$250 is what you'd expect to pay anyway, and more importantly, they had my size! Every department store I've been too has been swamped in mediums and larges, so good luck finding anything smaller than a size 9 in the suit section. Maybe no one can wear those sizes in Japan so the smalls sell out super quick?

I finished much earlier than my estimations, so afterwards I drove down the road a bit and had lunch at a shopping mall, where I also found a few gifts to take home. I didn't even get lost on the way back!

Change in Plans

Well, due to some conflicts at my present school, looks like I will be applying to work at an adult conversation school in Japan. I will miss the friends I have made here in Innoshima, but I think this will be a good opportunity to do more of the teaching work I enjoy the most.

Not sure where I will be teaching yet--maybe a chance to see more of Japan!