Residual Photos

Oooh, blogspots layout is completely changed!!!!! Let me see if I can figure this out... :)

Here are some pictures from my last trip, in February.  But seriously, all I want to decide upon is WHEN AM I GOING BACK!  I really need Yumi-chan or Serai-sensei to get married and invite me, so I have a good excuse to go back!!!   

What other excuses can ya’ll help me come up with!? And does anyone know if Japanese high schools have high school reunions, because I really want to be at the 10 year reunion of BOSHO, CLASS OF 2012.

Anyways, here are my photos, and little blurbs on each (if I feel like it)

 This was from Day 5 of my trip. We had a little get together at Zen in Hofu. It was wonderful. I LOVE Zen's food, and the friends are good too ;)

 Above is another Steffanie-styel get together at Tsubohachi.

 Happened to see Markus and company while walking down the street! I love Serendipity!

 Above and below is from the 2012 Hofu International friendship day. :) I'm very happy that it went on while I was there I love Kimiko (bottom picture on the right) who is one of the sweetest Japanese ladies in the land!

Another get together at Karubi. Lol, yes, everything revolves around food!

 Above, meeting up with my old Japanese class. I think I met most of the people and groups that I wanted to. What a fulfilling trip.

Above- It looks so quiet eh? This is the street that I was attacked on!!! Probably about a year ago today!  Glad that it didn't scar me too much. I still strolled that street when I went back .... I wonder what my attacker is up to now. :/  

  Below--On the last day, while I was flying out, I saw Noriko! Totally by chance at NARITA. It's a really small world. 

Missing Japan,

Steffie

Natsukashii!

Hi! I'm just sitting here working on my homework...homework that is already 4 days late, eeeek! But I'll be done with it in another hour or so, so I wanted to post real quick while I'm thinking about it, and thinking about it so intensely!

I really really miss Japan! As you probably know I took a trip there from February 25th through March 10th. It worked out wonderfully. My jobs were fine with my absence (although my students were excited to have me back, their sub wasn't good I hear [hahha a sub for a sub--I'm essentially a long-term sub]) <---wow, that was a lot of thoughts within thoughts. (-_-)

I miss my friends so much! Yoko, Jennie, all of you! P.S. Porschla there, represented by half a head on the right SAVED MY LIFE by quickly obtaining a tax form for me that was floating around the school office.

I miss my school and my kids! I'm very happy that I keep in contact with some of them via Facebook. I am pretty confident that I will meet many of my former students again. I'm excited to see what they do with their life! It's funny because when I say "my kids" I'm also including some of Christina's kids. Christina/Porschla/Me have the best kids in all of Japan! Below is me in my old quad at the school. I never saw anyone go on that quad, so I felt very scandalous running out there for a picture. But then I was told by Porschla that some students now eat lunch out there (reminder-porschla is my beautiful replacement)

I miss just living in Japan, having my cool Japanese friends, being able to walk over to meet them, walk back and have so much fun. My boyfriend just took a trip to London, and was complaining about how much driving we have to do here because everything is so spread out. And I'm like. Yes.

Sad Day, Happy Day

So, this is still day 4, but not the graduation part. After graduation Porschla (my replacement who is SUPER COOL), Andy (the private ALT that works at Hofu Shogyo) and I went out for lunch. We ended up at Ramen, so I thought I'd just have to eat rice and have a beer...but this ramen shop was able to substitute the soup base for a dashi-base (fish base--I don't eat pork and stay away from land based animals...)

I was so excited, and it was so yummy!!

Then we had to meet Christina at the station (Hofu Station) at 12:30 because she was off to New York!!!!! You guys don't understand how terrible this is! I am staying at her place now, and it's so lonely without her. She's my bestie in Japan and I only got a few days with her! She is in New York now for medical school interviews. I hope you get your top choice Christina!!! You are wonderful!

After seeing Christina off, Porschla and I went back to Hofu Shogyo to talk to as many students as we could. It was great. :) Everyone was so interested in my new boyfriend. :) It has been demanded that I bring him back to Japan with me soon. Okay! Done!

In the evening, I went to Hofu Shogyo's Graduation Enkai. I felt so honored to be invited. It's only for teachers, but they invited this former teacher and I had the most amazing time ever! It was honestly the most fun enkai I've ever attended. The food was still strange (see below) but it was different somehow. Maybe because I'm not a teacher anymore, I didn't mind being more personal with the teachers. Asking questions I never would have asked before. Finding out all the gossip. It was great. :)

Everyone had a great time. The game of the night was a mini-laughing championship. Because I am the 2009 laughing champion (See here for information) they asked me to demonstrate the way of the laugh in front of all the teachers. No warning. Just show them. haha. I am always game. Besides that I just had a great time eating, drinking and being merry. With a lot of Japanese people. :D

I was also happy to be invited to the nijikai (the second party) which sometimes is secretive. Secretive because often the men break off into a seedy location and the women go home. This time it was a non-seedy (mostly) location that 15 of us went to. :) One of the many Lupan's of the city, where you can karaoke and have light snacks and drinks.

It was a crazy night. I won at darts (yeah!!). I Karaoke'd but more importantly watched my old co-workers go at it CRAZY style! They are so fun! Shigemoto sensei seemed like he was on crack with his tambourine hitting, and there was even a little throwing up from he who shall not be named. :) I love my school. My old school. Waaaaaa! I'm applying for JET when I become eligible again in 2 years! Hofu, I'm requesting you! :)

Lastly, here is the video of when I was asked to say a few words without warning. Hehe. I didn't know what to do, so I put the phone down and so most of the video is looking at the ceiling. But you can hear me. When the crowd goes crazy at the end, it's because I made a heart shaped gesture. Happy Hofu days! Bye bye!

そつぎょうしき見に来た Graduation Time!!

HOFU STUDENTS, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! I miss being your teacher! I love you!

HOFU TEACHERS, YOU ARE SOOO WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for making me feel so welcome to come back, and inviting me to your graduation parties even though technically I shouldn't be invited. :)

Day 4 here was graduation. Graduation for my old high school students was to be the highlight of my trip. I hadn't forgotten how extremely boring Japanese graduations are, but I had forgotten how COLD the room is. I didn't have the luxury of being bored because I was too freezing!

Even though I talk like this, I'm not saying I'm unhappy I came. I'm just like this girl and boy below... Like, let's get to the good stuff!

The good stuff came before and after the actual ceremony because I got to see the kids. Some of the classes screamed with excitement when I popped my head in. I brought all the third years American candy, and just wanted to wish them all a happy future. (btw, the 3rd years are the ones that graduated...high school in Japan is only 3 years). I got to talk to many students, and found out where they are going to college and what their future plans are. Also, on graduation day I had to friend at least 20 students on Facebook....They are just SUCH GREAT PEOPLE. I really really love them.

One class that knew I was coming had another scrapbook gift ready for me. It had pictures and letters from each of them. It's no wonder I love my old students. Wouldn't you want to come back for such thoughtful people too?

This day was really really quite wonderful for me. It made my whole trip worth it. The ceremony itself may be boring, but to see the students cry after, and be able to talk to them again made the whole trans-pacific flight sans reclining chair ability worth it.

Here's me and my old supervisor, who I partied with into the night at our graduation enkai, but more on that later. :) She is one of many amazing teachers at Hofu Shogyo. Une sensei is like a mother to me, and Iwamoto sensei is so nice. Akimoto sensei is Ikemen and Katsunoi is my type of crazy! Even the non-English teachers really took me in, on graduation day and back when I was employed here. Being cool doesn't know a language barrier, and everyone at Hofu Shogyo is just so cool.

The video above shows my school song. I hope I don't ever forget it! Nostalgia ですね...

Now, I do have one more graduation ceremony to attend this Friday the 9th (my old special needs school does it later all regular high schools which have a set graduation time of 10:00am on March 1st). I think my Friday will be just as good if not better, because this school has NO idea I'm coming, and they loved me there, maybe even more than this school. I just didn't go as often, but still has a big piece of my heart. I'm excited! Yay! Cheers :)

Homebody

My third day here was a beautiful Wednesday. I mention that because after Wednesday the weather changed and it is rainy and cold and gross now. I mean, it was still cold on Wednesday, but it was bright and cheery. Anyways...the cold.... I mean anyways, day 3. :)

I did a lot of homework. Or tried to. It's hard when there is Facebook to peruse and pictures to upload etc etc. But got some work done. I decided to get out of the house because it was such a beautiful day. I did some shopping. I was going to bring my computer over to Cafe Glebe to do homework on their wi-fi and drink some delicious coffee. But I found out that Glebe is closed on Wednesdays, so I stopped at the conbini on the way home. I love conbini's. The picture to the right just warms my soul. I miss onigiri (the triangle things that is rice filled with various things like tuna, or seaweed, or whatever).

I also got Oden. Oden is something that I never thought I would try, and then when I did try it, I hated it. But it, like many things in Japan, grew on me. One thing that turned me off is that it is a soup that is just served from these big vats. I felt like people could come cough on it or something. I guess they could, but this is Japan...I think people respect the zone of the Oden vat. :) It was very good to chop on a cold winter day. Read more about Oden here: click.

In the evening I accompanied Christina to her adult English conversation class. I used to teach this class, and I wanted to surprise them. They were surprised and excited. I gave them all American candy, and updated them on my life. They were suppose to update me on theirs, but they were maybe too shocked to see me back in Hofu, and couldn't think of what to tell me. I miss this class. My good friends Gretchen and Anna used to teach the same class. They always mention how much they miss this class, years later. Must mean that these are some cool people. :)

When I left UNESCO, I went straight to Jennie's place for some natsukashii time (...like...nostalgia time)!!! Jennie made a beautiful dinner, and we watched the newest Christmas episode of Doctor Who together. I liked it a lot. I think I was suppose to wait, to watch it with them, so I kind of kept it on the down low that I already watched it with my boyfriend. :) I cried just as much the second time. The Christmas episodes are always super corny, but it was good. All of you who know me well know that I don't like Christmas episodes of ANYTHING, but I can at least handle the doctor.
It was a really great day. It feels so good to be back in Hofu. I will be fine going home again as long as I can take Jennie and Yoko with me! Okay guys? And Christina. And Steph. Uh-oh, this list could get long. :) Bye bye!

"It's 2 in the morning, eeerybodys getting freaky"

Okay, no one is getting freaky. Catchy song though. LOL. It was playing in a restaurant I ate in today...

Day 2....

I had a great great great 2nd day on my trip. Did a lot of homework. Not nearly enough. I'm going to be hurtin' for certain when it is all due this Sunday. But I do love the credentialing program I'm in....CalStateTEACH through Cal State Fullerton. If you are interested in teaching, you should check it out. Anyways, boring homework aside, I had lunch with Porschla and Christina at Karubi Yakiniku. 懐かしい！

In the evening, I went with Sarah, Christina and Noriko to the onsen. The Onsen at Aio beach is very nice. I think I've been there four times now. Onsen's are like hot springs baths. You have to scrub off very well before going in, and even the scrubbing part is in a wide open shower area. I've always wanted to sit naked on a bucket in front of a half a dozen old Japanese ladies... heheh. It took me a long while to get used to the concept of Onsens, but going to the onsen is one of the things I miss most about Japan. It's so relaxing, and there is something special about it that I can't put my finger on.

Read more about onsens here: click

Yoko, Christina and I did a little karaoking on Tuesday evening. Where in America can you pay fifteen dollars for unlimited karaoke time in a private room with all-you-can-drink included??? Sometimes Japan is just marvelous. Although I don't really believe in 飲み放題 anymore...too dangerous. All you can drink should only be like a once in a lifetime thing.... ;O

It was a lot of fun, even though Christina didn't want to hear me sing Mandy Moore (lolol) and I heard enough Funky Monkey Babies to last me 5 lifetimes. :D

I love you guys!

See you for updates on my day 3!

The Return~Day 1 (2/26~2/27, 2012)

So, I came back to Hofu in order to watch my babies graduate. I love my san-nensei students. They are graduating tomorrow (March 1st) and I just couldn't miss it! I also came back to see my friends, and have a little vacation time in this place that feels so much like my true home.

My plane left LAX about 30 minutes late. In addition to that, strong headwinds caused another 45 minute delay on what was suppose to be an 11 hour 50 min flight. This, while annoying itself could have had dire consequences for me because I only had an hour and a half in-between my flight to Tokyo, and my flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. So by the time I got out of the first plane, I had about 10 minutes until boarding my FUK flight. And I had to go through customs there at Narita. Oh, it was terrible. Lots of running, and running and running. They held the plane for me. There must have been someone else too, but my bags took forever. I always get my bags last.

Anyways, I made it to Fukuoka, hopped on the Shinkansen to Shin-Yamaguchi (almost sleeping through the stop!) and then planned to walk over to Christina's with all my baggage, because I'm too cheap for a taxi.

But Christina, Yoko and Porschla surprised me at the station. It really really was a complete surprise for me because it was 11 at night! I will put a video of that up later. If you are my Facebook friend, you can see it on my Facebook. I don't know how to download a video though, so I need to get the file from Christina.

I was very touched. I was moved. haha, sounds so Japanese. I was moved. :)

I went to sleep very quickly. I had only eaten part of the first in-flight meal, and then nothing else. They never get my vegetarian request, even though I ALWAYS put the request in properly. Regardless, by lunch the first full day I was here, I was starving. Joyfull time!!! Joyfull is like Japan's Denny's. Kind of cheap but good. Not anywhere you'd want to take a date, but I needed Joyfull right away! I got the Salmon set. (I'm not really vegetarian, I eat seafood!)

After Joyfull, Christina and I went straight to Glebe. Hofu's best cafe, but more expensive than Joyfull, so I saved only my coffee craving for Glebe. We met up with Jennie and Yumi. Jennie knew I was coming, but we were surprising Yumi.

I stopped by my school after Glebe, surprising most of the teachers that didn't know I was coming back into town. I assume it is rare for a teacher to come all the way back on their own dime, just to watch a graduation. It was nice catching up.

In the evening we played volleyball, which I did about 2 times a month when I was here. It was mostly the same people, although of course all the Mormon Missionaries had been rotated out, so they were new.

People stopped by to say hi, including Lucas and RaiRai! I love these kids. LOVE! :)

After volleyball it was time for dinner. I'm not going to say it was all me....but someone wanted Joyfull again. This time I got Negitoro-don which is translated into "Onion and Raw Tuna Rice-Bowl". Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Yum yum yum.

It was a really great first day. I cried a few times. I proclaimed, and really meant it, that if I had to turn and go home after just this one day, it would have already been worth it. My soul was all charged up by just one day here in Hofu. Love. All love. :)

P.S. I'm writing this post on Leap Day!!!!!!!! February 29th! Wooooooo!!!! Happy Birthday Saku D.!!! I love cool days like this :)

Goodbye!

I'm turning my keys in, in about an hour or two! I will be KEYLESS! Whoa, not a key to my name! :( Well, hopefully my father will return my car key to me when I get home. :)

Tonight I head with Alice to Shimonoseki (thank you Matt and Bethany for your hospitality!).

Tomorrow we head off together to Nagasaki for a couple of days.

8/3 To Mt. Aso we go! The biggest volcano in the world!

8/5 Goodbye for now, Alice, I'm off to meet Christina in Fukuoka!

8/6~8/9 Hello again Korea!!

8/10 A day of rest in Hofu at Christina's place (thank you thank you my dai tomodachi)

8/11 Off to Onomichi to rent some bikes and ride across 6 islands to Shikoku!

8/12~8/14 What's up Shikoku? Nice to meet you!

8/15 Night bus from Shin-yamaguchi to Kyoto

8/16 Daimonji (大文字) in Kyoto with Alice again! Long time no see!

8/17 Early morning shinkansen up to Tokyo to use my three remaining nights taking advantage of the hospitality of my very good friends Preston and Junko. Maybe meet up with Sarah, or whoever else is around!

8/20~~CALIFORNIA!!!!!!

Well, I will have to finish up my Japan Time blog from America, because I think I'm going to leave my computer (and some luggage) with my friend Naoya until August 15th, the last time I see Hofu... but I here are just a few of the goodbye's I want to mention!

Goodbye disgusting Japanese food! I don't know what she is eating...it was probably very tasty..but the half of the food here that is not tasty--- see you!

Goodbye Choruru!!! I will always love you! Take care of Yamaguchi for me!

Goodbye crazy Japanese people! Oh, and of course the normal Japanese people too. :D

Goodbye Hofu city children that say "HALLO!" to me everytime I pass! You haven't seen the last of this white girl!

Goodbye my lovely Japanese class! You taught me so much! I learned some. But you taught me so much! I when I die, I can remember everything from my life with perfect clarity, I will surely be able to speak Japanese in the afterlife. :D

Goodbye friends, schools, apartment, everything and everyone. Japan was the best time of my whole life. I love you.

So, yes hopefully I'll finish off all my planned blogs in late August or September. Thanks for reading everyone. *hugs*

Official Leaver's Ceremony

Once upon a time, on July 8th, 2011, it was time for the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan, to officially let me go. ...

As a JET teacher, I am employed by Japan, not by a private company. I always thought that was the coolest part of my job. :) So ending our contracts is a pretty big thing. Very formal, and Japanese style. Here is a view from the prefectural office's 14th floor. Yamaguchi city is the capital of Yamaguchi, and here I was, looking out on it all. So beautiful. !!

I've always meant to count the number of bows in a typical Japanese ceremony, but I never actually did...and I have exactly zero ceremonies left. I'm done. I'm out. I am going to work for 2 more days, but everything big is done, and it's time for me to get on with my life. The future is pretty exciting, I must say.

I received this, along with some other paperwork, and then the traditional gift that people get when leaving Yamaguchi. I can't put a picture of mine up, because I already sent my two sets home (one from Yamaguchi Prefecture, and one from a private adult class I teach, that had the same idea.) But click here to see the gift: Traditional folk handicraft, Ouchi Dolls . Made in Yamaguchi! Yay!!

Here's all the prefectual JETs that are leaving. We all either stayed here for 1, 2 or 3 years. I'm right in the middle, length-of-stay wise.

Our gang sign is Yamaguchi--- 山口！

Rice Bowl

AJET (the peer-run social organization for our assistant language teacher network) put together a wonderful event for us JET teachers in Yamaguchi Ken!

There were about 12 events...3 of them simply being JANKEN (or Rock, Paper, Scissors) which is really funny if you live here. It seems like all decisions in Japan are based off of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Americans often do a "coin toss" but Japanese people do Janken, and at a rate that would alarm most rational people. hehe.

The other events were awesome. One event, for example was a relay for each team of 4 members. The first person had to use chopsticks to get a cup of marbles from one cup to the next. Next was perhaps, moving a deck of playing cards one by one, with only the chopsticks, and last one was transferring a bowl of uncooked rice into another bowl. Very silly and fun. There were also events that tested us on our knowledge of the Japanese language, and Japanese culture/pop culture. It was a great day!

My team:

Christina-chan, Eric-kun, me, Kris-chan.

WE WON! Yes. We won. :) I still have my awesome trophy, shaped as a bowl of rice.

Down time activities

Badminton is one of the most popular sports in Japan. Before coming here, maybe I played it in Junior High School a few times? But I didn't really know anything about it. I would always prefer volleyball, but on some days when there are no classes, some of the other teachers invite me to play! And it's fun! I just stink at it. I can't get use to the badminton racquet. I treat it like a tennis racket..which I probably don't know how to use either. haha.

I really like the camaraderie between teachers at my base school. Through random spontaneous sporting events like this, I have learned so much useful vocabulary too. Close one! In! Out! You suck! Winner! Loser! I get called a loser often, you see. hehe.

My supervisor, below, is the badminton queen of the world! I probably won't ever play again, after leaving Japan! How sad!!! Great memories here. :)