: : best tip to get better fuel efficiency : :

Suffering from gas pain? Yeah, it’s getting pretty bad! The scary thing is we are getting used to high prices and are willing to pay for our driving freedom. Here in Japan, the price of gas just went down 2 weeks ago. Now, I’m only paying about $3.80 a gallon. Nice, huh? :) As high as gas prices are in the states, gasoline is still cheaper (gallon for gallon) than buying bottled water or that cup of coffee in the morning. That means that gas is cheaper than water. :)

Obviously your driving habits greatly affect your MPG. Basically, the less you break the more you save. Stop accelerating to that stop light. Just let yourself cruise to a stop. You probably already knew that, huh? Well maybe you don’t know this MPG tip. It’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to boost your fuel efficiency! Do you want to go to the pump less? The answer is: go to the pump with less! Simply put, the less gasoline in your car, the better the fuel efficiency of the car. This is because gasoline is heavy. (about 6.5 lbs per gallon, which is a bit lighter than water) Have you every tried to pick up a fish tank full of water? Yeah. So let’s say you drive a 2005 Honda Accord. The fuel tank capacity is 17.1 gallons… times 6.5 lbs and your looking at an extra 111 lbs of weight that you’re carrying around. That’s like driving around with a fish tank in your car.

I always keep track of my MPG (or rather my KmPL) here in Japan. The correlation I see is that when I fill up my tank when the tank is only half empty, I average about 12.5 to 13.5 KmPL. (29~32 MPG) But when I wait till the tank is almost all empty, I average about 14 to 16.5 KmPL! (33~39 MPG) So wait until you are at ‘E’ before filling up! And better yet, when you fill up, never fill up to ‘F’. Just fill your tank to about the halfway mark. Do both of these things and $ave! So, stop carrying around all that dead weight! Remember, the closer the needle is to ‘E’ the more ‘E’-fficiency you’re getting. The closer the needle is to ‘F’ the more ‘F’-uel you’re burning. :)

: : battlestar sciatica : :

I’ve been really depressed lately. I haven’t played any sports for over a month now. Before, I was regularly playing volleyball, tennis, basketball, and badminton. But actually starting around November, my right hip started to bother me. I ignored it at first. I figured that time would heal it. It didn’t. I then figured that I’m not young anymore, so maybe healing takes longer. It still didn’t heal. So I figured that it was also because it was still winter. Maybe it would heal come spring. But instead of getting better, it got worse. Before, it would hurt around my hip area whenever I stuck my leg out without bending my knees. But if I bend my knees, it wouldn’t hurt at all. Starting at the end of February, it got worse. Whenever I stood up, my entire right leg would fall asleep! Every time and always just the right leg! This freaked me out! So I stopped playing sports and went to the hospital.

I’ve never been in a hospital before (in America nor in Japan). I’ve been “to” a hospital a couple of times, but not “in” one as in a patient. They took an x-ray of my hip, but everything was fine. They recommended an MRI for my next visit. I told my cell group about my symptoms during prayer requests. Another ALT told me that it was probably my sciatic nerve because her uncle had the same problem before. It’s a nerve that starts from your back and runs down each leg. When this nerve is pinched it’s called “sciatica”. I’ve never taken an anatomy class before, so I’ve never heard of the sciatic nerve before. The following week, another American told me the same thing. “It’s probably sciatica”, she said. So I went online and looked it up and… yep, everything online was exactly what I was experiencing!

But the MRI showed that nothing was wrong… I was puzzled! Then I realized that they were still looking at my hip area! While the hip area hurts, the back is actually where the problem is for sciatica. (Some miscommunication due to language) So, I told them that it was probably sciatica so we needed to take an MRI of my back. Sure enough, my 5th disc was herniated to the right and the 4th disc to the left. This was causing my sciatic nerve to be pinched. It should heal by itself in around 3 months or so. Also surgery is optional if I can’t wait or if the pain is too severe. The specialist recommended that I take pain killers and wait for my body to heal itself. He also said that playing sports was okay as long as there is no pain. But my mom told me that I shouldn’t play any sports for the time being. Better safe than sorry I guess.

The doctor told me that many 20-something men who play a lot of sports develop hernia. Maybe he’s right. But I’m also guessing that years of not sitting up straight and years of wearing a shoulder bag instead of a backpack contributed too.

: : less schools, less work, less happy? : :

Right now I go to 11 schools; all 9 elementary schools in Shirone and 2 of the 4 JHS. Though it’s a lot of schools, I really do enjoy it! I just found out that starting in September they’re planning on changing things around. They gave me Shirone Kita JHS, which is a big JHS that I’ve been wanting to go to all along… so I’m happy I’ll get the chance to now! But since it’s a big school, and since my schedule is already pretty full, they took away 5 of my current schools! I’m losing 4 elementary schools (of which 2 are my favorite!) and 1 JHS (Hakunan JHS, which is my absolute favorite school!). I was deeply saddened by this and so were the 5 schools. I have a reputation of being one of the best ALTs in Niigata… or at least many of the Japanese teachers have told me so. And so the 5 schools don’t want me to leave and I don’t want to leave either.

With the help of a friend, I prepared a speech in Japanese for my supervisor at my B.O.E. regarding this matter. I butchered the Japanese, but my message got through okay. :) Basically, I told him that I’m very happy to be able to go to Shirone Kita JHS, but that I’m very sad to lose those 5 schools. I told him that I didn’t care if I have many schools and I didn’t care if I’m too busy, I just didn’t want to lose these schools… especially not my 3 favorite. I told him that if possible that I would like to have a meeting together with the other ALT who is taking the schools so we can decide what’s best for us and the students.

What he told me next surprised me. Well, first he told me that he was not the one who made the changes, but it was the bigwigs at the Central Niigata City B.O.E. Then, he told me that starting in August, Shirone will have 2 new ALTs! That’s why things are changing around. I’m kinda excited that I won’t be the only ALT in my area anymore, but also a little uneasy about losing any schools. I don’t mind receiving more schools… I just don’t want to lose any!

: : find the differences : :

For my 3rd year JHS students, we are doing an activity that practices the sentence structure, “The cat was on the bed, but now it’s on the floor.” So I decided to make my own “find the differences” game. I took a picture from their English textbook and photo-shopped it. Can you find the 12 differences between these pictures? :)

: : happy white day! : :

No, it’s not foreigner appreciation day here in Japan. “White Day” is a “hallmark holiday” (sort of speak) that is exclusive to Japan. You see, Valentine’s Day in Japan is a bit different. Girls buy chocolates for guys! Only in Japan! (Said in an European-American immigrant accent.) It’s an opportunity for some girls to let a guy know that she’s interested, without saying it directly. Now that’s the Japanese way! :) But not all chocolates that men receive on February 14^th means love. There are 3 different intentions when a girl gives chocolates; love, friendship, or obligation. The first two are self-explanatory. Obligation chocolate is the kind that a woman gives her boss… no love, not a friend either, just an obligation. Anyway “White Day” is on March 14^th. It was originally the invention of candy makers in Japan to sell their marshmallows, thus “White Day” was born. “White Day” is an opportunity for men, who received “love chocolates” from a girl to respond. If a man returns sweets (chocolates, cookies, candy, or ironically and uncommonly marshmallows) to a girl, it means that he is also interested.

: : there’s treasure everywhere : :

That’s the title of a Calvin and Hobbes. And here in Niigata, Japan, I also believe that there’s treasure everywhere! So many ways to use your free time and be “busy” in a good way! It’s hard to come up with a list of all the things I’ve done and all the things I’m currently involved in. I’m not sure what the next 17 months will hold, but I’m betting it won’t be the same as either my first months here nor will it be the same as my life here now.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already. One thing that I’ve been doing, since about October is playing volleyball every Tuesday and Thursday nights. I play with the “Mama-san Volley” club. They call it “Mama-san Volley” because the team members are primarily married women… though as long as you’re over 25 and are a woman, you may join. I, not being a woman, can’t play in games with them, but I can practice with them every Tuesday and Thursday nights. It’s a lot of fun and it’s good for my Japanese because no one speaks English there.

I recently also volunteer my Friday nights to help teach English at Shirone Church’s English class. My friend there is a good teacher, but is a bit on the quiet side and speaks using a lot of English idioms. Many students have a difficult time understanding what she says. Some of the students have even quit because of it. So I’ve decided to help out on Friday nights. What’s so bad about idioms? It’s hard for us native speakers to even realize that we’re using them. “Do you understand so far?” That’s an idiom. There is no way, beginners to intermediate English speakers will understand “so far”. Here are some other idioms: “Can you lend me a hand?” “Go ahead and give it a shot.” “Are you in?” My friend would always speak like this without knowing. And the students couldn’t understand her. Believe me, it’s a bit frustrating when you can’t understand half the things your teacher is saying. For beginners to intermediates, it’s better to instead say: “Can you help me?” “Please try it.” “Do you want to come?” It’s not easy, and it’s certainly not natural for anyone, but I’ve learned to speak English without idioms when speaking with many ESL students.

Before class on Fridays, the pastor and his family always has us over for dinner. Mrs. Wakabayashi is an awesome cook! So I eat like a king every Friday night! :)

For me, there doesn’t seem to be anything very daily about life in Japan. Maybe that’s also one of the things that I enjoy about my time here.

: : UFO catcher : :

You know that game where you control that claw and try to grab a stuffed animal… does that game have a name?? In Japan they call it “UFO catcher”. Is that what they call it in the states too? Anyway, last weekend I played it for the FIRST time in my life! I’ve always avoided it up until now because I didn’t want the game to control me! Anyway, I went to play volleyball at a gym with one of my elementary school teachers and some of her friends. We played 6 on 6 and the net was a lot higher than at “Mama-san Volley”! I was glad that I was still able to spike and block without problem. Anyway, afterwards a bunch of us went to this huge place called “Round 1 Sports Entertainment”. This place is gigantic! It has batting cages, archery, rifle shooting range, mini golf, badminton, ping pong, billiards, bowling, a pond for fishing, golf driving range, tennis, soccer, basketball, a rollerskating/blading ring, tons of arcade games, massage chairs. They also had some other cool things like a tennis game where a ball is shot to you and you have to hit the area of the wall that’s lit up. That was my favorite. They had a ping pong version where the opposite side of the table lit up the area where you are supposed to return the shot. Lots of fun! It cost about $13.50 for a 3 hour pass there.

After our 3 hours were up, they gave us some comps at the gaming floor on the lower level. They had many different kinds of gambling tables and slots and pachinko and things… and UFO catcher! They gave us each one free chance at UFO catcher… so that became my first ever try. I didn’t catch anything. After that, they gave us each a plastic cup full of “Round 1” coins that were good at the different games on the lower level. I decided that I’d like to try UFO catcher again… but I soon realized that the “Round 1” coins will not work for it. You can only use real money for UFO catcher. After I realized this, I gave away all my “Round 1” coins to my teacher friend since I didn’t want to play any of those other games. For the sake of simplicity I will talk in terms of USD. Actually $1 = 119 Yen right now, but for simplicity’s sake let’s say $1 = 100 Yen.

So I decided to try my luck at UFO catcher. I had my heart set at winning a Stitch stuffed animal. I go over to the change machine and put in a $10 bill and get back 10 $1 coins. I scout the place to try to find some easy prey. I found a cute medium sized Stitch that looked pretty easy to nab. It cost $2 for 1 try or $5 for 3 tries. I put in $5. Left, left, left, left… up, up, up… the claw drops and pushes Stitch down the chute! OH YEAH BABY! STITCH IS MINE O’MINE! I got it on my first try! I still had 2 more tries but I couldn’t get another one.

Feeling confident now, I stroll down to the machine with the big Stitch. It’s the same price. I put in $5 and try 3 times without success. There were many employees walking the floor. After my failed attempts, one worker comes up to me and starts giving me hints and he even opens the side of the machine and reaches in and shows me where I should be grabbing to knock Stitch down the chute. Then he gently puts Stitch back in an easy spot and urges me to try again. I look in my wallet. I had a $100 bill and a $10 bill left. I decide that I’m willing to part with the $10 bill for entertainment’s sake. I go to the change machine again and get change for the $10. I want that big Stitch! I put in another $5 and get another 3 tries. My forth, fifth, and sixth tries end with no success. I know, I’m hitting the right spot, but he’s just not falling over. At this time, a different employee comes over and gives me the same advice and opens the side of the machine and tells me where to hit him and gently puts Stitch back in that same tempting looking spot. I already decided that I’m willing to part with that $10, so I put in the last $5 for try number seven, eight, and nine. So close, but no Stitch! That was that! It was over… but guess what… yep, another employee comes over and did the same routine. But they weren’t trying to scam me, they were all honestly trying to help me! They’re just employees, they have nothing to lose when patrons win the games. In fact it’s good business! And it’s fun to see people win. But there was NO WAY I was going to change my $100 bill into coins!

I look in my wallet. Only my $100 bill stares me back. I look in the change pocket of my wallet… I had $3 and something in change. So I decided that this would be it. The final last try! :) Not $5 for 3 tries, but $2 for 1 last try; my tenth try for big Stitch. My friends had started to gather. Left… up, up, up, up… drop! The claw hits Stitch on the side of the head and squishes him down… but he doesn’t drop! :( As the claw lifts from the head, Stitch tips over to the side, and falls down the chute and into my arms baby! And the handsome prince and the wonderful Stitch live happily together, forever and ever. THE END. :) Oh, did I mention that the prince was darn handsome? And that’s the moral of this story!

: : at the 50 yard line : :

Last week was the deadline for my ALT re-contracting decision. It actually wasn’t a very difficult decision for me. I’ve decided to stay for a third year! :) Starting this August, I’ll be here for another full year. So I’ve been here in Japan for a year and a half and I’ll have another year and a half to look forward to! :)

There are many reasons why I’ve chosen to stay. First, what can I say… to put it modestly, I’ve got the best job on earth! :) Of course not every day is sunshine and flowers. And I, like everyone else, have my share of students who don’t want to learn what I’m trying to teach. But it’s also so rewarding to change their outlook of English and to get them excited about learning it! Second, I just bought a car. It’s an expensive investment, but I believe that it is not the car itself that is keeping me in Japan, but rather what I can now do because of the car. (more on this later) Third, it allows me to pursue my dream of Japanese fluency. Though, I’m nowhere close to reaching it! T.T

I used to think that my Japanese was pretty decent. But now I realize that it’s not my Japanese skills, but it’s my communication skills that are good. When I speak I use a lot of gestures, facial expressions, vocal tones, and “creative thinking” to get my point across. My Japanese is actually, sadly, just so-so.

If I told you, “My car is sick. I need a car doctor.” Could you understand what I’m trying to tell you? This is what I mean by “creative thinking”. If you didn’t know the word for “broken” and “mechanic”, you find other ways around it. Of course, this is a more extreme example! :) But you get the point, right? It’s kind of like playing “Taboo”! Sometimes you just need to find other ways to say things. :)

: : my life : :

Last Saturday, I finally got around to naming my Honda Life! I wanted it to be a Japanese name, and cute, and hopefully something that is white, since my car is white. I would have named it “mochi”, but I already named my pet rabbit that! So I needed to find another cute, Japanese, white name. After brainstorming with some friends at MacDonalds, one of my friends came up with something I liked: “Kamakura”, which means igloo. For my cute, small, white, and cube-like car it’s a perfect fit! :)

I also just bought white aluminum rims and summer tires for dirt cheap because they were second hand! I can’t wait until spring so I can take off my ugly winter tires! I also just changed the interior by adding custom Honda Life black leather seat covers! It’s sweet! It totally doesn’t look like my car anymore! I also got them second hand and thus dirt cheap!

I know I’m talking a lot about my car, but too bad! Anyway, back to my car. At first, I was hesitant to drive it too much, because of the cost of gas and because I didn’t want to put too many miles on it. But now, I don’t care anymore. I’m convinced that God has given me this car for a reason, so I’m not afraid to use it. I can now give rides to my friends for church and praise nights and best of all… I can now attend an English speaking church! :) My “Honda Life”… it’s such a gift from God! I can’t imagine life without my car these days! I’m loving it! It’s totally by God’s grace!

: : my other life : :

So, now I’m able to go to an English speaking church every Sunday! I’m so happy! :) When I first came to Japan, I used to get a ride there every week with my friend, Cindy. But after a few months, she became the new director of the missions program and so moved to Tokyo. Her successor, Betsy, couldn’t go to that Church because she had band practice on Sunday nights. So I haven’t been able to go to Grace Church for almost a year now! But now, I can go every week! Church is really a blessing! :)

I remember when I was back in the states at the end of July ~ beginning of August. I had the opportunity to go to Immanuel Baptist as well as visit some other churches with friends. What a blessing that was! Just to worship in my own language, and to hear God’s word preached in my own language! Sitting in the service, I remembered thinking to myself, “Wow, I’m so lucky!” There are so many people in the world who don’t have an opportunity like this! I know that some days church can seem very mundane. But, remember that you are soooo lucky! It’s like being at Chicago Chophouse! It’s an awesome place to be! And even if you go there every Sunday, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great place to be!

: : grace penticostal church : :

I’ve been going every week, except once a month when I help Shirone Lutheran Church with its Praise Night. A few months ago, a new pastor came. The Salisbury family is awesome! I love them! :) Their kids are really, really great too! I love playing and talking with them. I look forward to getting to know them better.

I’d like to get more involved at this church. There’s a chance that I might help out with worship, but I’m not sure yet. The need is there, and my want is there. But recently, I’ve been driving a Japanese non-Christian friend to church with me. So, it’s a tricky situation because worship practice is before church. I can’t really force her to come an hour earlier with me. And of course I don’t want her to stop coming to church with me neither!

: : i’ll be home for memorial day (said in tune of I’ll Be Home For Christmas) : :

I’ll be home late this Spring! I want to attend Will & Maria and Justin & Tina’s wedding! That reminds me of a joke from The Simpsons. “What is a wedding?” Homer asks his class (teaching a class about relationships), “Well, Webster’s dictionary defines it as ‘the process or act of removing weeds.’” Get it? :) He mistakenly looked up “weeding”. Sorry if I’m the only one who finds that funny. Anyway, Will & Maria’s is May 20^th and Justin & Tina’s is June 3^rd.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go to both because they are 2 weeks apart and it would be hard to ask for 2 weeks off from work. So I was playing with the idea of flying home twice. Technically, I can use my vacation days anytime I want. Sometimes ALTs do this often. Like if they don’t feel like going to work in the morning, they’ll just call it off and use their vacation days to cover it. Not good! The students and teachers were looking forward to seeing them and all of the sudden they cancelled. Not good! So far I have not used my vacation days when I had class. And if possible I’d rather not.

Looking at my schedule from last year, during the first semester of school, I had 69 days not including weekends or holidays. (BTW, the Japanese school year is divided into 3 semesters; April 11 ~ July 22, Sept 5 ~ Dec 22, and Jan 10 ~ March 17.) 57 of those 69 days, I went to one of my eleven schools. So, 12 of those days I just went to my Board of Education and sat around all day. I told my supervisor that I wanted to go to two of my best friends’ weddings and explained that if we could re-arrange my schedule so that all of my BOE days are during those 2 weeks in Spring, then I’d be able to go to the weddings. I told him that I don’t want to miss any classes. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s going to work out fine. We will have a meeting to make my new schedule next week. I’m about 90% sure that it’ll work out.

: : hmm… this tastes like paper : :

Funny story: I was doing a lesson for one of my 4^th grade classes about taste (sweet, salty, bitter, hot, sour). Each student was given various snacks to represent different tastes. We had them eat a snack and say the corresponding taste, like “This is sweet!” Anyway, we handed out Hershey’s Kisses for sweet. I told them to eat the Hershey’s Kiss and proclaim its taste. And you know that little, white strip of paper that’s used to open the foil… I caught one of my students trying to eat that too! I had to turn away from the class to hide my laughter! Hahaha!!! :) WHO does that?! You should have seen him! It was both cute and funny! :) I don’t think anyone from the States have ever mistaken that for being edible! I guess it’s a plausible mistake. After all, many westerners make the reverse mistake. Have you ever had those little, square rice candies that come in a small pink and green box, I think with a picture of a cat with one paw up in the air? The candy is wrapped in a translucent wrapper that’s in itself also rice candy. I know I was also guilty of trying to “unwrap” it the first time I tried to eat it.

: : that’s gramm-tastic : :

Grammer be hard for me! Sometimes I honestly feel that my English is getting bad! Maybe it’s because I’ve been bombarded with a plethora grammar questions that I’ve never had to think of nor justify before. As native English speakers, we simply just say what sounds right. It’s effortless.

Let me give you something to chew on. Let’s start with something easy. (see bottom of post for answers)

Question 1:

If a JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) asked you to explain why you can say, “I play tennis” or “I play soccer” but you can’t say “I play swimming” nor “I play track and field”, what would you tell him/her.

Question 2:

This one’s a bit hard. A JTE asks you what the difference is between saying “It isn’t” & “It’s not” or “She isn’t” & “She’s not”. Which contraction do you go with? Why?

: : that’s photastic : :

Since I previously went over a year without a post, here are some random pictures to fill in the lines. Sorry about tagging all my pictures! :p Image theft is probably second only to identity theft!

1. Cell Group Golden Week Picnic: Caroline (ALT from UK), Motoko (Japanese), Nadina (ALT from Canada), Betsy (VYM from Illinois), Robin (Missionary from Illinois), and last but certainly not least, the delicious California rolls that I made!
2. Picnic: Ray (Grad Student from Phillipines), Lee (University Student from Korea), Virginia (from Phillipines), Caroline's cousin (visiting from UK), Yui (Japanese)
3. Picnic: Yumi (Japanese), me, Akane (Japanese), Jim (VYM from Tennisee), Rick (University Student from China)
4. Japan Animation and Manga College! Yes, it exists! Must be tough deciding a mascot.
5. "Hanami" or watching cherry blossoms. I took this shot against a beautiful dust sky.
6. I went to Nagano with some friends to see the beautiful cosmos.
7. Close up of a cosmos.
8. Close up of a butterfly.
9. Akiko, Yukiko, Junko, and I in Nagano.
10. VYM (Volunteer Youth Missionaries) Summer Retreat in Fukushima. I'm not a VYM, but I begged Cindy to let me go so I could spend some time in the mountains praying. From top to bottom, L to R: Cindy, Betsy, Amber, Sarah, me, Betsy, Lauren, Jim, Jason.
11. Namiko's Birthday: me, Namiko, and Sachiko.
12. Namiko and I.
13. Shirone Lutheran Church's Christmas Eve candle light service: Miki, me, Yumi, Akane.
14. Shirone Lutheran Church's Christmas Day Service.

: : answers : :

Here are the answers (or at least the answers that I gave) to the 2 questions above.

1. The key is if there is a ball, you use the verb play. If the sport doesn’t have a ball, you don’t use the verb play. The exceptions are golf and bowling. But with golf, it’s okay to say it either way; “I play golf” or “I golf”.

2. This one is hard because it can depend on speaking style or emphasis. But generally if the sentence begins with ‘is’, it’s better to keep the ‘is’ in your answer. But if your answer ends with an adjective, it usually better to keep the ‘not’. For example:

Is it expensive? -> No, it isn’t. 75% / No, it’s not. 25%

Though both answers are correct, it’s better to keep the ‘is’ because the question began with ‘is’.

How is the movie? -> It isn’t bad. 25% / It’s not bad. 75%

Though both answers are correct, it’s better to keep the ‘not’ because the answer ends with an adjective.

: : hisashiburi desu ne? warukatta! : :

Merry Christmas!!! It’s been a long time, huh? My bad!!! I want to keep in touch more, but I realize that I’m soooo bad at doing it! I’ll try to give a play by play of my life for about the past 3 months. :) And I’ll try my best to update monthly! Hope you all are well. Life here in Japan has been good and bad… I’ll bet it’s the same for you guys too. Anyway, I have soooo much to share… so brace yourselves! If you hate reading like me, then download this program and just sit back and listen while your computer reads to you.

: : arrivederci october : :

Never had I been so glad to rip a month off my calendar. It was a really, really crummy month for me! I had my bag stolen. There were sooo many important things in my bag because I carry around EVERYTHING in there. It's all gone! I was using the Board of Education's car and I was parked in the parking lot of a store to pickup a few things. I locked the doors, but I left the window open a few inches because it was pretty warm at the time. When I finished shopping, the passenger side door was unlocked and my bag was gone! :(

Inside my bag was my new cell phone, my MP3 player, my Kanji (Japanese characters originating from China) cards, my Japanese Dictionary, my passport, my bankbook, my "hanko" (name stamp which is used instead of a signature), my International Driver's Permit, my apartment keys, my school diary (I keep a journal of every school I visit everyday and what lesson plan and how it went and etc), my personal diary (I recently started journaling again, but this time I try to express myself in Japanese), my Japanese notebook (all the Japanese that I've learned from the time I arrived, I've wrote down in that notebook), and various other small but important things. If I could have one thing back, it would definitely be my Japanese notebook. It meant sooo much to me. It was priceless, irreplaceable. Also, we had to change the lock on my apartment because my keys and business cards were with my bag. For about a month, I couldn’t legally drive in Japan anymore, so my supervisor had to drive me to all the different schools that I visit each day. It was so much trouble.

It's been a long and expensive road to recover everything. Another cellphone ($140), MP3 player ($160), new messenger bag ($100), "hanko" ($80), umbrella ($30), Kanji cards and Japanese dictionary ($35), bankbook ($10), many small things ($95), International driver's permit plus shipping ($20), official birth certificate plus shipping ($50), passport ($110), RT bus tickets to Tokyo to go to the American Embassy ($90), Hotel ($40)... I think that's everything... totaling about $960. It would have been a lot simpler/better to have just lost $960 in cash.

Although crime is incredibly low here, there’s no such thing as perfection on this side of heaven. I went through some depression October. I asked myself what I could have done differently; what I could have changed. “If only I rolled up the window all the way.” “If only I hadn’t stopped at that store.” “If maybe I didn’t stay in the store so long.” Then I realized the answer: ‘nothing’. There’s nothing I could have done better. Everything is in God’s perfect plan. God perfectly measures out justice and seasons of suffering. As I sat in the police station while the officer wrote out the report, I just prayed, “Lord, what are you trying to teach me through this? I want to learn it.”

: : learning Japanese for bakamons : :

November was time to cram! I decided to try to take the Japanese Proficiency Test – Level 4 (the lowest level). Until recently, I didn’t have any interest in taking any standardized tests of any sorts. But then I found reason to take it… not for the score or the certificate, but for the goal. I needed something to aim for. Having a test gives me a reason to crack down and study. I’ve been learning kanji too. Too bad I can’t read or write any Chinese or it would have made things a lot easier! My test was on December 4. I was able to pass the previous year’s level 4 test as practice at home, but the actual test felt harder. I hope I passed it! I wish I started studying for it more that just 2 months before. Anyway, I’ll find out my score in February. If I pass, I’ll be going for Level 3 next December!

: : a rich man’s golf cart, a poor man’s civic : :

BIG NEWS!!! I finally bought a car!!! Yeah! I love it! But it’s not street legal in the US! ………. no, I didn’t buy a souped up Skyline or anything. It’s not quite a civic, and it’s not quite a golf cart, but it’s somewhere in between! :) It’s a “kei jidousha” or light weight car. This class of cars is very popular in Japan because of the super narrow streets, fuel economy, and low cost of ownership (taxes, insurance, everything is substantially lower for this class of car). In fact, this class doesn’t even exist in the States. That’s why it wouldn’t be street legal! For example, a Honda Civic is a compact car and a Geo Metro would be a sub compact car.A “kei-car” would be considered a sub sub compact car in the States. Yep, that’s right! :)

It’s a Honda Life!!! I’ve always loved Hondas, so I wanted my first (self bought) car to be a Honda. It’s also nice to have a car that can’t be had back at home. Hey, everyone was always telling me to go get a Life. Hehehe! :) You know that was funny! Stop shaking your head in disgust! :)

Brace yourselves! Let me give you the specs.While a Civic has a 1.5L engine, and a Metro has a 1.0L engine, my hog is equipped with a state-of-the-line 0.6L engine! Yep! You read it right! That’s 660cc to be exact! :) And it has 3, YES 3 cylinders! I think our lawnmower at home has 4. :p My baby’s not street legal in the States! It’s pretty fuel efficient too! That’s good news since gas is a lot more expensive here. Try about $4.08 a gallon! You thought you had it bad! Anyway, on the highway my fuel efficiency is about 21.5……….. kilometers per liter that is! That would translate to about 50MPG.

It’s a sub-sub compact car by engine comparison only. So if I drag race with a Metro….. I’d put my money on the Metro winning! But engine volume aside, it’s really nice! It’s actually very roomy, and comfortably seats 4 passengers! It also has a taller stature that a normal car. Think of it as a mini Scion xB. That’s the shape. It’s a white Honda Life, 1997, automatic, was driven 61K miles, has power locks and power windows, rear defogger, airbag, AM/FM radio, MD player, CD player, and a 6 CD changer, 2 rear satellite speakers, and keyless entry.

: : a number by any other unit would smell just as sweet : :

It’s really interesting when you think about it. When I bought my car, it had 98,440 km on it, or about 61,131 miles. Many Japanese have a fear of cars over 100,000 km, so they try to sell it before that mark. Of course by American standards, no one fears cars with 61K miles on them! But many would hesitate to buy a car that has 100K miles on it. I realize that we all fear numbers, but that’s all they are; numbers! “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” And a number by any other unit would be just as sweet too. They’re just numbers, but we fear them. If you changed the units, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I’ll eat my words when I’m 39 and it’s right before my birthday. THE BIG FOUR-OH! 40 years old is scary, but how about 2085 weeks? It’s the same thing. Or maybe 2085 weeks isn’t scary, but 2000 weeks old is. Well, that’s just the same as being scared when you turn 38 years and 7 months and 19 days old. If we change the unit, we end up changing the number we fear. Funny isn’t it. They’re just numbers though.

: : didn’t cost me an aamu ando a regu : :

I got the car for soooo cheap that I can’t believe it! Thank God! Pastor Wakabayashi helped me out a lot. The church leases a car (for Betsy, the VYM missionary here) through Mrs. Aoyagi, who is a member of the English class at church. She is the vice president and her husband is the president of an auto shop. So Pastor Wakabayashi took me to see her. I originally had my heart set on buying a “Honda Today”, which is another “kei-car” that Honda makes. But she didn’t have any Todays. So she showed me a Subaru Vivio and a Mitsubishi Minica. Both were in great shape and she was going to give it to me for really cheap! But they didn’t have any “style point” and they weren’t Hondas. I told her this and I told her that since this would be my first self bought car, I want something that is a little nicer and I would like it to be a Honda and I’d be willing to go above my original budget to have something that I’m happy with. So she showed me the Honda Life. I liked it! It’s a cute car. I test drove it. Not a lot of power, but it was nice! I’d say most people don’t need powerful cars here in Japan. The speed limit on most major roads is 60km/h… JUST 37mph!!! Of course you can go up to 10km/h over that, but even then you’d only be putting around at 43mph! It actually doesn’t feel toooo slow, since it’s a small country and the roads are narrow. Here is a picture of the car I originally wanted to buy, the Honda Today:

She gave me the Honda Life for soooooooo cheap! In fact, she lost money selling it to me! The original price for the car itself was 390,000 yen. But then after all the extra fees and taxes and maintenance, it would likely go for about 500,000 yen if a stranger bought it. Since she knew my original budget was 200,000 yen and because she is a friend, she let me have it, plus snow tires, plus a new timing belt, new fan belt, new wiper blades, new oil, new oil filter, new caliper, and a few other parts that I can’t remember…. altogether, out the door for 250,000 yen! She bought the car for 250,000 yen and sold it to me for the same price plus all those new parts! I saw the receipt for all the parts she replaced for me…. Almost $500! That’s parts alone! That’s not including all the labor cost that she ate up for me! I’m not sure how much labor WOULD HAVE been, but I’m sure it would have been really expensive. If you’ve ever had to replace a timing belt, you’d know. That alone would run about $400 or so. The timing belt itself is only like $25 if you buy it online. I mean, it’s really just a piece of rubber! But it’s the labor that justifies the high price to change them. It’s a lot of work because it’s hard to reach and you have to take apart so many things just to even reach the timing belt.

Right now $1 = 116 Yen, so that means I got the car for $2,155! Incredible, huh?! My guitar cost more than that! If a stranger bought the car, it would have been for about $4,310. She lost a lot of money selling it to me! I felt bad that she not only lost the potential profit, but she actually lost money selling it to me! (from replacing all those parts from her own pocket) She said she was happy to help me and that she COULD do it (The Aoyagi’s are very well off). I gave her a lot of gifts to show my appreciation!!! When I picked up the car, I gave her some really nice red wine (her friend told me she loves red wine, so I bought the most expensive bottle at the supermarket), Ghirallerdelli Chocolates, ginseng tea, a ginseng root (my parents sent me). When I went to visit her the other day to pay off the balance, I also gave her a bouquet of roses, a Christmas card, a picture of us in front of the car (when I bought it), and a big plate of California Maki Rolls that I made. :) Here are pictures of my car:

 

: : i am a poor boy too parump pa pum pum : :

I am soooo broke now because I paid off the car in pretty much one lump sum. I paid about $800 when I picked up the car on Dec 9, and then I paid off the balance about $1700 on Dec 21, when I got my paycheck. So I will be really, really poor until Jan 21, my next paycheck! Looks like I won’t be going anywhere this winter vacation. (Though it’s not really a vacation vacation) I still have to go to my Board of Education everyday from 9 to 5, but I can do anything all day! So I’ve been using the time to study Japanese! I’m learning a lot! :) I’m also keeping a journal in completely Japanese. I can’t believe I can write my daily thoughts in Japanese!!!

: : my car : :

There’s something different about driving a car and OWNING a car! I’ve never experience this before, cause I’ve never owned a car before. It’s probably similar to using the school’s computer versus having your own computer. There’s a big difference in how you treat and feel about them! I remember when Will got his beautiful new Corolla and he started souping it up. I couldn’t understand why at that time. I thought it looked nice either way. Only now can I appreciate his feelings. When you OWN something, you want to make it feel like it’s your own and nobody else’s. You also want to express yourself and make it feel more comfortable. It’s probably similar to living in a dormitory. Your room looks pretty much exactly like the thousands of other rooms down the hall from you. Imagine if you moved in your room and left everything exactly as is. No posters on the wall, no extra lamps to light up your room, nothing on top of your desk, nothing in your bookshelf, no street signs on your wall, no crazy pillows and dolls to litter your bed…. nothing. No style, no self expression, no warm feeling of home. That’s like leaving your car factory stock. Of course there’s also such a thing as going overboard, but I think it can also be done very tastefully.

The Honda Life is similar to the Honda Civic in the States in that they are both very, very popular cars and also is easily one of the most souped up cars around. There are 3 things that I want to do to my car. First, I want to have rain visors installed. These are not so popular in the States, but virtually everyone here in Niigata has them on their cars! Besides looking nice, functionally, it allows you to have you window partially rolled down when it’s raining and not get wet. Second, I want to get 14 or 15 inch white aluminum alloy wheels (rims) to replace my factory 12 inch hub caps! No other color will do, I only want white! Third, I want to install “aero parts” or “body kits” to replace my factory front, sides, and back moldings of my car. I’ve already done step 1.I asked Aoyagi-san to install them for me since you have to get the correct visor for the correct car. Since this would be hard for me to do on my own (because of my Japanese reading abilities) I asked her to do it and I told her that I’d pay for the cost. So when I picked up my car on Dec 9, she had them installed for me. They cost more than I thought! It’s just plastic, so I figure they’d be cheap, but for 4 windows they (original Honda parts) were about $150! Here is pictures of Step1, Step2, and Step3. I've photoshopped these images to preview what my car would look like:

   

: : if the shoe fits : :

I’d have to say that clothes fit a lot better out here!!! It’s an incredible feeling when you wear something that fits you perfectly! I’m not very tall. Most people think that I’m taller than I really am. I remember when Tammy and Maria where shocked when I informed them that John Choi was taller than me! Their shock shocked me! He’s A LOT taller than me! I only go up to his eyebrows! I guess it’s nice if people feel I’m taller than I really am. At 5’6”, I wasn’t exactly the tallest rice stalk in the rice paddy. But here in Japan I’m about average height. And contrary to popular belief, there are A LOT of tall Japanese people and the number of taller Japanese people is increasing, while Americans on average are continually getting shorter. This is probably due to diet. Japanese kids these days (and me too), are served milk every day for school lunch. Here's a picture of Justin, John, me, and Will... you can see that I'm clearly NOT taller than John!

Anyway I decided a while ago that if I like it, and it’s the right size, then I’m buying it! I’ve never had dress shirts fit me sooo well! In America, I’d say that for shirts, Medium is the correct length, for me. But, Large is the correct width for me for shoulders and neck. So most of my clothes ended up being too long on me… very annoying! Some makers are better and some are worse. Old Navy is the worst when it comes to making clothes too long. Banana Republic is one of the better.

: : about if the sentence is grammatically delightful is the thing I am not acquaintance of. : :

I see a lot of crazy usages of English these days! Some from my students, some from product labels. You learn a lot about your own language when you live in a foreign country and watch other people try to speak and study it! One English point that many Japanese find difficult is “countability”.Some things are countable and some are not. For example, you can say, “I want some cookies” but you can’t say, “I want some waters”. This is because water is not normally a countable thing. It’s easy for us, but it a little difficult for ESL students! Some of my students still get the letters ‘b’ and ‘d’ mixed up. Can you even remember the time when those letters used to give you trouble? I’m getting used to “Japanese English” now, but here are some things that some of my students have written that I found amusing before:

“Hell! How are you?” This one is fresh off the presses. I got a fax a few weeks ago from one of my elementary schools and the teacher wrote that in the header. It took all of my strength to keep from cracking up at my desk in the middle of the teacher’s room at my JHS! She meant to write “Hello”.

“I love you! BIG! BIG!” This is something that one of my students wrote me on my message board at my JHS.

“I like dog.” Almost all of my JHS and ES students say this instead of “I like dogs”. I’m used to it now, but before it would make me smirk because it has the connotation of liking to EAT dogs. There is no plural form in Japanese.

“Please teach me your phone number.” We use the verb “tell”, but in Japanese, in this situation, you use the verb “teach”.

“BELY LOVE SMAP!” Can you guess what this girl was trying to say? I’ll give you a hint: SMAP is a popular boy band in Japan. She really likes SMAP.

“It is happy for me to play tennis.” He really enjoys playing tennis.

Hearts don’t count as punctuation marks.

“See you!” When I came here, and my students would say this, it sounded sooo abrasive to my ears! I used to try to correct them and explain that no one really says it like that. Everyone says, “See ya!” It was too much trouble to explain this over and over to my thousands of students, so I just gave up on it! :p Now, I even say, “See you!”

: : new york? new york? : :

THIS IS SOOOOO FUNNY! I was surfing google for some good pictures of New York City so I could do a lesson plan at one of my JHS. I was teaching the first year students basic stuff like time and weather and so I wanted to have different pictures of major cities in the background as I spoke (pretending to be a reporter). I did this with my video projector and powerpoint. The lesson plan worked great, and the students really enjoyed the lesson and learned the material. Anyway, I was looking for a good picture of NYC and came across this page:

http://www.iaes.org/conferences/future/newyork_60/cityinfo/ 

It's the official International Atlantic Economic Society's website. Here's the picture they have on their website:

It looks like New York. It's not. It's Tokyo! They have a 1/4 sized replica of the Statue of Liberty there in Tokyo Bay. That's an area in Tokyo called "Odaiba". In the background you can see the "Rainbow Bridge" and "Tokyo Tower". Hilarious! :) I was about to email the IAES webmaster, but I think I'd rather not anymore. It's just way too funny! So.... when you google image search and steal images for your website, make sure you steal the right one! :)

: : my small, little corner of Japan : :
Life is different in a small city. It’s not what I’m used to, but it’s real nice! Shirone isn’t too small that there’s nothing to do, and it’s also not too large and impersonal, without a sense of community. Shirone is like that third bowl of porridge. And the decision that I’ll have to make this winter is… will I want seconds. I guess in the end, I’ll be staying out here as long as God wants me out here.

: : sports heaven : :
Well… it is to me anyways! Maybe it’s because I’m in a foreign land and I’m forced to find community involvement, but I’m having the time of my life sports-wise! My favorite sports are tennis, badminton, and ping pong. In the states, it’s difficult to find people to play badminton and ping pong with… since they’re not really popular sports. Tennis is popular, but for some reason I could almost never find anyone to play with back home. ;( I recall countless times when I would stare out the window while fondling my racket and swinging it back and forth through the air. Sad. But here in Shirone, someone at my BOE introduced me to Otake-san, who’s in charge of the tennis circle. I’ve joined it and now play every Tuesday night! I’m finally starting to improve my game again! ;) Sometimes I get to play tennis on Saturday too! This week I played tennis from 11am to 5pm! It was great! Also, every Thursday night I play ping pong with Otake-san and the city’s ping pong club. It’s a lot of fun! I’d say that my ping pong skills are above average in America, but slightly below average in Japan. I’ve met another cool person out here. The city’s ping pong coach was recruited from China. His name is also Yang! ;) He’s 2 years older than me and has lived and coached here for 7 years now. He can speak Japanese and obviously Chinese! It’s fun talking to him cause I get to brush up on my Chinese! And since I have a hard time recalling words in Chinese sometimes, I’ll switch back and forth between Chinese and Japanese while talking to him. ;) My Chinese is improving! Who would have guessed it? Go to Japan and get better in Chinese too! Also some weeks, on Wednesday, I play badminton after school with the JHS kids. I’d like to play badminton more consistently though. I can literally play sports all day! The problem was, in the states, I had no one to play with. This is sports heaven for me!

: : choose your own adventure : :
Decisions, decisions! It seems everyday I have to weigh my options. Either I go out and have fun and do and see things with people or I stay home alone and rest and collect my sanity. It’s a duality. I must choose between not being lonely anymore or not being exhausted. It’s difficult. I’ve been favoring the former. I’d rather be exhausted than lonely. This month I’ve begun a few new activities, partly because I want to fill up my free time so I won’t have to be home alone. I began tutoring Otake-san’s daughter once a week. She’s entering college after this semester (Japanese school year begins in April) and will be majoring in English. She has some tough entrance exams coming up! This is my first time tutoring, but so far I’ve been getting good feedback. I’m glad to do it because Otake-san has been very kind to me. I’ve also begun a guitar ministry every Saturday morning where anyone is welcomed to come and learn how to play the guitar. I believe the Lord can use this to open many hearts. Please pray for this ministry that the Lord would bring me to the harvest field. I’m also planning on starting a cooking club/ministry. I believe that friendship evangelism is effective. I also believe that cooking is fun and is a great activity to do with friends. I want to invite friends over to cook and fellowship and build relationships. I believe the Lord can use this to bring about blessings. I also would love to be able to cook better! Another thing, I got a phone call the other night from a British lady in town who runs her own daycare and English school. She heard a lot of good things about me, like how I play guitar and that I’m genki (energetic) and how all the kids in town like me. Word travels fast in this small, tight community! Anyway, she was interested in having me work for her maybe one night a week or so. I don’t know. That was out of the blue. I’ll need to prayerfully consider it.

: : my comfy, cozy closet : :
Yep, I did it! I now sleep in my closet! You might call it strange, but I call it smart! ;) If you lived in a Japanese home, built without insulation and without central heating, you’d see what I mean. Let me make this easier for you. I bought a couple of thermometers from the 100yen shop and placed one in my closet and one in the tatami room. The next morning when I woke up the temperature was 12 C / 54 F in the tatami room and 18 C / 65 F in my closet. Which one would you rather wake up in? So, the rumors were true. It’s not uncommon for it to be warmer outside in the morning than inside. I told a couple of my Japanese friends about my move. They of course though it a bit strange, but after I backed it up with 3 sound arguments, they understand. Reason #1 is stated above; the temperature difference. Reason #2 is because it saves me a lot of time and trouble. In Japan, after you wake up, you’re supposed to fold and put away your futon. There are two reasons for this: saving valuable space and keeping your futon from being infested with tatami bugs. Now, I don’t have to worry about either and it saves me a lot of time and trouble. Reason #3 is spatial. Since I have more space to work with and I don’t use the area to sleep in, I can now use the room entirely for entertaining guests! My Japanese friends say I’m like Doraemon, a very popular cartoon character, because Doraemon also sleeps in the closet! ;)

: : bachelor’s pad : :
So… now that I’ve got the space to work with… and now that I’ve made some friends here… I have a motive to make my place nice: to entertain guests! If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching “Trading Spaces” and living at the condo with Will, it’s that giving a room a theme is fun and makes rooms look nice! My tatami room is now my entertainment room. And I’ve chosen the theme: Japanese Garden. Pretty much everything in the room is brown or green. I’ve bought a couple of trees, a couple of plants, some bamboo, a couple of Japanese paper lamps, a few Japanese sitting pillows, a few hand painted Japanese scroll art, new curtains, and a fountain that lights up and creates mist. I’ve also been to the fabric store here countless times and bought lots of green and brown fabric to cover things in my apartment. I’ve used it to cover my 4 ugly water damaged sliding doors, my 2 closet doors, my table, and to recover my bright blue sofa. Here are some pictures of my redecorated tatami room:

: : the anime ratio : :
Four out of every three people have trouble with fractions. Hehehe! My favorite pastime is making myself laugh! ;) Anyway, I forgot who I was joking around with about the whole “anime ratio” thing… I think maybe it was with Chris. Well, it’s true for me! You know how in Japanese animation, there always seems to be about 8 girls for every one guy character around. That’s the “anime ratio”. That’s my life in Japan so far. I’ve realized that it’s harder for foreigner men to make Japanese guy friends here than it is for us to make Japanese girl friends. Man, I miss you guys back at home! The FIRST thing I want to do when I return home is eat at pizzaria uno. ;) The second thing I want to do is have a guy’s night out with you’all! Anyway, I talked about this difficulty with a Japanese girl friend of mine. She totally knew what I was talking about, but couldn’t explain why it was. I think there’s more than one reason, but I’ve reached a general conclusion. For some reason or another, it seems overwhelmingly that Japanese women are interested in learning English, while most Japanese guys couldn’t care less. Therefore, the girls are usually a lot better at English than the guys. So when foreigners come to Japan and want to make friends, it’s primarily with those with decent English ability… meaning the girls. Speaking of anime, I was asking some of my elementary school kids what their favorite anime was with my broke Japanese. They just looked at me all confused and repeated the word “anime” with blank stares. I repeated the question again, “Anata tachi no ichiban suki na no anime wa nan desu ka?” After a few moments a light bulb goes off in one of the student’s head, “Ahhhh, anime!”, she said. “Yeah!!! That’s what I’ve been sayin’!!!” I thought to myself. Then I realized that Americans pronounce it a bit different than Japanese. We say anime like: ann – nah – may. But they way to pronounce it in Japanese is: ahh – knee – may.

: : blue forty-two! blue forty-two! hut, haiku! : :
At one of my JHS, they asked me to write a haiku (Japanese poetry consisting of 5, 7, and 5 syllables) about a particular season. I had so much fun writing the first one, that I wrote one for each season. My favorite is Fall (cause it has good use of alliteration), the teachers’ favorite (after translated into Japanese) is Spring. Here is my first attempt at haiku (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter):

A gift from heaven
Beads of raindrops on my face
New life everywhere

Sunset to the west
Casting long shadows from me
Warm summer’s twilight

Dancing in the wind
Dead and lifeless on the street
Lovely autumn leaves

Frosty arctic winds
A sweet embrace from my love
Feeling warm inside

: : world’s largest Chinatown : :
This winter break, I’m going to visit Shanghai with Yang-san and a bunch of kids from the city’s ping pong club! This will be my first time visiting China! I have no idea what to expect since I’ve never read up on China before and what there is to do and see. Maybe I’ll ask Ronnie. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead! China is 100Yen Shop ($1 store) heaven cause virtually everything in all 100Yen Shops were made in China. After Shanghai, we’re going to go to Hefeishi and Wuhushi which are in Anhuisheng. Things there will be a lot cheaper than in Shanghai. I plan on buying my self a niiiiiiiice loooooooong massage. ;)

: : my address : :
Some of you guys have been asking for it, so here it is. ;)

HOME ADDRESS:
B-102 San-Rose-Hokuriku
307-7 Shirone, Shirone-shi
Niigata-ken, Japan 950-1217

PHONE NUMBERS:
025-372-5256 (home)
025-373-3171 (office)
080-5442-2005 (mobile)