Project “Beacon House”

This gallery contains 23 photos.

After looking at houses for about the past year in a housing market with the mentality of eBay, we finally bought a house.  It took all my cunning (and Craig’s List) to find one that wasn’t flooded with offers that … Continue reading →

Mika the Inbread Cat

Fashion Plus – In Japan

Of course, on the flip side, the other popular look is the “sweet girl” style. Frills, lace, soft colors, and dresses. Very Spring, but all year round. I like a lot of what I see on girls who dress in this category. Some go too far and become “pink girls” wearing ALL PINK with sparkles on everything. Some even get full black contacts so they have puppy-dog eyes if they don’t think their eyes are black enough. (These are also called kogal and gangura styles, you can always google it).

Check this little video out for a funny “kogal” thing.:http://www.mumbleboy.com/big/kogal01.html

Then there’s the “goth” crowd. I have to say these folks are far more faithful to their individuality than the goths back home. Sorry, but they just are. You can’t buy most of this stuff, you make it all. At the fabric store there are countless books and supplies just for the “Lolita Goths”

Another common look is called the “big sister.” This is my age range and thankfully a style I can fit into more or less with the cloths I already have. These gals wear a lot of denim, neutrals, and cammo prints. They like baggy cammo.

This wouldn’t be a fashion update if I didn’t point out the school girls. I know all my guy friends are just skimming for these pics anyway. Yes, they do wear micro skirts, even in the snow! I have to keep my eyes down on escalators during the afternoons or I end up seeing more than I’m interested in.

“Kitaaa! We got a panty shot!”

All in all, what I will take with me as the defining feature of Japanese fashion is the attention to SHOES, hair, and nails. This is a shoe paradise (for men and women, if you have small feet), and all the girls have a very specific hair style as you may have noticed. To top it off, girls get long, fake nails, decorated in jewels and 3-D roses in excess of what we see in the states. I’ll have to try the nail thing before I leave here.

More Fashion in Japan

Fuji-San Hike

So this weekend I finally did it, I hiked Fuji.  I’ve got lots of great pictures to show you all, but only 1/2 are digital, so you’ll have to wait a few more days for all the pics, but here are a few tid-bits for those who can’t wait, here are some details and pics:

After a 2 hour train ride (switching trains 3 times) and a 1 hour bus ride, we arrived a Fuji and bought ourselves some hiking sticks.  These are very popular here because you can pay to have a wood burned “stamp” put on your pole at almost every station.

We hiked the Subida/Subashiri-guchi trail starting at staion 5.  Most people start at 5 as it’s still a long way up from there, look at the photos below, which are us 1 hour above station 5.  We were so exhausted after the first day of hiking that we decided not to finish to the peak.  Fuji is very rocky, and very steep, and we brought large, full packs with us.  You can’t set up a tent on Fuji, but someone else really wanted to go as rugged as possible, so we brought tarps to make a shelter, and a stove and all our own food and water.

Most people brought lighter packs and slept in the shelters and bought food there.  The shelters ever provide sleeping bags, which I didn’t think they did.  I really wanted to watch the sunrise from the summit, but watching it from station 8 was just as nice at 4:45am.  Lots of people did the same thing.

 

 

That’s it for now!  I need some R&R before I head out to get my film developed, but it will be up soon!

Japanese Styled Chinese Acupuncture from a German Immigrant

On Monday I finally went in for some acupuncture. It took me a while to find someone who speaks English in my area. Most are up in Tokyo. It sounds like a lot of businesses in Tokyo actually have English speaking personnel. Anyway, I thought you all might like to hear what Japanese acupuncture is like in Japan. Keep in mind, Ive had both Chinese and Japanese acupuncture back in the states, so anything that shocks me would be a really big shock to someone who has never had any acupuncture.

Lets see, first he served me some ocha (green tea), and we talked about what I needed for my back. (For anyone who doesnt know, I herniated a disk in my back a good 4 years ago and it still hurts sometimes). In Japanese acupuncture, the doctor finds the blocks in the flow of your energy by touching you and feeling around. In Chinese acupuncture, they use bigger needles (both thicker and longer) and insert them based on description and points. A Japanese acupuncturist could be blind and still aid you. So after he poked around on my back, looked at my tongue, fingernails, and eyes, and poked at my stomach, he started to work. First were the sets of needles in rounds of about 5-10 minutes each. He put them in on both my back and front. I requested not to have one in the top of my head as it freaks me out despite the fact that it is the most calming point. Then came the moxa. Moxibustion, aka moxa, is a Japanese (and sometimes Chinese) herb that they like to burn directly on your skin. The heat and the herb and the oils in this fine, fluffy herb, can do a lot for healing. He told me Id be ok, but having anything lit while sitting on your skin like a little cone of incense is a very scary thing. Moxa can scar if it isnt removed promptly. He did a good job, it only got too close to my skin once, and he lit it on my body in a bunch of spots to promote healing and what not.

Now if you arent scared for me yet, here was the kicker. After all this he told me I still had 2 needles in my back and I was to leave them in for 3 days! Eeek! These were little 3mm needles that were attached to hard plastic under a little round band-aid. So it wasnt too bad, but the thought of walking around with needles in my back was still a bit scary.

So thats Japanese acupuncture in Japan. If anyone has ever had acupuncture in the states you’ve got something to compare, and if youve never had acupuncture, I do recommend it. You dont need to be broken, acupuncture is for general and acute well being. And in Ventura, I recommend the Holistic Healing Center by the hospital.

Ta Ta For Now!

Shinagawa Aquarium

This gallery contains 19 photos.

Until my next real blog, I wanted to share some pictures with you.  Enjoy! My last class went on a field trip to the Aquarium in Shinagawa.  And all the moms had cameras galore!  These are some of the cuter … Continue reading →

New Teaching Job in Hodogaya

Ok, so this may not be as glorious or exciting as my other e-mail updates, but I know everyone has been curious to know what job I would take up while here in Japan.  First, let me apologize to those of you who I told I would talk about food next.  I’ve been so busy with getting this job that I had to put it on hold.  The mysteries of Japanese cuisine will be next.  I promise.

So I have signed a contract and taken up a job as a preschool teacher for “intellectually advanced” children.  I work at what is known here as an “International School.”  Japan recognized a long time ago that English is important to be successful in many carriers, so it was taught to all children in school, but only to a degree (and mostly only written English).  The school I work at brings in bright children as young as 1 year old and starts to teach them in English.  We don’t just teach them the language, but we teach them all subjects.  The trick here is that they will never hear Japanese while at school, so the little ones begin to learn English just as they learn Japanese, by repetition.  But by the time they are 3 they can read and write in English as well as memorize text.  They are taught to memorize difficult things, like the pathways of the heart or about the 5 Great Lakes in the Midwest.  At 4 and 5 they have the ability to form complete sentences on their own that are grammatically correct and they can dissect the things they have learned as opposed to just memorizing.  At 6 they graduate and go off to Japanese preschool.  Some continue private lessons at the school in the afternoons.  The Japanese private school system runs off of very difficult tests and the goal of the school I work at is to get these children in a top preschool so that they stand a better chance of staying in top schools all their lives.

Now I know I spent all that time getting a degree in theatre and some of you may be scratching your heads as to how I found myself at a preschool.  Well, there are only 5 teachers right now and they each have a different specialty – Match, Biology, etc.  I’m going to be in charge of the arts and English.  And yes, that will include Shakespeare.    I will have my own class in April (when the semester starts here) of 4-8 children and probably at the younger level.  But from time to time the teachers rotate and teach their specialty to all the classes for an hour.  Also, teachers create lesson plans and pick out the books for the entire school based on their subject area.  So Julie, who is the Biology major, will select the Biology text book for each level and get it approved by the school.  The school has also started making recordings for the children to take home to hear the pronunciation of the words but while still being in the areas they are studying.  So I would be making the recordings for the fine arts.  But that’s all later down the line for me.  For now, I just need to worry about being given my own class in April.  I’ve taught a class by myself all week to get used to it, and it is a lot of work to keep those tiny attention spans focused.  Next week I start some private lessons with an adorable 2 year old who is having trouble focusing but is very bright and an excellent parrot.  She repeats everything I say.

And now for the pictures…

Here is a side gate hidden behind a mall that is open on weekdays that I go through.

I have to walk past the water with the cold wind blowing on me, so sorry about the glove in the bottom of the picture.  Anyway, this is for those of you who think Japan is perfect.  I walk by all this trash everyday.

But after the trash I get to walk through Verny park which is filled with roses.  I can’t wait for the summer, this walk will be beautiful.

Its a long walk.  I have to walk way over there to get underneath that bridge (about where the tallest tower is) to take the train.  If they’d just build a bridge from the other side of the base to the station I’d be much happier.

In Japan always make sure you use the restroom before you leave the house because this is what they look like!  And they have no toilet paper and no paper towels or dryers.  Everyone here carries their own paper and a towel to dry their hands.

Finally, the train station!  I’m just catching the end of the morning rush hour.  A train just arrived and in a moment I’m going to be hit by a tidal wave of people rushing to work and school, you can see the first few running out.

At the platform is the train!

Now, the train is always fairly crowded in the morning, but I can usually squeak into a seat at the next stop.  But so that I’m not being rude, I didn’t take any pictures of the inside just yet.

40 mintes later, here’s the school!

I have to take my shoes off and wear slippers all day.  It still seems so odd to me, but it’s quite comfortable.

An empty room before school.

And an empty train on the way home.

The reason the train is empty is because they’re switching the line at the Zushi station.  It’s a pain in the butt, but I always seem to be on that train every time.  2 stations from home everyone gets off the train, and if everyone gets off, I get off because they’re going to either change directions or take it to the garage for repairs.  One of these days I’ll get lucky and not have to switch trains.

That is it for now!

Shrimp Burger

Konnichi-wa to my firends from the purple risu (squirrel) here in Japan!  (See?  I’m learning Japanese already! LOL!)

This one will have to be a short update since I’m in the library on base, but I thought I’d put out a little more info in responce to my last blog’s comments.

I have started taking pictures now that I’ve started venturing into town, but until I have a place to live, I don’t think I’ll be able to post anything.  All public computers are on lockdown to anything but a CD, and all my photo stuff is designed to hook up to USB.  I’m going to see if I can find a photo place in town that will make a CD (pronounced shee-dee in Japanese, no joke).

Feeling a bit homesick, I went into the McDonalds today.  They have a shrimp burger!  I think maybe next time I’ll be brave, but I chickened out today and got chicken (no pun).

Important Japanese phrase for the day:

Kore wa nan desu ka? = What is this? (this = closest to me)

There are only a few ways to pronounce Japanese, e=eh, a=ah, o=oh, i=ee, and the u at the end of a word is silent, it just means your drag out the letter in front of it.  So: “Kohreh wah nahn dess kah?”

I miss you guys so much!

Arrival in Japan

I made it!  I am here, safe and sound, in Yokosuka, Japan.  Of course, it rained as I got off the plane on Friday the 13th.  Then, we had to play tetris to get all of our luggage into the tiny little vans they have out here.  Once that was all done we made it to our hotel and were assigned room 113.  (January-13??).  What a way to end a miserable military move, getting room 113.  Go figure!

I’m learning how to use the taxis and the bus today.  But first I had to figure out how to use stuff in the room!  They have instructions on the bath faucet because it is so odd.  The power isn’t much different, but there are 4 ways to throw stuff away since everyone has to be very eco-friendly here.  I’ll be a while before I learn everything.  I did venture off the base yesterday and walked to the nearest mall.  That was fun, the shops have no walls since crime isn’t a problem here.  We went to the grocery store and got lunch, but don’t ask me what I ate!    I’m not sure what it was!

There are lots of pretty papers and art supplies here for sale, as well as lots of fruits and veggies.  Ice cream shops sell crepes with fruit in all sorts of arrangements and they are quite popular.  Maybe in a day or two I’ll try one.

My guy will be leaving on Wednesday for a long deployment.  I’m really pissed because he just got back from the last one.  That means I am on my own to do everything (again!) so I’ll let you know how that goes.  It’s a holiday here, so I can’t start finding a place to live until tomorrow.  Next will be a phone, a PO Box, and a car and international license.  Fun stuff.  I’ll post my PO Box as soon as I have one.  Computer time is expensive right now, but I’ll try and send reports on Japan as often as possible.

*Lacey

P.S.  The best part about Japan so far, is all the Sanrio!