Danger Zone

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: Bothersome
Japanese: Mendokusai (めんどくさい or 面倒臭い) 

Fun Fact: This is the only Japanese phrase I've successfully taught my mother. I guess I say it a lot. :D

Ok guys, something happened that I was trying to avoid. I have several entries queued up to write that are weeks, even a month old. I've been jotting down notes as I go since I have the memory of a distracted goldfish but I’ll still be missing a lot of details. I got behind on writing for a few reasons but mostly because school takes a lot of my allotted higher functioning for the day and also because I have been enjoying some amazing skype calls with friends that sometimes last for 4+ hours.  But enough excuses! You’re here for stuff about Japan so let’s talk about Japan!

More specifically, let’s talk about the stuff I've done in the last month and a half because holy shit I've been here a month and a half already!

Week 1 (2-9th)

• Learned how to sort trash
• Went to my first festival (with Becky and Andrew!)
• Met everyone in town; had everyone chuckle at my unfortunate love of katsu and hatred of cabbage
• Memorized a basic self introduction in Japanese for meeting everyone in town
• Began “work” at BoE (Board of Education)
• Road a bicycle for the first time in 10+ years
• Made my first speech at my Welcome Ceremony (in English)

Week 2 (10-16^th)

• Got a phone
• Offered to be a meeting point for an event in another city that was sadly rained out

Week 3 (17-23^rd)

• Went to Kyoto Seminar and was truly alone in a city other than my home
• Begin working with students
• Got internet in my apartment
• Realized BoE “work” is very different from what I’ll actually be doing

Week 4 (24-30^th)

• Went to Uji alone, navigating all sorts of buses
• Welcomed 2 new plants to my home; their names are Hanabi and Aurora
• Paid my first bill (at a conbini!)
• Started work at my schools
• Attended my first Enkai (social drinking party)

Week 5 (31-6^th)

• Learned how to actually sort trash properly (Turns out plastic is not burnable, opps!)
• Learned the importance of Janken (rock, paper, scissors; it rules all decisions here)
• Made my first speech entirely in Japanese

Week 6 (7-13^th)

• Took a trip to Osaka, a 4 hour round trip. It’s kind of awesome how little has changed in 3 years
• Learn how to get packages rescheduled*
• Was visited by Jehova’s Witnesses (I wasn’t home but they left me literature)

*In Japan if you are not home when a package comes they leave you a note and you have to reschedule delivery. They will not just leave your package unattended at your door.

So yeah, I've been pretty busy. But I feel comfortable in my schools, I like my kiddos, and my apartment is beginning to really feel like home. I've been decorating!

Can you find the googly eyes?

Next time! A proper entry, promise.

Also, my song title for the entry is “Danger Zone” because I watched Top Gun for the first time this weekend and have had that song stuck in my head since then.