we wish you a merry christmas...

So I just had my first Christmas weekend in Japan! It was my first time not being home or with family for Christmas, which was definitely very strange and a little bit lonely, but thanks to the wonderful thing known as technology, I was able to Skype with my family on Christmas Eve, which was great!

Anyway, the break started off with taking a trip to Miyagi Prefecture to volunteer to help with recovery from the earthquake/tsunami in March of last year. I wrote about it in detail here, so please take the time to read it! It was a very good experience, and I'm glad to have had the chance to do a little bit to help out. The bus left at night, so most of the day was spent buying things and getting ready.

I came back to Chiba bright and early (aka 5:45am) on Christmas Eve, whereupon I promptly went back to bed for a few hours. After getting up and failing to do anything productive, I went out for a ladies' night with a few Wisconsin ALTs! We all dressed up a little (hurray for excuses to wear dresses) and had dinner at a (semi-)fancy restaurant not far from Chiba Station, which had an excellent view of the illumination in Chuo Park. It was a Christmas dinner course, which meant it was all decided for us beforehand, and it was absolutely delicious!

Afterward we went to Port Tower, which I have been to several times before but never at night, so that was pretty cool. Although we missed the fireworks (which was kind of the whole reason we decided to go there, oops), we managed to see a short street performance of a guy flipping cones (cooler than it sounds) and the short light show of the Port Tower illumination. We also went up the tower, and saw a gorgeous view of Chiba at night!

On Christmas Day, I went down to Togane to eat nabe (Japanese hot pot) at a friend's Christmas Party! It obviously wasn't quite the same as being at home, but it was a lot of fun and I had a really great time eating and talking with everybody, so it was still a good Christmas! I got to see a few people I hadn't seen in a while and meet a few more, which is always great.

Wednesday was back to work as usual (Christmas is not a holiday in Japan, but I took the day off), followed by a trip to library and the discovery of a restaurant specializing in cabbage rolls/stuffed cabbage (it was delicious).

On Thursday my friend James showed up at my work because he had to go to the immigration office downstairs, so after work we went to Chiba Station together and had coffee with a friend of his, complete with Bananagrams! Then I went to my frisbee team's bounenkai, which was super fun! We started out at the restaurant we had reserved and then moved to another izakaya, after which most people went home but a few of us continued on to one last bar, since one of my teammates was kind enough to offer to drive us home. It was a late night, but a good one!

And then today was my last day of work for the year 2012! Apparently there is a tradition at work of ordering lunch together on the last and first work days of the year, so today we all had sushi, which was very tasty. Then after work, I went on a last-minute shopping trip to LaLaport with my friend Laura! All in all, a very good last work day. :D

And so begins my first real break for New Year's! New Year's is a really big holiday in Japan, so I have until January 4th off (even though it's a little silly to have to come back then since Jan. 4 is a Friday), and the thought of having a week's vacation is pretty awesome. I can't believe it's almost 2013 - so much has happened this year - but I'll spare you all my reflections for now. Maybe next time! :)

nanohana volunteer bus

So last weekend I took part of a volunteer bus to go help with recovery in Tohoku from the Great East Japan Earthquake (and tsunami)! It was a very good experience, and I may very well go again sometime (though maybe not until it gets a little warmer).

I decided to participate because I wanted to go somewhere and do something over Christmas weekend, and as I'd been thinking about volunteering before, it seemed like a perfect chance! I went on a trip organized by Nanohana Bus Company, which I had found out about via work and which I chose because I could get on at Chiba Station instead of Tokyo, which was very convenient. The fee to participate was also fairly low (10000 yen), which included transportation to and from the site, lunch, and even admission into a hot spring!

So after purchasing lots of necessary items (steel-lined rubber boots, work gloves, masks, goggles, bright blue jumpsuit, etc), I headed to Chiba Station on Saturday night, ready to spend the night on the bus before arriving in Miyagi Prefecture in the morning. The bus stopped at a few places including Chiba and Tokyo, slowly filling up with volunteers, most of whom seemed to be participating on their own like me. Because of a last-minute cancellation, I was lucky enough to have the two-seat row to myself, which made it much easier to get comfortable and sleep (though I can really sleep anywhere, haha).

Around 5:30am we stopped at a rest station to have breakfast and get changed (we did stop a couple of times during the night as well), before getting to our final destination around 8! We didn't find out exactly where we were going until shortly before we got there: a town called Minamisanriku (南三陸町), on the coast in Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered a lot of damage in the tsunami last year. According to our guide, the government has officially declared Minamisanriku as recovered, but there is still a long way to go before things can be considered normal again. On our way to our volunteer site, we could see huge piles of rocks and things still scattered about.

When we got to the site, they split us into two groups and assigned each one to a different area. The day's task: uprooting all the grass and plants that had grown over the land and then going through the soil to remove all the glass, trash, rocks, and other random objects that were buried there. We each had a little sickle (which I've never used before), and after a brief explanation, we set right to work! It wasn't easy - they told us to try and totally uproot things when possible and a lot of the plants were settled in pretty tight (I had to admire their tenacity! ), and it was tough to be constantly squatting or bending toward the ground, but the weather was bright and clear and warmer than any of us had expected (I shed several layers as the day went on), and it actually felt really nice to be outside doing some physical labor instead of sitting at a desk all day for a change!

It was also pretty interesting to see what came out of the ground, though thinking about where they had come from and how they had gotten there was also a little sobering at times. There was a lot of broken glass and concrete/cement/rocks, as well as shells, trash, plastic, and pottery fragments. A couple of interesting things I found included an electric toothbrush head and a little Donald Duck charm bracelet, and I even saw a tin lunch box somewhere.

After working for a few hours (with plenty of breaks in between), we had an hour for lunch, which was a buffet of things like yakisoba, fried rice, soup, spaghetti, etc. I had a big appetite after working all morning, and it all tasted delicious! There was a fire going outside and they were even grilling oysters (though I'm not a big fan so I didn't try any).

After lunch we went back to work until about 4pm, when we wrapped up for the day, having cleared almost all of the area they gave us! After we got back on the bus, our guide explained that the work we did, while helpful in its own right, was just as much to help encourage the spirits of the people who lived there to not give up and to keep doing their best to rebuild, which was a really interesting thought. As the earthquake/tsunami happened over a year and a half ago now, the number of volunteers and visitors to the area has definitely decreased, but apparently still having volunteers come out has been motivating to the locals (and hopefully will continue to be!).

Next we drove to the shopping street to have dinner and buy souvenirs, which was pretty cool even though they were all in makeshift buildings. I had ramen for dinner with another lady who was on my volunteer bus, and enjoyed wandering around the little shops before we left for our next destination, the hot spring!

It was a hot spring inside a hotel, and it started to snow as we went inside. The onsen (hot spring) was pretty nice, with several different baths and even a sauna. My favorite part, though, was the outdoor onsen in the midst of heavy snow! It felt pretty amazing to soak after a long day's work and enjoy the beautiful view of the snow falling at the same time. I also got to talk with a few more of the ladies who had volunteered with me, which was cool.

After I left the bath (I can't stay in hot water for too long), there was still some time, so I bought some ice cream at the hotel gift shop and read some manga from the little library they had there (which I thought was pretty cool) while enjoying a live band that was playing Christmas music in the lobby. And then it was back onto the bus for the night ride back to Chiba! I definitely had no problem falling asleep after that, and managed to sleep pretty well until I got back just in time for the first bus back to my apartment.

All in all, it was a really great experience, though short, and like I said, I'm definitely considering doing it again. The earthquake and tsunami may have been over 18 months ago, but there is still so much left to be done, and I hope that people don't forget about it anytime soon.

monorail wine train!

Whoosh, this week went by fast - probably because it was full of fun events!

On Tuesday night I went out for a 忘年会 (bounenkai), or year-end party, which was for the ladies at my work but nonetheless included one of our male superiors, haha. It was at semi-fancy restaurant called Gotham with very delicious food, and I had a good time eating and drinking with everybody.

Wednesday I had dinner with one of my friends at a very cute place called Afternoon Tea, which was clearly decorated to appeal to women, haha. After that I went to salsa night again, which was fun as usual, even with only a few people.

On Thursday I had my last evening frisbee practice of the year, which was pretty chilly but still good - I even managed to catch a few goals during our scrimmage, which is a very rare occurrence, haha.

Yesterday I went on the Chiba Urban Monorail's wine train with a few of my coworkers, which was super super awesome! I wrote about it in more detail on my travel blog here (read it!), but basically we got to drink wine and eat dinner while riding the monorail, which was pretty much one of the coolest things I've done since I got here. :D Afterward we met up with our boss and sang karaoke, which was also super fun! Admittedly I didn't recognize most of the songs and failed a little bit at the Japanese ones I tried to sing (for some reason they were all super high or just hard -.-'), but it was great to have fun with my coworkers outside of work, since I don't get the chance to that often. :)

And in less than two hours I will be on a bus to go volunteer somewhere in Miyagi Prefecture! I have no idea where exactly I'll be or what I'll be doing, but I'm sure it will be a great experience (assuming I don't freeze to death). I'll certainly blog about it when I get back, so until next time. :D

chiba urban monorail wine train!

So yesterday I got to ride on the Chiba Urban Monorail's 'Wine Train', and it was amazing! Basically, it was a chance to ride on the monorail while enjoying wine and a bento dinner, along with the beautiful night scenery of Chiba!

Mono-chan!

I went with a few of my co-workers, and we met up at Chiba Minato Station, which is the beginning (or the end, depending on how you look at it!) of the monorail. The route for the event was to go all the way down one line, to Kenchomae Station, going back to Chiba Minato, then going down the other line to almost the end (though I don't remember which station exactly, oops) before ending at Chiba Station. The whole thing took an hour and a half, which after we got off I think we all agreed went by super fast!

Super classy.

When we got ready to board, there was a cute sign at the front of the car with the monorail mascot, Mono-chan, in a Christmas hat and holding a wine glass. When we stepped into the car, though, was the exciting part. Seeing the monorail car, which I've ridden many times before, full of tables with wine and bento boxes and decorated with little bunches of grapes (even all the ads had been changed to ones of wine!), was really really cool!

Delicious!

And then we were off! It was pretty amusing to see the regular monorail passengers at all the stations we passed through, who were clearly very confused (and probably jealous) to see us eating and drinking inside (can't blame them). There was both red and white wine (apparently enough for each person to have 2 bottles!), a delicious bento box, and a running commentary by our emcee, Santa. The monorail passed by the Christmas illumination in Chuo Park on its first round to Kenchomae Station, and then on the way back actually stopped briefly so we could get a good view. They even turned off all the lights and switched on Christmas lights around the windows to make our own illumination inside the cars! There was also a prize drawing, for things like a monorail charm (my co-worker won one!), fancy wine, and a stuffed Mono-chan, and a short explanation about wine from representatives of Mercian, the company that provided the wine. 

Illumination in Chuo Park!

All in all, it was a fantastic event, and if I had the chance I would definitely do it again! I am a huge fan of the monorail, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest suspended monorail - I even looked it up in the library to check once (and it was there!) - so I really enjoyed getting to experience it in a new way. We even got to take home our wine glasses and any remaining wine, plus a free 2013 monorail calendar. Well worth the 4000-yen ticket, I think! Apparently they do a similar event with beer in the summer (which is more appealing than wine to me, haha), so maybe I'll be writing about it in a few months. Let's hope! :D

Our own illumination!

tokyo, tokyo, tokyo

Well, these past few days have certainly made me appreciate how close Chiba is to Tokyo! Somehow I've made the trip four out of the past five days, which now that I think about it is probably a little ridiculous, haha. But worth it!

On Wednesday I headed over for my first Tokyo Swing Night in a while, which was awesome as usual. Every time I go there I meet some new people, which is always exciting. And then on Thursday I actually went to exactly the same place, but this time for west coast swing! I was super excited to find an event just for west coast, which is arguably my favorite dance, and it was so much fun to be able to dance it again.

And then on Friday I went to LaLaport with some friends to watch The Hobbit! I was worried about tickets running out (since it was opening night) and so I went straight after work to get tickets, but it turns out I needn't have worried and probably didn't really need to show up 3 hours early, haha. But we were in a mall after all, so we shopped a little and got dinner before seeing the movie, which I thought was awesome! I got so into it that I was physically tired when I came out - definitely worth seeing (though maybe not in 3D).

Yesterday I headed back to Tokyo for my first Carleton alumni event, which was just a lunch gathering at an alum's house. I met some brand new Japanese freshmen who had just finished their first fall term (aww) and a lot of other alums, and even ran into a couple of students that I actually knew at Carleton! It was pretty interesting talking to people from all different years at Carleton and figuring out what was the same and what was different for everybody.

After that I went back to Chiba and met up with some friends to celebrate a birthday! We sang karaoke for a couple of hours, which is always a blast, and then just hung out at Ocean Deep for a while until everybody had to catch their last trains. I was a little tired from the past few days, but it was super fun!

Then this morning I got a last-minute invitation from my friend Chris to go shopping in Akihabara, which I actually haven't been to since getting to Japan this time (though I did go when I studied abroad). We wandered around for a bit before meeting up with one of his friends for lunch in Harajuku, after which I finally came home! It's been a busy few days, but I'm sure this next week/weekend will fly by, too! :)

peanuts

So last Wednesday I went to salsa night at Ocean Deep again, for the first time in a while, and again, it was a blast! My friend James came along this time and we had a lot of fun dancing - we even tried bachata once, which is surprisingly hard (even though all we did was the basic, haha).

On Friday I had to stay late at work, but after that I met up with Cory for dinner. We were planning to go to an all-you-can-eat pizza place, but the trains were super delayed due to the earthquake (which was probably the biggest one I've felt since I got here!) so we just had dinner at an Indian restaurant near his apartment before playing Lego Harry Potter, which was pretty great. It took me about three times as long as normal to get home, though, since trains were still delayed - you'd think I'd have learned not to take trains once there's been a delay, but apparently not, haha. -.-'

And then on Sunday I played in my first frisbee tournament (called Peanuts!) in Japan, which was super fun! Our team was the one that organized it and it was in Port Park, where we have Saturday practices, so I got up early to help set up the field. The teams in the tournament were all from the area - mostly college teams, actually - and every team came in costume! There were Santas, rainbow afros, scientists (and Pikachu!), martial artists, suits, chickens, and frogs (my team!) - it was great because it reminded me of the Hallowinona tournament I played in back at Carleton, and clearly everybody was just there to have fun and play frisbee. My favorite costume by far was our captain's, though - in the middle of one of our games he came out in a Christmas tree costume and played in it, even though he couldn't run in it at all. So great.

Some Santas, chickens, and frogs!

After every game both teams had to do some sort of cheer or activity, which was also super fun. My team did competitions: one where everybody had wooden skewers in their mouths and had to transfer a candy from one person to another without using our hands, and one where we raced around a marker in pairs with a frisbee between our butts. Other highlights include an ultimate frisbee version of the atarimae-taisou by CowCow (look them up on YouTube), Ya (which is the exact same icebreaker as Wah) with a penalty of getting your face drawn on if you messed up, and some impressive backflip demonstrations.

Vortex: chickens and frogs for a day!

The tournament lasted all day (though each game was only 30 minutes) through intense wind and we only won one game, but we did win one game and ended up in 4th place! I didn't score any goals, even though if I had it would have been worth 2 points for being a girl, but I at least managed to get the disc (only once, haha) and laid out for a disc in the endzone (but didn't catch it), which is good enough for me! Hopefully there will be lots more tournaments to go to in the future, because this one was tons of fun. :D

good-bye november, hello december

Wow, it's December! November definitely went by faster than any other month so far (though I guess there have only been three of them, haha).

Work has gone back to normal since the Quezon delegation left, although I did end up staying late for the rest of the week. It turns out that I've worked enough overtime to take a whole day off sometime, so I'm thinking about taking Christmas Day off (since it's not a holiday in Japan)! I don't have any plans for Christmas at the moment, but we get Christmas Eve off as a makeup holiday for the Emperor's birthday, so it would be a four-day weekend. :D

On Thursday I went to my first night frisbee practice in a while, which was super fun! It was surprisingly warm and not at all windy, which was perfect frisbee weather (and again my team thought I was crazy for wearing shorts and a t-shirt when they were all in pants and long sleeves and gloves, haha). Next Saturday we have a tournament, which will be my first one in Japan - very exciting.

Friday I went to the library and ended up coming home with probably a lot more stuff than I can actually read/watch in two weeks, haha. It's been a really long time since I browsed a library for fun (sadly), and there's actually a pretty big English section in the Central Library so I just wanted to borrow everything! After that I just went out for dinner and started reading, which actually made a pretty great Friday night.

On Saturday I went to the International Association to volunteer for a Christmas event! There was a good amount of people there, including some pretty adorable kids. We set up and decorated a Christmas tree, which I think the kids had a lot of fun with, and I read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas out loud to the group. :D

After that I went to Lalaport to see the new James Bond movie! Having absolutely no expectations whatsoever (I've only ever seen one James Bond movie before this one), I actually enjoyed it a lot. We went to a ramen place afterward, and then my friend Ella came home with me to spend the night, since she was taking the JLPT today at Chiba University near my apartment, which was super fun!

This morning I walked over with her to the university and then spent the rest of the day reading in a cafe and just wandering around the area, which was super chill and awesome. I found a lot more little cafes and restaurants that I'd like to visit sometime, so hopefully I actually will, haha!

a visit from quezon city

Last week some officials from our sister city in the Philippines, Quezon City, came to Chiba in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of our sister-city relationship, and I got to accompany them to a bunch of cool places in the city, which I probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to see otherwise!

They were here in Chiba for a total of three days, though the first day was relatively uneventful. We did make a really brief stop at Narita-san Shinshoji, which is one of the most popular temples in Japan, but because it was starting to get dark and also raining really hard, we really just took a few pictures at the entrance. I would really love to go back and actually take a look around sometime - one of my friends was there the same day and she said it was one of the most beautiful places she'd seen.

The next day the delegation had a courtesy visit with the mayor and a courtesy visit/luncheon with the chairman of the Chiba City Assembly and some other assembly members, which I helped interpret for (sort of). After that we went on a study tour of some waste treatment facilities (which I left entirely up to the pro interpreter, haha), which was actually pretty cool! We got to see things like trucks dumping garbage, cranes moving it around, garbage being pressed into blocks, etc. Part of the facilities was a system that created biogas (mostly methane, I think?) from burning garbage, which is then used by a nearby steel factory for energy. Pretty cool, I think, especially considering this is the kind of thing I would probably never see otherwise!

Next we made an unplanned stop at the Fukuda Denshi Arena, aka the soccer stadium that is home to our soccer team, JEF United Chiba. Thanks to the assembly member who was with us, we got to go on a quick tour around and saw things like the control room, locker rooms, the drug testing room (complete with bathrooms with glass doors!), and the VIP room. We also got to go on the field, which was pretty cool. I think it'd be super cool to play frisbee sometime there, though that will probably never happen (though we do practice next door once a month)!

The next morning our first stop was the Chiba City Museum of Art, to see the exhibit I went to with my family a few weeks ago. After that we walked over and got on the monorail, so our guests could experience it. We managed to transfer onto the Urban Flier (the new monorail car), which has a glass bottom in the conductor seat and won a Good Design Award this year!

After that we went to the World Business Garden in Makuhari for lunch. We went all the way to the top of the building (to the 35th floor!), where there was a really great view of Tokyo Bay and Makuhari. Next was a tour of Makuhari Messe, which I've been to before but was still pretty interesting. I learned that the main 8 exhibition halls were built to look like the mountains of Chiba Prefecture, while the newer 3 were designed to look like waves from Chiba's coast, which I'd never realized before. When we walked around, there was a huge line of people stretching across the 8 exhibition halls (which I learned span 530m), who were there for Best Artist 2012, a concert that was broadcast live at 7pm tonight! I was just watching it on TV, and knowing that everybody I saw was actually in Makuhari Messe at that moment was pretty cool.

All in all, it was a super busy three days, but I had a lot of fun being with the delegation and visiting the various places with them. I'm not sure when another delegation will be coming to visit or if I'll be here for it, but I hope that I am! :D

quezon city delegation visit

Today marks the end of my first delegation visit to Chiba City! To celebrate the 40th sister-city anniversary, three city officials from Quezon City came to Chiba for a few days, and it was my job to accompany them and interpret during their stay. It's been a little crazy, but I think all in all it was a great experience!

So on Monday we headed to Narita to pick up the delegation from the airport. On the way back, we made a very, very brief stop at Narita-san Shinshoji, which is one of the most popular temples in Japan. Because it was starting to get dark and also raining really hard, we really just took a few pictures at the entrance, but I would really love to go back and actually take a look around sometime - one of my friends was there the same day and she said it was one of the most beautiful places she'd seen.

After that we headed to the hotel so they could check-in, then had a brief break before dinner. Dinner was at a place where they actually made the tempura right in front of us, which was pretty awesome, not to mention delicious! It was just the delegation and a few of us from the International Relations Section plus the Director of the Office of the Mayor, but I think everybody had a good time - I think for two of the Quezon delegates it was their first time having sake, and they seemed to enjoy it a lot, haha. Interpreting while eating was a little bit of a challenge at times, but luckily everybody there spoke at least a little English so it wasn't too bad!

Tuesday, on the other hand, was a different story - since it was the day full of official stuff, we knew it was going to be the hardest, and while I don't think it was a total disaster, I also wouldn't really call it a success. -.-' It definitely made me realize that my Japanese still has a long way to go before I can really call myself fluent and that interpreting is really hard (though I knew that already, haha)!

Anyway, it started off with a courtesy visit to the mayor. We arrived at city hall, where the delegation was greeted with lots of applause. Even Chiba-kun, the prefecture mascot, was there, which really surprised me! And then it was time for the courtesy visit - courtesy visits to the mayor always make me nervous because the mayor not only skips around and improvises in his speeches, but he also talks really fast! Still, it went relatively well, despite a few times where the mayor had to correct me or repeat what he said.

Next was a luncheon with the members of the Chiba City Assembly who had gone to Quezon City last month, which was kind of a disaster (for me at least). I am incredibly grateful to the professional interpreter that we hired for the day (he was there for the courtesy visit too), who was really nice and also super super competent. Whenever I couldn't understand what somebody said, which was probably most of the time (in my defense, they were talking about really complicated things like taxes, advancement of women, and the technical aspects of garbage disposal), he was kind enough to help me out. I guess having 2 interpreters for a table of 12 people all eating lunch and talking to both each other and the guests all at once is just a tough situation in general, too!

After that we went on a study tour of some waste treatment facilities (which I left entirely up to the pro interpreter, haha), which was actually pretty cool! We got to see things like trucks dumping garbage, cranes moving it around, garbage being pressed into blocks, etc. Part of the facilities was a system that created biogas (mostly methane, I think?) from burning garbage, which is then used by a nearby steel factory for energy. Pretty cool, I think, especially considering this is the kind of thing I would probably never see otherwise!

Next we made an unplanned stop at the Fukuda Denshi Arena, aka the soccer stadium that is home to our soccer team, JEF United Chiba. Thanks to the assembly member who was with us, we got to go on a quick tour around and saw things like the control room, locker rooms, the drug testing room (complete with bathrooms with glass doors!), and the VIP room. We also got to go on the field, which was pretty cool. I think it'd be super cool to play frisbee sometime there, though that will probably never happen (though we do practice next door once a month)!

That was the end of my job for the day, since dinner for the delegates was hosted by the assembly members (I heard it was pretty lively, though!). This morning our first stop was the Chiba City Museum of Art, to see the exhibit I went to a few weeks ago. After that we walked over and got on the monorail, so our guests could experience it. Thanks to Satou-san's careful planning, we managed to transfer onto the Urban Flier (the new monorail car), which made it the third time in two days I got to ride it (which is a lot considering it's only come when I was riding the monorail once in the four months since I've been here)!

After that we went to the World Business Garden in Makuhari for lunch. We went all the way to the top of the building (to the 35th floor!), where there was a really great view of Tokyo Bay and Makuhari. Next was a tour of Makuhari Messe, which I've been to before but was still pretty interesting. I learned that the main 8 exhibition halls were built to look like the mountains of Chiba Prefecture, while the newer 3 were designed to look like waves from Chiba's coast, which I'd never realized before. When we walked around, there was a huge line of people stretching across the 8 exhibition halls (which I learned span 530m), who were there for Best Artist 2012, a concert that was broadcast live at 7pm tonight! I was just watching it on TV, and knowing that everybody I saw was actually in Makuhari Messe at that moment was pretty cool.

Next we went to Don Quijote (sic), which is a discount store that sells all sort of things, including some things from abroad (like snacks), and which I think was what the delegates were most excited for, haha. After spending some time there finding lots of souvenirs, we got on the bus and drove to Tokyo, where they'll be spending a day by themselves before heading back to the Philippines.

It's been a long and busy three days, but it's definitely also been super interesting and pretty fun! I am definitely ready to just sit at my desk all day for once (though I doubt it will be any less busy, if Sato-san's ominous comments about translation requests he's hidden from me are any indication). Hopefully by the next time a delegations comes to Chiba, I'll have improved both my Japanese and my interpreting skills!

chiba ajet thanksgiving and more

Friday was a holiday (something like Labor Day, I think), which Chiba AJET took advantage of to properly celebrate Thanksgiving a day late! I've been helping the guy in charge plan and get ready for the event, so on Friday I got up early to help get things started!

Since I had brought one of the turkeys home from Costco, I got on the train with the 14-pound turkey in my backpack (which will probably never stop feeling weird, haha) and headed to Soga. The rest of the day was spent cooking and hanging out with lots of both familiar Chiba AJET friends and new people, which was really fun! We had about 30 people show up altogether, but there was plenty of food (in fact we even had leftovers that we had to practically beg people to take home - I still have a lot in my fridge), and it was all delicious. It was definitely a traditional Thanksgiving meal (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and more!), and it was really great to still be able to eat all that in Japan, surrounded by lots of good company, even far away from home. :)

Afterward (since we had eaten around 3 and it was still early) a big group of us went back to a bar in Chiba City, which was a nice and chill way to end the busy day - all in all I think the event was a great success, which always feels great when you help plan it!

Then yesterday I went to frisbee practice for the first time in weeks, which was awesome. I thought it would be really cold so I went dressed super warmly, but by the end I was in shorts and a t-shirt, which made them all think I was crazy, haha. It was perfect fall frisbee weather, though! Definitely worth feeling sore all day today (which is probably a sad sign of how long it's been since I exercised, haha). And then after that I met up with Hirata-san and a friend to go on a night cruise of the factory scenery in Chiba Harbor, which you can read about here! After that I went to dinner with Hirata-san at a seafood place relatively close to my apartment, which was really delicious.

Today I spent a relaxing morning just doing chores and rewatching one of my favorite Japanese movies (Kamome Diner), before meeting up with a friend from Carleton who actually used to be my Japanese tutor! He's been in China apparently but is spending a month traveling around Japan, and though he'd wanted to meet earlier it was exactly when my family was visiting, so it was nice to actually get to see him today. We met and had some coffee before just wandering around downtown Chiba for a while and then getting dinner. It was great to catch up (I don't think we've really been in touch since he graduated the year before me) and also nice to have somebody to explore more of the city with! I feel like now I've seen a lot more of the area around the station than I've ventured to before, which is pretty cool.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the three-day visit by the delegation from Quezon City, which is sure to be super busy and super challenging for me, since I'll be accompanying them and interpreting for them the whole time! I'm already feeling pretty nervous and super unprepared, but I'm sure it'll be a new and interesting experience. Wish me luck! :)

chiba factory scenery night cruise

This Saturday I got to go on an evening cruise of the nighttime factory scenery in Chiba Port! This is actually only the second time that this has happened here (I believe the last one was in February), but I've heard this sort of cruise is actually getting pretty popular around the country, and depending on interest it could become a more regular thing here in Chiba, too!

I met up with one of my coworkers and a friend at the station before walking over to the port together. After checking in we waited a little bit before getting on the boat, which was very sleek and fancy-looking, with cool blue lights along the sides. The cruise included a free drink, which was a choice between what I think was a sort of fruit cocktail (tasty) or juice. After getting our drinks, we decided to go up to the top of the boat for a better view, even though I'm sure the downstairs was much warmer, haha.

After a little bit, we were off! I was surprised to discover that there was actually a guide on the cruise to explain what we were looking at and give us some background. It was only in Japanese and I didn't understand all of it, especially when he was explaining more about the factories, but I was glad that he was there to explain things to us.

As we were heading out, we got a really nice view of Port Tower, which is currently doing a nighttime Christmas-themed illumination starting at 5 every day. It's basically a Christmas tree shape and lots of colorful twinkling lights,  which is actually quite pretty. From the boat we could see the whole Christmas tree design, which for whatever reason you can't see from shore, so that was pretty awesome.

As the cruise went on, we heard explanations of what factories we were passing by (what they were, what they did, etc), and we also got to see things like the Makuhari New City District in Chiba (where Makuhari Messe is) and Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree across Tokyo Bay, which was really cool.

We slowed down and got close to factories at two points, one at JFE Steel and another whose name I didn't catch (oops). There was actually something surprisingly pretty about all the lights from the factories, which you don't really associate with factories, and it was really cool to be able to see them up (relatively) close. They even brought the boat closer once upon somebody's request and told us what settings to use on our cameras for the best pictures, which I thought was really nice of them.

Near the end they also let us go through the captain's cabin at the front, where we saw all the navigation stuff, which I thought was really cool. I also noticed that a lot of the switches were labeled in English instead of Japanese, which I found interesting.

All in all, I think it was super interesting and I'm glad I got the chance to go! It got pretty chilly on the boat with the wind blowing the whole time, but I was relatively prepared and also I love boats, so I enjoyed it. :D Someday I'll have to go on one of the regular sightseeing cruises they offer in Chiba Port, because I'm sure those are also awesome.

cir mid-year

So this Tuesday-Thursday was my first CIR mid-year conference! This is the one time a year when all the JET CIRs are all together in one place, going to various training sessions and exchanging opinions. It was good to see a lot of first-years I'd met at Tokyo Orientation and to meet all the rest too, though actually I don't think I met as many people as I could have; next year I'll try harder!

Anyway, I went to work as usual on Tuesday in the morning (one disadvantage of living in the city where mid-year is held, haha) and then headed to Makuhari at the lunch break to meet up with Laura and Kim, two out of the three other Chiba CIRs, for lunch! Kim got there a little late so we just grabbed Subway (yep, there's Subway in Japan!) in the food court before heading to the hotel for the conference.

The first day was just an opening ceremony and a keynote address-type thing, followed by a dinner reception! The food was pretty tasty, though there wasn't really enough of it (all the dessert disappeared before I even got to see it, haha), and I met a bunch of new people. Afterward I went with a group back to the food court to try the taiyaki parfaits I'd seen before but never gotten (delicious), and we ended up just hanging out there and talking for a few hours before Kim and I went home.

The next morning we got up bright and early (aka didn't get nearly as much sleep as we needed) to catch the bus and train back to Makuhari. I spent the morning in the introductory translation/interpretation seminars, which were pretty helpful, and then got lunch with Laura, Kim, and my predecessor Erica, who was actually presenting a session at the conference. After a few more seminars in the afternoon, we met up with Stephen (the other new CIR from Carleton) and had sushi at a little place nearby. After that we went back to the hotel to try and find some other people to hang out with, and after meeting another 2nd-year CIR we headed to a Spanish bar and just chatted for a while.

The last day was more seminars until the whole conference wrapped up around noon, and Laura and I headed back to work for the afternoon (even though for every other CIR it was the beginning of a 3-day weekend, haha). I grabbed some quick lunch at a little noodle shop in the station and went back to work, where I actually ended up staying for almost 3 hours overtime because there was just so much to prepare for the upcoming Quezon visit! Which I am super nervous for (they're coming tomorrow!), but hopefully it will go well.

On the way home I realized it was actually Thanksgiving! Once I got home, chatting with Cory turned into going to Funabashi for impromptu karaoke, which was super fun, even with only two people. I also discovered that the Keisei bus station near me isn't as far as I thought it was (in fact it feels much closer than Chibaminato, even if only because the way there is more interesting), which is an exciting discovery. Anyway, it was a great way to end a long and busy Thanksgiving day. :D

quiet before the storm

The past few days haven't been too eventful, but after the family visit and with what's coming up soon, I think that's probably for the best!

I don't think anything interesting at all happened Thursday or Friday (just getting used to being myself in my apartment again, haha), but on Saturday after finally cleaning my apartment, I went into Chiba to meet my friend James for coffee. That was great, but after that things started to unravel into one of the worst nights I've had in Japan (but really in retrospect it wasn't that bad so I guess I'm still having a pretty good time, haha).

Basically I was supposed to meet my friend Ella in Mobara for dinner, because it's kind of halfway in between us and that way neither one of us had to take a two-hour train ride. Or at least that was the logic behind it. But there was super strong wind/rain in the part of the train line where she was, so the trains there stopped running, and basically I spent three hours waiting in Mobara and poor Ella spent something like 5 or 6 hours on a train before finally just heading back home (after trying to make plans for her to come here so she wouldn't be stranded somewhere else). So we didn't get to meet and that sucked, but we'll make it happen sometime, I'm sure (and for next time I've learned it's probably easiest just to reschedule instead of hoping the weather will get better. Also that maybe checking the weather beforehand is a good idea).

On Sunday I went to Costco again, but this time to get supplies for Chiba AJET Thanksgiving, which is happening on Friday (since it's a national holiday - not Thanksgiving though). I met up with some other Chiba AJET people and we spent a couple of hours trying to find stuff in Costco before having lunch there (of course). I brought one of the turkeys home with me, and I'm happy to report that I discovered that I can in fact fit a 14-pound turkey in my little fridge (though not much else anymore, haha)!

Then today Cory came over to my apartment to hang out, which made him my first guest who isn't a coworker or family (or almost-family, as the case may be), so that was exciting. We went to a little ramen place nearby which I thought was pretty nice (so parents, if you ever come back sometime we can go there) and then just reaffirmed how there's really nothing to do in my apartment other than TV or internet. -.-'

Tomorrow is the first day of the JET CIR mid-year conference, which should be lots of fun! It's actually happening in Makuhari so I'll just be commuting (which is maybe not so exciting but will save me lots of money, so I guess I'm pretty lucky for that), but I'm looking forward to seeing all the other CIRs who I haven't gotten to meet yet! Another Chiba CIR is actually going to be staying in my apartment during the conference so she can save on hotel costs too, so that should also be fun. :)

mid-november

Wow, how did it get to be mid-November already?! These past two weeks have flown by, but that was because of family vacation! My parents and my sister and her boyfriend all came to visit, and they all just left today. I've written about most of the trip on my travel blog, but for a quick recap, we went to Kyoto and Hiroshima, took a day off in between around Chiba, then headed to Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and Kanazawa, all in a week and a half!

I went back to work on Monday, so they got to explore Tokyo by themselves for a couple of days. On Monday my parents came back to have dinner with me, and we went grocery shopping together, which they seemed to really enjoy - or at least my mom definitely did! She kept saying how she wants to come live with me for a month so she can try everything in the store (which I wouldn't object to, haha). And then on Tuesday we all had a last dinner together of stuff my mom cooked and a variety of Japanese beers that my dad wanted to try. Today I had to leave for work and didn't get to see off my sister and her boyfriend, but Satou-san let me take the afternoon off to send my parents off to the airport, which was really nice of him, considering I had just taken a whole week off. :)

It was definitely sad to say bye to everybody and now my apartment seems strangely quiet (after being crammed with 5 people for two weeks, haha), but hopefully they'll be able to come visit again! From now on it looks like the rest of November will be crazy busy too (including the CIR mid-year conference and a two-day visit by people from one of our sister cities), though, so things should stay exciting for a bit!

family vacation, part two

So after a day of relaxing in Chiba, the family adventures continued! On Thursday morning we got up bright and early (like, really early) to catch the shinkansen to Nagoya, on our way to Takayama. In Nagoya we met up with my host mom (from when I studied abroad in Nagoya) and had a little breakfast at a cafe before wandering around and shopping a little before our train. It was really great to see my host mom again (it's been two years) and introduce her to my family, since I don't know if they'll all be in the same place at once again!

After that we got on the train to Takayama! We rode the 'Wide View Hida', which is so named because it has really big windows, which were great - as we got closer to the mountains we could see all the autumn colors of the trees (which we didn't get to see as much of in Kyoto) and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there it was late afternoon, so we went to our ryokan (who picked us up from the station even though we forgot to ask them in advance!) and dropped our stuff off before getting bus tickets for the next few days and wandering around town. As it was getting dark and most things seemed to be closing (I guess it was a weekday after all), we decided to get dinner at a place called Kyouya that was in a restaurant guide. It was a very Japanese-style place and we got to try the famous Hida beef, cooked with miso and served on a magnolia leaf and a little stove! (It was delicious.) After dinner we went back to the ryokan and took baths, which felt awesome. They even had a bath outdoors, which was perfect with the cool autumn weather.

Don't worry, it got properly cooked after this!

The next morning we got up early to do a walking tour around the many temples/shrines in the area. Apparently we came at one of the best times for autumn leaves in Takayama, and we got to see lots of really beautiful places. From there we headed to the weekday market, where I bought a sarubobo (or monkey baby) keychain for my phone! They seem to be a very popular souvenir in the Hida area (they are adorable and don't look like monkeys at all, despite their name) and are also supposed to bring good luck. Then we were finally able to wander around the old historic streets, which were full of little shops and had a very quaint ancient feel to them.

Then after a quick ramen lunch, it was time to get on the bus to our next destination! Our real goal was Shirakawa-go, yet another World Heritage Site, but I had unwittingly booked us a place that was about 20 minutes away, so we just decided to take it easy that night and just relax there. It was at Hirase Onsen (onsen = hot springs), and we had made a reservation to get dinner and breakfast there, too. So after we got there we decided to go into the onsen (there was a bath right in our ryokan) and soaked a little bit before being called to dinner. When we got there all the food was beautifully arranged at our table (unfortunately I don't have any pictures though), and even though there was already a lot there, over the course of the meal they kept bringing us more! It was all very traditional Japanese food (I think) and really delicious - we even managed to eat it all, even though it took us almost two hours, haha. After dinner we went back up to our room and had a little beer that my parents bought for the sake of the bottle it came in, before going to bed in our futons.

Breakfast the next morning was almost as elaborate but just as tasty - I think having Japanese dinner/breakfast at a ryokan is definitely an experience everybody should try at least once! Then we got on the bus to the historic villages of Shirakawa-go, which are famous for their distinct Gassho-style houses, which (supposedly) look like hands in prayer. First we went to the Gassho Folk Museum, which is an outdoor museum with many Gassho-style buildings set up to look the way the did in the past. It was really cool and also very picturesque, with lots of little ponds and gardens - I think it was one of my favorite places this trip. Then we wandered around the actual village, where people still live today - since most of the houses are private property we just walked along the streets and little shops before getting lunch and then getting on the next bus to Kanazawa!

When we got to Kanazawa, which is mostly a pretty modern city, we went to the Museum of Traditional Arts & Crafts, which had displays of things like Kanazawa's gold lacquer and a collection of obis owned by the citizens, and also the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. My favorite piece there was an exhibit with almost 300 light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, each flashing at the rate of somebody's heartbeat. You could get in line and have your heartbeat measured too, and the furthest lightbulb in the corner would start flashing in time with it! Super cool. Then we got dinner (okonomiyaki) and some crepes with gelato (very yummy) and went to bed.

The next morning we got up for a tour of Myouryuji, which is also sometimes known as the Ninja Temple (though it has nothing to do with ninjas, actually). The reason it's called that, though, is because it's a place full of secret passages, hidden staircases, etc! There was even a room specifically built for the purposes of committing seppuku (or hara-kiri, as most Americans know it) and burning the place down, if an attack happened (they assured us it hadn't been used though, haha). You have to make a reservation in advance for a tour, which is also only in Japanese, but they do have English pamphlets to follow along with and I highly recommend it!

Then we wandered around the old samurai district (stopping in a place that sold ceramics and a historic samurai family house) and got lunch before heading to Kenrokuen, which is a very famous garden that's said to be one of the most beautiful in Japan and containing all 6 attributes of a perfect garden: "spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas" (according to Wikipedia). Unfortunately it was raining so I don't think we saw it in all of its glory, but it was still very pretty.

After that we had some extra time before our train, which we spent shopping, and then we got on the train to Maibara (whose station was unexpectedly devoid of eating establishments and anything really, to our dismay) and then took the shinkansen from there back to Tokyo and the train back to Chiba! There weren't any taxis at the station so we walked back to my apartment (in the rain) and finally got home around 1am - tired and wet, but happy to have had such a good trip! Or that's how I felt anyway, even though I had work the next day. :D

family vacation, part one!

Well, it certainly has been a while since my last post! In my defense, I haven't really been traveling recently, but this week has certainly made up for it - my family is visiting for two weeks, so we have been wandering the country for the past few days and will be off again tomorrow! In an effort to keep this post from becoming enormous, I'll just give a quick summary of each day up until now.

On Saturday we got up bright and early to take the shinkansen to Kyoto! We had booked a travel package that included two nights in Kyoto, a night in Hiroshima, and transportation in between. I think it was a first shinkansen experience for everybody except me, so that's exciting.

After getting to Kyoto, we checked into our hotel and then got on a bus to Ryouanji, which is a temple famous for its Zen rock garden and also a World Heritage Site (we went to quite a few of those in just a few days, actually!). Before heading into the temple grounds, we stopped to have a late lunch at a tofu restaurant recommended by my sister's boyfriend's teacher. We ate at a little table right next to a very picturesque little pond, and it did not disappoint! After we ate, we went around and saw the temple and the rock garden (the appeal of which, I have to admit, was a little beyond me). We had been planning to go to Kinkakuji as well afterward, but ran out of time and ended up just taking the bus back to near our hotel and wandering/shopping for a little bit before bed.

View from our tofu restaurant

The next day we got up early to go to Kiyomizudera, another famous temple and World Heritage Site. We got there after a nice scenic walk from the hotel, and the temple was also very pretty. We didn't actually do any of the famous things like walking in between the love stones or drinking from the waterfalls, for the sake of time, but I really enjoyed it anyway. I especially liked all the little shops and streets on the way back down from the temple, which were full of omiyage and free samples!

After that we took a very quick glimpse around Yakasa Shrine (where a wedding ceremony was taking place!) before meeting up with my parents' friends for lunch. I think my sister and her boyfriend enjoyed their first conveyor belt sushi experience a lot, and he even won something in the lottery that you get every 5 plates!

Next our parents' friends took us to Shigaraki, to look at ceramics in the Ceramic Cultural Park and in their museum. I had fun seeing all the tanuki everywhere and was also really impressed by the very very small tea sets that were part of the ceramic exhibit in the museum - they had teapots only about as big as a quarter and cups just bigger than a fingernail! Then we went to a little shop with Shigaraki ceramics, which I gather is pretty famous, before heading to the Hotel Granvia Kyoto to eat at a buffet there. But this was no ordinary buffet - it was super fancy, with gourmet delicacies like Kobe beef and matsutake mushrooms. It was very delicious, and I definitely ate enough to make it worth the price!

The next morning we finally headed to Kinkakuji, or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, which had been one of our goals since the beginning. It was pretty awesome to see the Pavilion, which was actually gold, even though it was pretty crowded with school groups and other visitors, even on a weekday. It was pretty impressive to see how efficiently they guided visitors in and out - we left a lot earlier than we expected and so we decided to go to Nijo Castle as well!

Kinkakuji

I was expecting it to be like all the other castles I've visited in Japan, which (frankly) are all pretty similar, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! To be fair, it seems like it was in fact a palace where the shogun lived, and so a little different from your typical castle. You could really feel the grandeur and beauty of the place as you walked around, from the beautiful art on the doors/walls to the details on the ceilings and the absolutely gorgeous gardens. I think Nijo Castle was one of my favorite places that we visited, and if I can I'd love to go there again! If I could go once the leaves have all changed color (we were unfortunately a bit too early to see any of the famous Kyoto autumn leaves), I bet it would be stunning (but also super crowded).

Then we had a quick ramen lunch before taking the shinkansen to Hiroshima! Shortly after we got there we decided to take the ferry to Miyajima, to see the famous Itsukushima Shrine (yet another World Heritage site). I love boats, so even though the ride was only 10 minutes I really enjoyed it. We got there just as the sun was setting, and it was already dark and the shrine was closed by the time we walked down to it, but the lights on the iconic torii gate were lit up and it was really beautiful! We spent a while just admiring it and taking (lot and lots of) pictures before wandering down some of the streets with souvenir shops, even though most of them were closing. There we saw the biggest rice paddle in the world and found out that they were invented in Miyajima, which was pretty awesome! After that we had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for dinner (not gonna lie, I think I like Kansai/Osaka-style better) before heading back to the hotel.

Itsukushima Shrine's famous torii at night

The next morning we got up and got on the streetcar (I think it's so cool that Hiroshima has streetcars!) to the Atomic Dome, which is the only building hit by the atomic bomb that has been allowed to survive, and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. We watched part of a documentary about the bomb before going into the museum with a volunteer English guide, who was a Japanese lady and very knowledgeable. Going into the museum and seeing all the effects of the first ever nuclear weapon was definitely an experience; very sobering and sad but definitely something I think everybody should do if they can. Afterward I wandered around the Peace Memorial Park by myself for a little as my parents went back in the museum and the other two went to find food. It was a gorgeous day, which I really appreciated. Then my parents and I had another quick ramen lunch before we all hopped on the shinkansen back to Tokyo and Chiba!

Atomic Dome

Today was a leisurely day spent back home in Chiba, which was really welcome after four days of travel. In the morning after breakfast we walked to Port Tower, which is a 125-meter tower along the harbor. On clear days you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree and Mt. Fuji, but we weren't that lucky today. After Port Tower we bought bentos and had a picnic outside in Chiba Minato Park, near my work. Then we went to the Chiba City Museum of Art to check out a pretty cool art exhibit involving 3D flowers and plants that you had to take your shoes off and enter small spaces to see, or find hidden in what seemed like an empty display room. After spending some time shopping at Parco, then we came back for a homemade dinner and a night of rest before our next trip starts tomorrow!

happy halloween!

Whoops, it's been a while since my last post. Since then I have passed the three-month mark for being in Japan and now I'm actually preparing to welcome my family for their two-week visit here, starting tomorrow! So things are a little crazy and this post will probably just be a brief summary of stuff I've been up to, even though I may not get a chance to blog for a while after once everybody arrives. (Also the first thing I thought after typing that was 'ご了承ください', which is a super polite semi-apologetic way to inform people of or ask them to understand something and I think is a side-effect of all the formal things I've been translating for work!)

Anyway, so last Wednesday I went to a salsa lesson at Ocean Deep, which was tons of fun. The lesson itself was very basic, but there was free dancing after that and even though I don't actually know much salsa, since I've done lots of other Latin dance it was pretty easy to follow. I got to dance quite a bit and met some new people, so I definitely want to go again! I feel like Wednesday nights may just become dance nights for me, since salsa dancing happens there every week and Tokyo Swing Night is every other week, and both are so much fun. :D

Then on Friday I went out drinking with my supervisor, Satou-san! We went to a little Mexican place in Tsudanuma (which I hadn't been to before) that was very yummy and just spent the evening drinking and chatting. It was super fun and I learned lots of new things about him (like how he reads this blog, haha - よろしくお願いします~), which is always great. :)

The next day I got up and went to Tokyo to watch the All Japan Ultimate Championships with my frisbee team! We watched the women's and open (essentially men's) finals, both of which were some pretty amazing matches. The women's game was really close the whole time (they just kept trading points), and then the men's ended up with the championship team winning for the 14th year in a row! It was pretty cool. And then after that we went out to eat monjayaki, which I'd never had before and is another kind of cook-on-the-table meal (there just isn't a good word for 鉄板料理 in English, is there) like okonomiyaki, except much more liquid (which sounds weird but it is tasty!). First we spent some time in a park tossing frisbees around, partly because watching good frisbee matches makes you want to play and partly because apparently people always do something to work up an appetite before eating monjayaki. Anyway, the food was very tasty and I enjoyed meeting some players from Return, another team that we do a lot with, so I would say my first monjayaki experience was a great success!

Sunday was spent buying some more stuff in preparation for the upcoming family visit, and then on Monday I went out for dinner with some other JETs, even though I probably should have just gone home and kept making travel plans, haha. But I hadn't seen one of them for a while and I had a really good time, so no regrets!

And the past couple of days have just been a rush of trying to get ready for my guests! Can't believe that I'll be picking my parents up tomorrow - these next two weeks are going to be crazy and exciting! :D

weekend adventures

And it's time for my Sunday night post about my weekend! It was pretty busy and lots of fun. :D

On Friday I left work an hour early (thanks to some overtime I put in during the week) to go to a barbecue for new JETs near Tokyo hosted by the US Embassy! It was a good thing I left early, too, because even though I got to Roppongi Station around 5:30, I didn't actually find my way to the housing compound until after 6. -.-' (Though in my defense, it seemed like everybody had a hard time finding it.) It was pretty cool to be inside the compound, which as far as I know is where people who work at the embassy live, and which definitely felt like its own little world. The buildings were very distinctive and not like most Japanese apartments, and apparently they even had public trash cans on the streets (which you can't find in Japan), though I didn't notice any.

The barbecue itself was also great, though all the food was (homemade and delicious) Mexican food so technically I don't think you could call it a barbecue. I got to meet the US Ambassador to Japan, a lot more people from the Embassy, people from CLAIR, and a lot of other JETs from nearby prefectures, which was really, really awesome. Being able to get this sort of opportunity to meet people and see places that I wouldn't be able to otherwise, even living in Japan, is one of the things I really appreciate about being part of the JET program (not to sound like a promotional pamphlet or anything). But really. :)

And then on Saturday I went to the Central Library to do an English storytime for their reading festival. I showed up an hour in advance so that we could rehearse one more time and prepare, and then it was time to do it! It took place in the atrium of the library, which is actually really beautiful - there's a huge set of stairs that go up to the third floor of the building and a little fountain, along with some sculptures of books. There weren't too many people there at first but slowly the stairs (where they were sitting) started to fill up. So I did a quick self-introduction about myself and my hometown and then read through the three books we had picked. To be honest I doubt any of the kids had any idea what was going on, but they (and their parents) seemed pretty attentive, which was gratifying. And then we did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes together, which was pretty fun and got the kids excited again, and then English storytime was over. They were having me give the kids high-fives after getting stamps for their stamp rally when my coworkers came over! I had noticed Hirata-san there while I was reading, but I was completely surprised to see Satou-san and his family (even though he had warned me that they might come, haha). It was nice to meet his wife and son, who was asleep but adorable. And then Hirata-san and I went upstairs to check out their exhibit on sister cities (using stuff they had borrowed from our section) before parting ways.

After that I spent a little time shopping around Chiba Station before meeting up with a bunch of Chiba AJETs to go go-kart racing! I'd never done it before and it was a little bit harder than I expected (lots of sharp turns on the course), but lots of fun. I managed to improve my lap time every time (we managed to go three times) and ended up with a best time under thirty seconds, which I was pretty happy with. It was a little expensive (though 2000 yen cheaper for girls, maybe because they probably don't get as many), but I got to meet some more new people and hang out with some who I hadn't seen in a while, which is always great. After that we got some dinner and went to HUB again for a bit before heading home.

And then this morning, having finally successfully convinced Cory to go to Costco with me, I headed off to Makuhari! I got to the station a lot earlier than I needed to, so I spent some time enjoying coffee and a malasada (Hawaiian donut?) in the beautiful fall morning weather before getting on the wrong bus to Costco. Oops. But I got there, and after getting a membership (which is apparently valid worldwide) we were in Costco! It was pretty much exactly like Costco in the states, down to the food court options, which was awesome. I didn't actually end up buying very much, but I'll probably be back there sometime. :)

The weather was really nice and the inside was crowded, so Cory and I had Costco lunch outside, which was great. And then after that I headed off to Nitori, which is a 'home fashion store' to buy an extra futon for when my family comes next month! I also got a super cozy blanket for my now-functional kotatsu, which is super exciting. So today was a successful shopping day. :D

citizen's day

I'm happy to report that the past couple of days have been more eventful than last week, and it seems like this will continue through the weekend! Yesterday I went to Tokyo for Tokyo Swing Night again, and again, I had a great time! There were a few more people than when I went two weeks ago, including some first-time swing dancers, which is always exciting. It was definitely worth the bike ride back from the station afterward, which I did in pouring, cold autumn rain. I actually had to stop and wring out my hoodie and even my skirt before stepping into my apartment - even my feet were soaked despite my rain boots, because the rain just came in from the top! It was pretty crazy, but worth it. :)

Today was Chiba City's Citizens Day, in commemoration of Chiba City becoming a designated city. This year it's also the 20th anniversary, which is pretty exciting! Being a designated city means that the city has the same authority as a prefecture in certain areas and has a population over 500,000 (for the record, Chiba City's is 960,000, which I know because it comes up in almost every speech/statement by the mayor that I have to translate), and in 1992 Chiba City became the 12th designated city in Japan. I could probably go on about it for a bit (I learned a bunch about what it means to be a designated city/the history of Chiba City as one today), but I'll spare you the details for now.

Anyway, in celebration lots of places in the city like the zoo, Chiba City Art Museum, the Science Museum (and planetarium!), Kasori Shell Mounds Museum, etc had free admission, but since it was Thursday and I had to work I didn't get to take advantage of any of that. Instead though, for work I went to a ceremony where they gave awards to people of merit who have made contributions to the city. We sent invitations to our sister cities, which were accepted by the Paraguayan ambassador, the acting ambassador of the Philippines, and the American vice consul in Tokyo. So my job was to accompany the vice consul and interpret for him as needed.

So in the morning we went over to the Keiyo Bank Culture Plaza and met up with Gina to finish setting up the exhibit on our sister cities and to go over the schedule and routes for the afternoon. After that Gina and I went had a quick lunch before going back to wait for our guests to arrive. I ended up waiting outside with Satou-san for a while because the vice consul was running late, so we went straight into the ceremony without going to meet the mayor as planned.

The ceremony was very formal and pretty standard: a lot of speeches, recognizing everybody who received awards, and a commemorative photograph at the end. I found out that Chiba City has a song, which was pretty cool, and we also got to watch a video about the city's path to being a designated city and enjoy a short violin performance. I interpreted just the basic gist of the speeches and the video for the vice consul (not too many details because frankly, I don't think he cared too much), and after that we went upstairs so he could meet and exchange a few words with the mayor. As far as interpreting goes, I think I did a better job last time, to be honest, but I also think it mattered less since it was all mostly just formality.

And then we cleaned up and brought some of the items from the exhibit over to the Central Library for them to use in their display before going back to the office. It was a pretty long and tiring day, but exciting! I'll actually probably be seeing the vice consul again tomorrow at a barbecue that the US Embassy is having for new JETs in the area, which is pretty cool. Events like today are always super nerve-wracking but definitely interesting, so I hope that I keep getting to do them!

mid-october!

It's been a little bit since I last posted, but that's because there just hasn't been very much to report! I think this week has been the first one since I got here that I haven't had any plans to do anything during the week (though admittedly this is probably because I skipped frisbee practice on Tuesday, haha). So it's been a pretty low-key week. Most of this weekend was spent Skyping with family and friends, which was pretty great. :)


Yesterday I decided to go explore the Chiba University campus, which is relatively close to my apartment. I didn't actually go inside any buildings (though at some point I might go check out their library, even though I don't think I could check anything out), but it seemed like a pretty nice place, though mostly buildings (no Carleton Bald Spot equivalent, sadly). The area around the campus is also a lot more interesting than the area around my apartment (which really doesn't have anything) - lots of little stores, cafes, etc - so I feel like I may end up wandering around there more often!

After that, I met up with some friends for dinner in the city, which was fun. We went to a place with conveyor belt sushi, which I have actually not ever had before, so that was pretty exciting. After that we went to a bar (the same one we went to before Chiba Orientation actually, with the same group of people in fact) and just chatted for a while before heading home.

Today I went to take a look at the Saiwaicho culture festival (Saiwaicho being the name of the place where I live), which was taking place at the community center outside my apartment complex. I got to take a look inside the little library there for the first time, which is only open until 5 on weekdays and which I haven't gone to on a weekend before, so that was cool. The culture festival was mostly exhibits of artwork from the children in local schools and works from local clubs, like the patchwork and knitting clubs, which was cool. There were also some performances happening, though I didn't actually stay to watch any. It was a nice little community event. :)

three-day weekend, take two!

And it's the end of another three-day weekend! For the most part it's been pretty chill, but after so many weekends running around from place to place it was actually pretty nice to just kind of stay in my area.

On Friday, I got to spend a little bit of time at CEATEC Japan, which is Asia's largest IT and technology exhibition. There were huge companies like Toyota, Sharp, Panasonic, etc, and even companies like Roomba. Chiba Prefecture and Chiba City also had a booth, to promote businesses coming to Chiba. It was pretty cool to wander around and look at all the products they were advertising (like appliances linked to smart phones, electric bikes, and smart phone interpreters) and see demonstrations. The Docomo booth had a demonstration with a little house robot, which was small and cute with a child's voice (though actually I found it a little bit creepy). We were only there for about two hours, which wasn't nearly enough to see all of it, but I was glad to have the chance to see such a huge exhibition - I've never been to that kind of business convention so I found it pretty interesting. Hirata-san treated me to lunch afterward, too, which was very nice of her!

Then after work I headed down to Makuhari! My WI-ALT friend James had invited me to a sake festival there, but by that time it was too late to get tickets, so Cory and I had dinner instead. We spent a ridiculously long time trying to find a place in Makuhari that wasn't a chain or too expensive (no hole-in-the-wall restaurants to be found), but finally settled on a Korean place that was pretty good. After that we wandered around AEON (a shopping center) for a little bit before meeting up with Ben and James. Cory left to find another friend (all the WI-ALTs had spent the day in Makuhari for training) and the three of us went to a little sushi place, though since I'd just eaten all I had there was beer and cheesecake (which don't go really together, for the record).

On Saturday I spent the morning buying stuff for my apartment (which was a recurring theme this weekend) - since my family is coming to visit next month (yay!) I figure I should make my apartment look a little bit more like I actually live there! After that I went to frisbee practice for a little bit before heading into the city to meet some other JETs and their friends. We went to an British pub called HUB for happy hour and just chatted for a while, before heading to an izakaya for some food. After that everybody else headed to a bar, but I figured I would just head home while I could still catch the bus, so I did. It was good to see the JETs I knew and meet some new people though!

Sunday morning was spent buying even more stuff for my apartment (like a chair! A super comfortable and not too expensive chair that has a back, which is awesome) and then I headed to Makuhari again for a baseball game! This time it didn't get rained out, thank goodness. I thought that there would only be four of us but a few more people showed up last minute, which was exciting. This time we had tickets for the cheering section, but since we were such a big group we could only find seats in the cheering section that was a little bit separated from the main section. But everybody still got up and cheered/jumped/sang when the Marines were on the field, so it was great. I was still impressed by how Cory knows (almost) all of the cheers, especially when I realized that they have individual songs that they sing for each player at bat! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I would definitely go again sometime (though the season is basically over now, haha).

And then today was mostly spent chilling at home and Skyping with friends, though I did go grocery shopping for the first time in a while. I won a 200-yen voucher and a snack in a little raffle that the shopping center was having, which was fun. All in all, it's been a good weekend! :)

otaki castle festival + tokyo swing night

It's October! Somehow I've passed the two-month mark in Japan, which feels like no time and a long time at the same time. In some ways I feel like I'm pretty settled, but for example I still don't own a chair so there's still a bit to go before I can say I'm all the way there, haha. But I'm definitely still feeling like things are new and exciting, so I'm doing my best to enjoy it while it lasts. :D

On Sunday I took a day trip down to the Otaki Castle Festival! I wrote about it here (and if you've already read it, I'm both surprised and impressed, haha). Like I said in the post, I liked how it was pretty unique as far as Japanese festivals go (which to be honest are pretty similar to each other and also all happen around the same time in the fall), so I'm glad I went, even though I spent most of the time wandering around by myself.

And then yesterday I made a trip into Tokyo for Tokyo Swing Night! I've been trying to find dance events nearby to go to, since I really miss dancing and also because I think it's a good way to meet new people, and TSN was pretty much the kind of thing I was looking for. It's not in Chiba City, unfortunately, but it only takes an hour to get to Tokyo and I figure getting to lindy hop for a couple of hours is worth the time/expense.

Anyway, there weren't too many people there last night, but that meant that I got to meet and talk to all of them, which I think is a good thing for the first time going to an event. Apparently they do usually do get a bigger crowd though, which is definitely exciting. It was really, really awesome to get to dance again (I think it's been about four months since I last lindy-hopped), especially because almost all the leads there were really good dancers. They meet every two weeks, plus occasional parties or bigger events with live bands and stuff, and I am thinking that this might become part of my regular schedule! Here's hoping I'll be able to find some other ballroom/Latin/swing dance events and make dancing a consistent part of my life again. :D