6 weeks in the Land of the Rising Sun

I am finally starting to feel a like I am settling into life here in Japan. I moved into my apartment about 2 weeks ago and am working on making it feel homey and reflect my personality. I have been a shopping maniac buying everything from a bed and couch to tv, computer, curtains, pots and pans...pretty much everything one needs to make a home a home. Here are some pictures a couple days after I moved in with all the government loaner furniture; I will post more once I get the furniture I purchased delivered and have all my stuff from storage in early to mid-December.

My living room

From my living room looking towards the dining room

My tatami room, it has a floor made of tatami mats and is great to do yoga on

My temporary bedroom until the bed I purchased arrived. If you come visit me, this will be your room

My kitchen

My pantry/oven area

The shower room

My fabulous toilet room complete with a heated toilet seat, white noise, puffs of air and spritzes of water

The master bedroom

The office/storage room

My genkan entryway with ample built-in show storage

My favorite thing...the view

Beside moving into my apartment, I have been adventuring and exploring. I went to a pottery studio and made this bowl. I will pick it up tomorrow.

My bowl

We picked purple sweet potatoes with the family that runs the pottery studio

The sweet potatoes we just picked made into Daigakuimo....glazed sweet potatoes. They are oishi!

Sasebo hosted a national dance competition and I was able to see a number of groups perform. They danced all over town and the performers ranged from toddlers to adults. It was memorizing to watch them perform!

Yokosai Dance Competition

I also went on a trip south a couple hours to Shimabasa and Obama. In Shimabasa, I went on a dolphin watching trip and in Obama I visited the longest foot onsen (spa) in Japan. It was a great day trip and I loved seeing some landscape and scenery.

My fashionable Japanese life jacket

A mama and baby dolphin

The pod of dolphins right next to our boat.

A few things I have lined up for the next few weeks are making a glass Ornament, going to a fire festival, attending a Sumo competition and more!

JapAnne, the first weeks

It has been 21 days since my feet landed in Japan and it has been a whirlwind of learning, culture and growing up. Here are some highlights:

Sightseeing: 
Mid-Autumn Festival in Nagasaki - According the internet, this festival is also called the Moon Cake Festival. The night entailed visiting Chinatown, eating delicious Chinese food, the White Lion Dance and the Dragon Dance; the only thing that I was unable to find was a Moon Cake!?!?

Lanterns in Chinatown

Children ready to do the Dragon Dance

Temples/Shrines - There are lots of temples and shrines around town. I am excited to explore a few more in the weeks and months to come.

Signs with good luck messages

Fortunes tied up...I love the Coke machine in the background

A shrine where people come to ask for wishes

Bio Park - This is an interactive zoo where you pay a fee to get in and then at each animal pay 100yen to feed them. Some animals you feed from afar behind a fence, but the majority you are in the animal enclosure and hand feeding the animals. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was excited when one of the first animals we came across was a lemur. I paid my money for the food and held my hand out, then without warning a lemur jumped into my arms. I panicked briefly then couldn't stop laughing. The little guy was trying to pry my hands open to get the food out and I pretty much had to throw him off of me! Some other animals that I got to feed were kangaroos, capybaras, turtles, goats, and more.

Monkey at the zoo

This lemur jumped into my arms as I was feeding him

A cute little turtle

This kangaroo was eating out of my hand

Aquarium - I visited the local aquarium and saw a lot of local sea creatures and sat through the dolphin show. The dolphin show was simple but entertaining with dolphins performing tricks and jumping in the air. Prior to the show, plastic sheets were passed out to everyone sitting in the audience since there is pretty much no way to avoid getting splashed.

Watching the dolphin show at the aquarium

Shopping - Within walking distance of the base there is 1km covered shopping street that is full of little shops and restaurants. I have enjoyed wandering from shop to shop and dining at a few of the restaurants. One of the stores I have frequented a couple times is the 100yen store...it is best described as a dollar store on crack. The store is full lots of great things, but also some very random things like socks for your table and chairs or fuzzy adhesive toilet seat covers. I have yet to walk out of the 100yen store with less than 20 items in hand!

A collection of socks made especially for furniture legs

Getting a Life
Driving and a car - I am officially licensed to drive in Japan and owner of a yellow Toyota Funcargo (I love the name!). Driving on the left side of the road has definitely challenged me, but I am adapting. Today was my longest driving adventure and I managed to drive on the expressway successfully. Tomorrow will be the first day I am driving myself to work and I will be leaving super early to avoid to traffic.

My new ride...it is kind of a cross between a station wagon and an SUV.

Apartment - If all goes as planned, later this week I am moving into my apartment. It is on the top floor of the building and about 1600sq ft. I will also be getting my temporary furniture from housing; from what I have heard the loaner furniture is rattan with floral print fabrics. I am pretty sure I am going to feel like I am back on Kwaj with it! I will post more about the apartment once I have moved in.

Floor plan of my new apartment

Dated pictures of the view and my living/dining room

Job - I am settling into my new job. I am learning new software, figuring out all the aspects of my job and trying to make a good impression on all my new colleagues. I spend most days working with teachers and kids and the rest of my time giving off the appearance that I know what I am doing! I am figuring out the in's and out's of a dozen different pieces of software and have had a crash course in Dreamweaver. Some of the aspects of my job are things I haven't done since my Masters program 8 years ago, but thankfully have a pretty good memory and can navigate my way through a help menu.

Making friends - I am slowly making friends, mostly colleagues from work. I have been invited to dinner a few times and am enjoying getting to know people here.

My sponsors - Before I arrived, I was put in contact with sponsors that have been so wonderful. It is a husband/wife team with a 5 year old son. They have fielded 8 million questions from me and have helped to make my transition as seamless as possible. I have also enjoyed the antics and personality of their 5 year old son, he makes me laugh and reminds me in so many ways of my nephew...

Life on a base with more military than civilians and contractors - I feel like I have aged about 20 years in a few weeks! I have been called ma'am more times than I can count and feel like all the sailors are so young. Many of them are very attractive, but the majority look like they are barely legal!

Interacting with the community - I enjoy being off base and interacting with the Japanese. I have met some of the nicest, most helpful people that are very patient with my broken Japanese. I am also realizing how much can be communicated with gestures. One thing I have become very thankful for is picture menus, I am not always 100% sure what I am ordering, but everything I have eaten is delicious!

Overall, I feel like my move and transition to Japan has gone well. Last week, it finally started to settle in that I live here and I am not just on vacation. I miss people a lot, but love that the internet helps me connect with people. I have been using email, facetime, skype and more to keep in touch with people. Last weekend I group skyped a couple friends on Kwaj, and another friend in Germany; the miles don't seem quite so far when you can see people right in front of you!

I already have some visitors signed up to come see me and Japan. My parents are coming for Christmas and a few Kwaj friends are trying to work out coming for their Spring Break. My door is open and I would love for you to visit, just tell me when you are coming:)

Breaking up with Kwaj

I haven't even been off the rock for a day, but I already feel some healing in the gaping hole in my heart. I keep trying to equate the feelings of leaving that magical little island for good and the only comparison I can come up with is it feels like breaking up with your first love. When I would travel off island I would find myself longing for my little paradise and counting the days and hours until we would be reunited. I was able to look past its flaws and see all the great things it had to offer. I got so attached that to Kwaj that I couldn't imagine life without. My little island and I lived happily for a few years; it provided me with more memories and experiences in 4 years than most people have in a lifetime. Then one day an opportunity presented itself to me and helped me realize that even though I loved my little island and it had always been great to me, it could never give me everything I desired in life. It was a fairly quick, but extremely painful parting of ways. Even though I initiated the break up, many tears fell and my heart was shattered when the airport door was locked behind me and I knew there was no turning back. I cried for over 2 hours straight trying to rationalize how I could get my little island to take me back, but knowing it was too late. In those emotional moments I felt lost and alone for the first time in 4 years. As I was about to start panicking a friend appeared and wrapped his arms around me; he just held held me and let me stain his shirt with tears for a few minutes until I boarded the plane. I must have look pretty pitiful, three strangers gave me hugs and the flight attendants kept bringing me extra water and checking in with me. In the few moments after the plane took off all I could think about was leaving behind the safety and security I had felt for 4 years and the second family that I didn't know how I could live without. Tears continued to streak my face until the plane reached Kosrae. As the plane sat on the ground, I made no eye contact and spoke nothing for fear it would set me on another downward spiral of tears and emotions. The flight continued on from stop to stop; my brain lost in memories of Kwaj and trying to force myself to be excited for my future. I tried to focus on what I was gaining, but was overwhelmed with what I was losing. By the time I landed in Guam I was physically and emotionally exhausted. One of the flight attendants left me with some encouraging words, "You will always have the island blood running through you. It is something special and you take it with you wherever you go." Then he gave me a hug and wished me the best in Japan. In that moment I realized that even though I am no longer on Kwaj, it will always be with me in my heart, my memories, and in the lifelong friends it gave me. While I am still broken from the events of the day and know it will take me a while to fully grasp everything, I am starting to anticipate my future and be hopeful that I might love place again like I love Kwaj.

Moral of my story: Breaking up is hard to do and ultimately every person on Kwaj will leave the island and have thier own break up story, but remember you have island blood running through you.

Waterproof iPad Case

My favorite purchase of the summer was my iPad with pink smart cover. I use it daily to keep my schedule, record grades, and even play a few games. Once the school year started, I realized that putting it directly in my work bag wasn't the best idea and I ran the risk of it getting soaked if it was pouring on my bike ride to work. A waterproof case was in order, but living on an island in the middle of nowhere leaves few options for sewing materials.

I had some ugly blue oil cloth, but wasn't thrilled about the idea of carrying a case made from it around every day. I went through my stash and found a great piece of decorate weight fabric that I bought 2 years ago in Tokyo and knew that I would be perfect. I thought about ironing with a waterproofing layer, but remembered I had saved the plastic zippered pouches my new pillows came in. I just started cutting, sewing and ended up quilting the decorate weight fabric then covered it with the cut up clear plastic from the zippered pouches. I didn't really have a plan in mind, but it all came together. The back isn't the prettiest thing, but I learned a couple things to avoid that in the future. Also for the closure, I thought about velcro, but attaching it to the plastic was proving to be a challenge, so I used a new no-slip head band that I cut down to size and sewed on. I love my iPad case because it is not only functional, but I love the look of the fabric that I used.

Have your hooter cake and eat it too!

Since my friends and I are all teachers, we head our separate ways for 2 months over the summer and end up missing out on celebrating some birthdays. In early September, a group got together to celebrate 3 summer birthdays. I decided to make and decorate some fun cakes for the event. We ended up with 4 desserts since we tried to accommodate all dietary restrictions of the 12 guests (gluten free, chocolate free, dairy free). I went with a gluten free banana cake with maple cream cheese frosting, yum yum!

Since my friend KB loves owls, I went with a hooter for her and for the two birthday boys, I went with hooters of another variety.

A classy room

This year since I had more than 5 days to plan for decorating my classroom, I had time to put in more effort and thought while decorating my classroom. My focus over the year with students will be keyboarding skills, so I made a large keyboard on the wall with square dessert plates. I think it turned out quite nice and it will be a great tool for helping students as they are working on their hand placement on the keyboard.

Aside from the couple bulletin boards in my classroom, there are concrete walls that make it a challenge to decorate. Since there seem to be an excess amount of CD's from outdated software, I used them to create swirls and spirals around the room.

A ROCKIN' Quilt

At the end of the month, I will attend a baby shower for a friend/fellow book club member/my dance class teacher. Both the baby boy's mama and papa are in a local island band called the Insane Gecko Posse and are hip and rockin! The baby's mama rocks out with a pretty style pink electric guitar and took this as my lead when deciding what kind of quilt to make for their new little boy. This quilt had many moments of frustration and even though it is finished, I am not 100% happy with it. I had a very hard time with the quilting of it and the little puckers just JUMP out at me. In the third picture, the puckers are pretty noticeable:( I do know that I am the most critical of my work and she is going to love it, little puckers and all, so I will gift it upon the baby and work on ignoring what I think it wrong with it. I will say, that the template I used for the electric guitar came from the Betty Crocker website and was intended for use in cutting a cake in the shape of a guitar, but it fill the bill perfectly and was just the right size! I backed it with a deep, chocolate corduroy that is super soft and durable. I am looking forward to gifting it at the end of the month!