Spoiler: It was the parking break

Today was a bit more productive than I thought it would be.

I spent the last evening trying to figure out what the problem was with my car.  I e-mailed Interac, but as they're out of the office on the weekends, I guess that was futile.  As it happens, my friend Yukiko has the same car and was able to tell me where to locate the parking break.  Lo and behold, that was the problem.

I woke up a couple of times in the night to the sound of rain.  I had a couple nightmares (just regular nightmares, nothing to do with Japan or my new apartment or anything like that).  D:  Thanks to my fluffy futon, I was plenty warm enough even in my Tokugawa jammies which are capris, but the under part of the futon wasn't terribly soft.  I think the problem is that I like to sleep on my side, and futons just aren't forgiving enough for that.  I'm starting to see wisdom in the traditional Japanese methodology that you're supposed to sleep on your back (I'm predicting a comment containing words of widsom from a certain someone about this bit).

In the morning, it was still raining and windy and I tried to ignore it while being kind of cold and messing around online.  I talked to Brittany and Lauren for a while on Skype and fiddled with my shopping list.  I had a piece of bread and some potato salad for breakfast (because I couldn't do dishes yet).  It took me about an hour or so to make up all of the little omiyage for my co-workers.  I went ahead and made up all 60 baggies (containing one of each of the following candies: a Lifesaver, root beer barrel, buckeye, dark chocolate Hershey Bliss, peppermint, and mini Reese cup) and set them aside.  I can eat the extras if there are any.  ^o^/

Then I finally went shopping around 2.  This is when I discovered the parking break and fixed the problem. Yay.  I bought a ton of stuff at the 100yen shop and some pots and pans and a kettle(!) at the Odd-Lots/Goodwill-type store where I got my rice cooker.  It was a very successful shopping trip and I got most everything which was on my list.  I need to go to an electronics store for the longer Ethernet cord and power strips, and I was buying so much at the 100yen store, I couldn't really go to the grocery store for tea and mayo without it being too cumbersome or running to the car, so I just left.  I'll probably go back tomorrow.  FIND OF THE DAY: Full Metal Alchemist glass for 50yen at the second-hand store.  The box said it was not for individual sale, indicating it was a prize of some sort to being with.  SCORE.

When I got home, I had a notice from the post office that said something about an undeliverable package.  I texted a picture of it to my IC, but she wasn't much help, and honestly, I figured it out from the English on the slip.  <_<  I asked her to remind me where the post office was (I remembered it was close, and that was about it), so I ventured over there on foot, just to find out it was closed (in fairness, she did warn me it might be closed).  Then I remembered it was Saturday.  But honestly, how is it fair to give me mail and tell me to come get my thing (I have no clue what it is.  I can't read the kanji of the sender...  it's probably my bank book or something) and then I can't because they're closed!  >.<##

So I went back the other way to the conbini (Daily Yamazaki is the closest convenience store to me, but there's a Family Mart and a 7/11 a little way down the street) and got a candy bar.  Then I felt like I should get something more and be a good example in the community and I bought some milk which I will endeavor to drink.  <_<  That's for you, Mom.  That candy bar was awesome, though.  If a candy company ever was to say 'Yo!  I heard you like chocolate, so I put some chocolate on your chocolate!' the result would be Black Thunder.  It's like the cookie of an Oreo with milk chocolate on the outside.  (Well, I actually got the Big Thunder, which is a bit different: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Thunder_(chocolate_bar) ) PLEASE BE IN MY MOUTH AT ALL TIMES.  One of our trainers recommended them, and it was my first time trying it.  Well worth it.  I also saw a Black thunder manju, so maybe I'll have to try that sometime.  XD

Since I got back and it started raining and wind-ing again, I've just fiddled around with putting things away.  I did one load of laundry and it's drying (I hope) in my bathroom.

 I got some a no-slip liner and cut it up to put on the steps to my bed because I was afraid I was going to fall more than once yesterday when using them.

You can see my Hello Kitty sheets here, too.  XD  And Teddy and Fluffy.

I finally washed some of my dishes.  I got all of the small stuff done and the bowl for my rice cooker and my kettle.  I'll have to do my pot and pans tomorrow.

My trash is sorted.  I feel bad for having so much, but it's mostly because I've been buying so many new things!  I won't pile it up so quickly after I'm settled in.  The blue one is things marked 'paper,' green is 'burnable,' and white is 'plastic.'  Bottles are separate, but I only have two of those right now.  Cardboard is separate, so you can see that there too.  I need to try to figure out my garbage chart (it's in Japanese) to understand which day is which.  The hardest part is understanding what goes when and what kind of trash bags I can or cannot use.  >.<  (Again, wishing my IC hadn't fled yesterday.  I guess I can always text her...)

She did at least mention that everything that's 'plastic' has to be clean or else it has to go in the 'burnable' bin.  So you have to wash everything washable.  They mark EVERYTHING here - even candy wrappers - with their appropriate category, but some things - like packets with salad dressing - are a bit impossible to rinse, so I have to throw them away in the 'burnables.'

Alrighty!  Now for some pictures around my apartment.  Please excuse the mess.  I've got a lot of laundry to do before I can put it away, and I'm still rather disorganized.  >.<

My "kitchen" consists of this micro-fridge set up and a tiny two-burner stovetop and sink.  There are three small shelves and some space under the sink.  D:  Not enough room for anything much!

The main room.

My cute pink futon before I put my Hello Kitty sheets on.

Washing machine and some storage shelves.

Potty.

I have no shelves, so I got cute boxes for small things like socks and underoos.  The bags to the right are my omiyage for my co-workers, all packaged and ready to go!  I'll adjust them to the exact number needed before taking them in to school.

The top of half of my closet.  I have my summer blanket (Hello Kitty), iron, and an extra pillowcase (which I thought I needed) up there.  The hangers are leftovers from the girl who lived here before.  I'll take what I can get.

From a culture as obsessed with the uniformity and aesthetics of food,  I bring you Japanese bread.  This is a loaf.  There are 6 slices in a loaf and no heel on the ends.  It's very thick and soft.

My phone!  It's a lot more green than it looks here.  I don't know what's up with the picture.

My phone open.  The keys light up whatever color you want them to.  I have it set on rainbow.  The color you see here in the middle where it opens is a lot more accurate to the actual color of it.  Phone charm represent~

That's about it!  I hope I made up for the lack of pictures yesterday!

Thanks for the replies and comments I get from people!  <3 <3  It's nice to know you're reading.

One Big Headache

Like the title says, today has been one big headache.  D:


I got up at 7 and did my blog for yesterday before going to breakfast and packing up my suitcases.  I was downstairs with all of my junk a few minutes early and was just settling in to wait when my IC walked up.  BOY WAS I SURPRISED that she's my age!  O_o  I was expecting/hoping for a middle-aged woman - not that Kuniko-san isn't nice!  We got all of my stuff into the car... then she picked up the foot from my red suitcase off the ground and asked if it belonged to me.  <_<  Embarrassing.


The drive was about 40 minutes, which isn't bad.  It's like driving from home to Columbus.  About half of it is getting our of Hamamatsu, then there's a by-pass you can get on and then a bridge where you can see the ocean on one side and Hamana Lake on the other.  It's pretty. There were some people surfing as we drove by!  


The man was supposed to come by to turn on the gas at 1pm, so we went to the city hall first.  We applied for my alien registration card, which apparently takes a month to process, so I got a certificate that I had applied.  They wouldn't let me apply for national healthcare for some reason that my IC has to talk to Interac about.  They were being difficult - or Interac doesn't know how things work in smaller towns (like it doesn't know it's basically impossible to get travelers checks in yen in the US).  Either way, there was much waiting around and hemming and hawing and we didn't really get anything accomplished other than application for my card.  >.<  Begin headache.


We had enough time after that to go to the post office to set up my bank account.  WHY CAN YOU BANK AT THE POST OFFICE?!  I don't know.  But that's where Interac has us set them up.  Apparently, it's a very common thing to do.  More waiting and form-filling resulted in a bank account being opened, but I won't get my bank book for a week or two... not sure why. <_<#  He made it up while we were standing there.


We booked it over to my apartment and got here just past 1, and the gas guy was already working on the box outside my door.  I got my weird door key from Kuniko.  It looks like a giant dog tag.  <_<   I scoped out the place... and tried out the toilet.  Alas, though I heard from Nicola that she has one of the rocket toilets with all the buttons, mine is quite plain.  It's one of the ones where you're supposed to rinse your hands in the water that goes in to fill the tank.  Bluh.  Dunlike.  And it's basically a water closet.  CLOSET being the operative word.


I'll post pictures tomorrow.  I'm too tired to mess with it.


We got the gas turned on and headed out to grab a bite to eat from the convenience store.  I got a weird salad thing with spaghetti that I didn't take a picture of because we were in a hurry.  I chose my phone.  I decided to go with AU like I said, because it's basically Verizon (as I understand) and they're supposed to have a better service area.  I picked out one of the free phones because I'm cheap.  I was back and forth between the light pink and the teal, but then the lady said they were out of the light pink, so teal it was!  I chose a plan... hopefully it's a good one. <_<  But I can change it whenever.  We were told it would be ready in an hour.


Kuniko-san had to go to another job, so we were cutting it a bit close, but since we needed to go back in an hour for the phone, she asked if there was anything else I wanted to buy.  I mentioned that I needed a futon and she acted surprised that I didn't have one.  <________<#  Where did she think I packed it?!  So we went to buy one.  I got a cute pink futon set (lower and upper) and Hello Kitty sheets for it (easier to wash that way) and a couple of pillows (without barley!) and a Hello Kitty case for one of them.  


Then I wanted a rice cooker, so we went to an electronics store.  I really didn't want to pay $70 for a fairly basic model, so we went to the second-hand store, where I bought on for $32.  Different model, but the same brand - a good brand.  As we were leaving, we got a call from AU that they needed my passport/visa before they could proceed with my phone.  And it would be another 40 minutes after that for the phone to be ready.  My poor IC was getting very frustrated at this point.  And my headache got worse too.  


We stopped by and let her make copies of my visa, then brought the stuff back to my apartment... and discovered the bottom of the rice cooker was inexplicably wet!  D:  We took it back to the store and I got a different one (the model I had been looking at at the electronics store), which cost $7 more than the other one I got originally.  Noooo idea what the water was from.  It was totally weird.  Kuniko-san brought me back, dropped me off, and fled to her other job.  I hope she wasn't late.  On that note, I understand that she has three jobs and she didn't expect this one to take so long... but double-booking = not cool.  >.<


I came back to my apartment and fiddled with putting a few things away, then at 4:30, I decided to brave driving.  D:  I had my key from Kuniko-san and my Suzuki Wagon R was sitting in its space outside my apartment (also from my predecessor, I guess).  >.<  NOW OR NEVER, I figured.  No sense in being scared, I'll have to do it sooner or later!  I got in, turned it on, and adjusted my mirrors.  I carefully pulled out of my parking space... and the car started binging at me.  D:  There was a red exclamation mark lit up on the dash and any time the car was in motion it binged at me!  If I stopped, it stopped.  I made it to AU without killing myself or anyone else.  I stayed in the proper lane the whole time and even managed to make a few turns, though I felt bad for the people behind me when I was waiting to turn in to AU and the person going the opposite way up to the traffic light BLOCKED THE DRIVEWAY so I couldn't turn in until their light changed.


I picked up my phone and set up my phone e-mail address.  My phone is set in English which is awesome for everything except texting.  I can't text in Japanese, which is a pain in the bummmm.  The new phone will take some getting used to, but I've managed so far.  I've made a couple of calls and figured out how to send a basic mail.  (They do e-mails here instead of SMS texting.  No idea why).


From the phone store, I ventured to the grocery store.  I did a bit of shopping at the 100yen store there and got some dishes and some double-sided tape (for decorating my room since I couldn't find sticky tack).  Then I got some groceries.  I didn't think my purchases through very well.  <_<  I got instant miso soup, but I have no means of boiling water.  I bought dish soap, but I don't have a sponge for cleaning or towel for drying.  I didn't get cups, either.  So I guess I'll be going back out with a list tomorrow.


I made it back before dark (though it was dark enough that I felt compelled to turn on my lights) and heated up some rice for dinner.  Just the kind in a dish where you pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes to heat it up.  It was fine, but unexciting.  I didn't feel like washing dishes, so I didn't have anything else I bought.  Just the rice and some dried veggies (kinda like chips but without salt) and a bit of apple juice.


I got my bed put together and put one or two things away, but I really need to do laundry before I put very much away.  There is literally no counter space in the 'kitchen' which is pooey because I hoped to do at least a LITTLE cooking and it also leaves no place for drying dishes.  D:  Oh, and no wi-fi.  To use the internet, I have to plug into the ethernet.  The cord is behind the TV and very short.  So, I can either be online or watch TV.  Not that I'd do both (probably), but it's a bit cramped on this small counter.  :I


Now that I've complained enough, I'm going to conclude for the night.  Pictures tomorrow!!

Last day in Hamamatsu

Oops!  I forgot to write yesterday.  I was very busy being bored, then I went to sleep.   Today I get to move to my apartment in Washizu (which is either part of or just outside of Kosai... don't quite get it yet).  I'm excitedddd.


Yesterday:
I bumbled down to breakfast at bit late - somewhere around 8:30.  I was surprised to see a table full of Interac people.  The flu and housing changes have really messed up everyone's departure dates.  I was supposed to be the last one to leave, but now some people are staying until the 31st.  


It's really a hassle that places here don't open until 10.  I went back to my room and killed time until I could go out and get my picture done.  For my alien registration card (gaijin card XD ) I have to have two pictures... I wish they would have just said up front how many pictures I would need for the whole Interac process!!  >.<# With me application, visa application, international driver's license, and now this, I've gone though about 10 pictures!


I went to Loft and eyeballed some kitchen stuff and bought a few postcards for Postcrossing, then went to Bic Camera to use their photobooth.  The picture is okay... but I didn't think I should smile, so I look a bit confused. <_<  I'm sure it'll be fine.


Outside the train station there was a small farmers market type thing going on.  People selling veggies, fruit, LOTS and LOTS of tea (Shizuoka prefecture is known for it's tea and apparently this area is also known for its oranges) and other things.  

 As I was wandering around, I spied more yaki mochi!  Scoreee!  I asked the ladies there how late the market was going to be open, and I got one.  This time, instead of being covered in soy sauce, it was covered in red miso (which is most commonly made in the area I was in last time I was in Japan) which is rather sweet.

They warmed the mochi (on sticks) over hot-but-not-flaming wood, then dipped them in a bucket of miso and let them warm a bit longer.

Mine.  :>  It was very yummy.

I tried to tourist office for something to do, but everything that they recommended was museums.  I don't like museums.  They're boring.  So I went back to my room and chilled until 1:30 when I was supposed to meet some people for lunch.  I took them to the farmer's market, but was sad that the yaki mochi was sold out.  I think the others enjoyed it, though.  Reid and Brittany bought some hankies and Brittany won some oranges.  I bought some oranges and some yuzu jelly as a gift for my IC (the oranges are for me).  People were so sweet!  The lady they bought the hankies from was chatting us up in English.  The lady where I got the oranges was fussing because she wanted to give me the best ones (without spots on the skin).  I told her I'd go with what she recommended.  Then when I went to get the jelly, there were smaller containers which had been marked down to 100yen each, and they were a better deal than the jar I was buying, but the jar looked nicer, so that's what I asked for.  The lady kept trying to tell me that the other one was a better value until I told her it was for a present.  So nice!  TT^TT


We ended up eating at Freshmess Burger for lunch, and I had my camera this time!  I have to say, although it tastes just fine, it's not AT ALL filling, and I don't think I'll be going to Freshness Burger again for a long time.  (Did I say that last time? <_<  I mean it this time!!)

My beans burger and fried potatoes.

Since it was my last day in Hamamatsu, I took some pictures around the station, because it's pretty nifty.

Tokugawa Ieyasu is the mascot of Hamamatsu, as decided in a character contest.  His kimono features a keyboard representing how big the musical instrument industry is in Hamamtsu and oranges as his family crest, and his topknot is an eel - like I said, those are local produce as well.  It looks like it's the 100th anniversary of Hamamatsu becoming a proper city of its own.  (Can you see the eel and orange in that logo too?)

Flowers outside the station.  There are flowers everywhere in Hamamatsu - along the road in planters and in the middle of sidewalks.  They're all diligently kept and are very pretty.

I know it's hard to see, but tall along that dark place on the wall - those are flowers!  They're planted in boxes on the wall and grow sideways out to cover it.

I did nothing for most of the afternoon until I saw Nicola pop up on Skype and we met up for dinner.  I splurged a bit since it's my last night here. <_<  We went for Okonomiyaki at the place some of us went the first night, but she was too sick.

Mine's the better-looking one.

And Baskin Robbins (They refer to it as '31' here because it's '31 flavors' and '31' is easier to say than 'Baskin Robbins').  Nicola and I were lamenting the lack of Easter candy here so we got the Easter Egg Hunt flavor.  It's melon flavor with egg-shaped bits of colored white chocolate.

Easter Egg Hunt.  King size (sounds bigger than it is because this is Japan)

We got chased out of ZaZa City by Auld Lang Syne as we were looking at the visual-kei store and admiring the cute shoes and playing 'guess the outrageous price.'


Okay, that's to get you caught up on yesterday.  Time to eat breakfast and pack up my bags!  I've got a big, exciting, expensive day ahead!  Things I'm doing today: Moving into my new apartment (the keys are really weird - I saw Nicola's!), getting the gas turned on ($100), registering at the town hall or ward office, getting my alien registration card (so I can stop carrying around my passport!), and hopefully I'm also doing a bit of shopping for my apartment (rice cooker, etc.) and getting my cell phone (I'll probably go with AU even though I like Soft Bank's phones better.  :I  AU is the same company as Verizon, and I have Verizon at home and trust them...)

Hamamatsu-jo

It was my first free day in Japan today!  I was going to try to sleep in a bit, but still get up early enough for breakfast with people before they headed off to their various locations.  Alas, I woke up a few minutes before 7 and was unable to go back to sleep, so I dallied a bit before going to the lobby.  I had a long breakfast eating the usual fare, but lingering with Nicola, Tobe, and some others.  


Tobe and I wandered off to go to Bic Camera, but it was closed, so we made our way over to ZaZa City for the hundred yen store.  Also closed.  <_<  As a time-killing last-resort, we went to Mister Donut for a donut and coffee.  It was quite nice.  :>  

Tobe at Mr. Donut

And for giggles, here's a sign on the sidewalks that I like:

No smoking

We putzed around the 100yen store, and got cases for our new hanko (official seal of our name) and I got some magnets, and he got a book for learning to write Japanese.  We looked around a bit then wandered over to Bic Camera where he browsed and I bought a wristwatch and an iron.  Both completely necessary, I assure you all.  When we were getting back to the hotel, Nicola was waiting outside for her IC to come pick her up, so I waited around with her and helped them load the car.

I kinda grazed for lunch.  I had some corn-and-mayonnaise-topped bread that I bought yesterday, so I had that and a granola bar.  At 1pm I met Tara and Danielle in the lobby and we went off to see Hamamatsu Castle.

I was a 20-some minute walk, but the day was quite nice!  Very sunny and not much of a wind.  We walked past the first possible way to get to the castle, so we ended up taking the long way around, but it was suuuch a nice day for a walk that we didn't mind at all.  Right away where we went in, there was a lovely little pond with a footbridge and ducks.  XD

We saw some cute brownish-red squirrels and several people walking their dogs.  :>  After a while of going up, we got our first glimpse of the castle tower on the next big hill over, so we kept going.  The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom, and that was nice to see.  I'm hoping they're in bloom next weekend when I'm in Okazaki!

As we were getting to the path to the castle, there was a small food vendor selling oden, hot dogs, and various other small foods.  I got some yakimochi because I'm a huge sucker for mochi, and it was AWESOMMMMMMME.

Yakimochi is a snack of sweet rice cakes grilled with soy sauce and these have a bit of seaweed on them.

We sat in the picnic area (because you can't eat and walk in Japan - it's super frowned upon) and watched the kids on the jungle gym.  Then we went up to the castle!  I must say, it was the easiest castle trek I've had in Japan, I think (and I still think I might be a bit sore tomorrow from all my trekking today!).  Just as we got to the castle tower, it started to spit rain, but it wasn't bad at all.  Here's my favorite picture I took of the castle:

Hamamatsu-jo from the back-side

Hamamatsu-jo reconstructed castle tower from the front-side

I didn't do my research well enough to know for sure that the castle was a reconstruction, so I was a bit disappointed to find out that was the case.  D:  The original was built in the late 16th century by Tokugawa Ieyasu, but it was torn down following the Edo period.  The new castle tower (there are a few buildings that weren't rebuilt) was constructed in 1958, according to the original specifications.  The stone walls are original to the site and are remarkable because the stoned were carefully chosen and arranged, but not cut.

Inside the castle was a bit of museum, housing reproductions of Tokugawa Ieyasu's armors and some antiques from the time like fans, guns (one which belonged to the Maeda clan, and one of which was a pistol emblazoned with the Tokugawa family crest), and other daily things.  It was nifty.  Well worth the 150yen to get in.  They also had little English pamphlets for the English-speaking tourists!  The information in it isn't very specific to the items on display, but does give a nice overview of the castle.

The lady working there was rather emphatic that we should put on this 'wig' and hold this sword for a picture.  Here you are.  It's also my Facebook profile picture now.

Me at Hamamatsu-jo

Chainmaille detail on the reproduction armor.  For Joseph.  : >

After visiting the castle, we continued to walk around the grounds.

Another pond with another footbridge

The park is beginning to bloom!

We walked past a couple of cute little waterfalls and a nice Japanese-style sitting area where we wanted to sit and look at the waterfall, but there was a couple clearly on a date and we didn't want to intrude, so we didn't.  :I  

Statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu.  He's holding a wreath joined with a bull's head as was on his helmet for his armor in the historic Battle of Sekigahara.

I tried to take a picture of my cosplay card next to this statue, but it didn't work.  I was sad.  Then my camera batter died.

We made our way back to the hotel and I managed to not take a nap, even though I REALLY wanted to, then I made my way out for dinner.  I ran into a few others who were going out to eat, so we all went as a group to the udon place I saw with Nicola last night.

Kitsune udon.  The big thing in the middle is a big piece of fried tofu.  It's a bit sweet and yummy.  It's called 'kitsune udon' because foxes - particularly the fox shrine guard gods - love fried tofu!

I haven't been able to eat udon for two years because I ate so much of it the last time I was here (because it was the only vegetarian dish many places had).  They say people prefer either soba or udon and I'm certainly a soba person at heart, so too much udon really over-did it for me.  My first udon in two years was very nice, though!  The tofu on top was thick and fluffy and EXCELLENT.

As we were finishing our meal, a man appeared in the glass box next to our table.  It's connected to the kitchen and it's the place where they roll and cut the dough for the noodles!  

He cut the noodles SO EVENLY and very quickly.  It was pretty cool to watch.

That's about it.  We ended up at Bic Camera so Zach could get pictures done for his gaijin card.  I scoped out prices on rice cookers.  The cheapest one was around 3500yen.  Most of them were well over 10000yen.  D:  I don't need anything fancy!  Just enough to have rice for breakfast and my packed school lunch.  I'm not sure the 3500yen one had a timer, though.  Maybe I'll ask my IC for help shopping for one so I can get a good, basic model but at a reasonable price!  D:


To do tomorrow:  Get pictures taken at a professional-picture photo booth for my alien registration card, buy some postcards, pack up my suitcases for departure Friday morning!  I'll probably go to the travel office and see if there's anything interesting in a walk-able distance.  I'm not afraid of buses or trains, I'm just trying to be healthy (and frugal, believe it or not).

Japan: Where they ignore the 'do not disturb' sign

Today my room was supposed to be cleaned.  I realized that I had my things rather spread out and didn't want to pack them up or terribly inconvenience the cleaning lady, so I put the 'please do not disturb' sign on the door.  While I was out with Nicola this evening, she said she had her sign on the door and the cleaning lady just walked right in while she was there!  So when I got back to my room, and I saw the sign was off the door I wasn't sure what to expect.  The bed was made and the things I left of the bed were piled neatly on top.  I felt SO BAD but at the same time, I TRIED to warn her.  What more can you do for a person?


Breakfast was dull again.  I really miss breakfast at Narita!  D:  I LIKE having rice and miso soup for breakfast everyday.  But they don't have that here.  TT^TT


Training was fun.  We learned a bunch of games and got to play them all, then we took turns 'introducing' one.  Again, I have things I need to work on, but it could be worse!


For lunch, Helen and I split an 'olive' pizza.  This was a normal thin-crust cheese pizza, with very few olives on it.  <_<##  But it wasn't a bad price.  We went to the adjacent grocery store to buy something to drink and generally explore, and there was a little boy by the check out telling the cashier 'Thank you!' in English.  He was maybe 3, not older than 4.  He kind of looked at me, so I waved and said 'hi!'  He waved and said 'hi' back.  His mom told him to say 'Nice to meet you!' so he did and then said 'hajimemashite' (which is the Japanese translation).  SO CUTE!!  I wanted to chat to him a little more, but didn't want to seem like a weirdo, so I told him his English was very good!  And his mother told him to say 'thank you' but was herself saying that he really didn't know very much (in true Japanese fashion).  I told him bye-bye.  It was the best part of my day.  I know my students will be much older than that, but if they're half as cute, I'll be quite happy.


In the afternoon, we had a PowerPoint mini-lecture about how to be the best ALT we can be and how it extends to every part of our lives in Japan, not just classroom time.  Then we got our placement packets with our business cards, hanko (name-stamp), and other official document stuff inside.  That was exciting.  It took rather a while to go through even the small bit of paperwork that we did go through.  I learned that I'm not allowed to go into much detail about my schools or students.  This makes sense, but it makes me a bit sad that I'll have to be really limited with what I write about on here.  Japanese schools are very much gated communities and this is for the protection of the students.  Recently more than ever, because there have been some incidents with crazies getting into the schools and killing students and things like that!  D:  SO, they don't want outsiders knowing about their schools.


After all that stuff, I got to take the Japanese language test that I missed on the first go-round.  I think I did quite well. The room was noisy, so I had to ask her to repeat once or twice and there were one or two words I had to ask her the meaning, but other than that I felt I was able to understand and answer, even if my answers weren't really proper sentences.  If I 'pass' I get a bonus every month.  It's small, but it would be nice to have!  ^o^/


Nicola and I went back to the soba place for dinner, since it agreed with her last night.  This time I got the sansai soba (soba noodles in a broth with some veggies) which wasn't that great, but it was fine.  Then we went questing in the shopping center for a 'teacher' bag for me.  No cigar.  Every place closes at 8pm, so we got chased out by in the announcements over the speaker (not Auld Lang Syne tonight) and went in search of Baskin Robbins over at ZaZa City.  Alas, by the time we found it, it was closed for the night.  :<


So everyone's leaving tomorrow.  Well, most everyone.  People going further away and people staying in Hamamatsu but relocating are heading out in the morning.  I'm here until Friday!  I'm not sure why.  Maybe that's the first day my IC could meet me?  Anyway, tomorrow afternoon I'm going to try to go to the castle of the town.  It was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so I'm pretty excited.  ^o^/  A few people who aren't leaving until Thursday or who are moving earlier in the morning are coming too.  At least, that's the plan.  We have to coordinate online, since none of us have cell phones.  :I


I'll be moving on Friday.  My IC is coming in a car to pick me up.  According to Google, it's a bit over a thirty minute drive.  I'm trying to decide if there will be enough room in the car for me to buy that scanner/printer that's on sale over at Bic Camera...  Or that iron.  The iron's only about $10... And the printer's a decent price. It's more than I really want to pay, but it's under $100...


Tomorrow morning, I think I'll go shopping.  Probably more window-shopping than actual shopping because I need to limit spending to stuff I really need for school or my apartment, but I might buy a few postcards or something.  ^_^

All of my money. D:

Today... I spent a lot of money.  >.<  It goes so easily.  I paid for my apartment through May (about $2,600) and dropped a bunch on my student loans ($1200) because I had my tax-refund come through, so I just put some extra on those.  That's a lot of money to spend in one day!  And that doesn't count my meals!  D:


Breakfast was lackluster again.  I just had bread and potato salad again.  They had soup, but there were large chunks of bacon in it (even though they called it 'vegetable soup') and the rice was chicken-and-ketchup rice, so that was a no-go too.  :<  I noticed that there were a lot fewer options than yesterday, so perhaps they spice it up for the weekend crowd and tone it down for the weekday losers.  


In training, we worked on making lesson plans, which is one of the things I fear most, and they said I was making it overly complicated in my mind and that really I should just relax and have fun with it... but I have a tendency to make things more difficult than they are, and this was no exception.  I got a good review of it, though.  I guess these things come with time and experience.  


During lunch, we went to exchange money at the bank.  I took the remainder of my travelers checks and changed them.  I supposed the rate could have been worse.  It was about 82 yen to a dollar.  :I  In all, I lost a couple hundred bucks in the change.  //orz  


For lunch, I went to a family restaurant with a couple of the girls who had been at the bank.  In Japan, things like Denny's are called a 'family restaurant.'  I had a nice pasta with garlic and pepperochini sauce for only about 300 yen.  


After lunch, there was more group work.  Then the exciting part of the day was getting our housing paperwork.  We don't directly sign a lease - the apartments are leased to the company, and we are listed as the resident.  So I was signing a contract with the company, essentially. I was hoping that utilities were included in the rent, but they aren't.  D:  I'm sad about that.  I have no idea what utilities cost.  o.o  I'll just have to be careful.


After paying for my start-up rent through May, I went back to the hotel to check on Nicola who was one of many sitting out for the day due to illness.  We decided to go for dinner and someone mentioned kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt sushi) so we asked at the hotel desk if there was one nearby.  Alas, when we found the one he told us about, it was just a regular sushi place.  The man at the 'Travel Hamamatsu!' place said there wasn't anything like that nearby.  We were quite sad, but had him recommend a soba place instead.  I forgot to take a picture of my dinner tonight, even though I had my camera.  I'm sorry.  :<   I was really hungry, so I had two helpings.  I felt fat, but happy, and it was still less than 700 yen.  GOOD.


Nicola, Josh, Steven, and I wandered Big Camera (and electronics/everything store) for a bit, then Steven went with some others, and Nicola, Josh, and I went to ZaZa City to go to Animate (to show Nicola where it was) and the 100-yen store.  I'd like to tell everyone I'm being SUCH A GOOD GIRL and restraining myself in Animate, but I'm really not.  There's not much I want in this one.  I'll probably keep up on Cosmode, but that's about it.  I hope the one in Nagoya has the BASARA shirts I'm looking for.  D:


I did take advantage of the 100-yen store to get some of the things we were told we'd need for school: an extra set of chopsticks and a box for them, corrective fluid (like White Out), and extra black and red pens.  I bought a chalkboard and chalk to practice my boardwork, a kanji practice book (intended for children, but I see no reason why I can't use it!), and some Hello Kitty face masks because so many people are sick and they're not exactly telling us to wear them, but hinting it's a good idea, so I got a pack in case they decide we all need to wear them.


I've discovered that when places are closing for the day, they play 'Auld Lang Syne' as a cue for people to leave.  We were in the 100-yen shop close to 8pm (closing time) and they started playing it.  We made a dash for the grocery store next door (it's all in a shopping center like a mall) so I could get some face wash, and they were making an announcement that basically said 'finish up and get out.'  I was going to play the 'I DON'T SPEAK JAPANESE' card, but then the announcement had an English version too.  BUMMER.  I located some facewash asap and left.


We had a nice stroll back, and here I am.  It's only 9:40pm, but I'm tired!  I've been tired every night since I got here.  I don't even feel like the days (at least these past few) have been particularly mentally taxing.  I wonder if I'm just not sleeping well enough, but I don't feel groggy in the mornings, just really tired at night.


Oh yeah!  I had an e-mail from my local helper person today!!  My company hires a local person who speaks English to be my man-on-the-ground so to speak, who helps us with our daily needs and figuring out the town and Japanese things.  My IC's name is Kuniko-san!  Apparently, I'm moving into my apartment on the 30th, because she said that's the day she'll be helping me move in.  Nice to know.  That will also be the day I register at City Hall, get my alien registration card, and can get a cell phone!  I'm looking forward to that!


I'll try to have pictures tomorrow.

Hamamatsu Day One

I woke up a bit before my alarm today and chatted with my mom a bit on Skype.  That was nice.  ^o^/  It's a bit weird being in a room by myself.  I was already used to Nicola being around, so to have the place to myself is both nice and a bit lonely.  This room is warmer, which is nice, but the bed is just as hard and my back hurts from it - not so much my spine as my muscles.  It's weird.


Breakfast isn't as fab as the other place.  Well, I liked the other one better anyway.  I still had my potato salad (this place puts cucumber in theirs!  yay!) and miso soup.  I had a croissant and a weird mousse-y chocolate stuff with chunks of banana in it... and orange juice.  Yum?  XD  


Back to my room and a tried a bit of a video chat with my mom and brother, but I messed it up after a few minutes.  Oops.  I'll get it working sometime.


At 9, we started off to our training location, which is in a business building across from the train station, and rather close to our hotel.  The wind was HORRIBLE!  It's chilly here, but the wind makes it rather cold!  If you get to a spot with little wind and some sun, it feels quite nice, but if not, brrr~


In our training in Narita, they concentrated a lot on our first lesson, but here we're talking more about daily life and the rest of the time teaching.  It's great to get tips and hear storied from the trainers.  I have much to improve upon.  >.<  I tried to make a drill this afternoon, based on drill structures we learned, and I didn't do the best job.  I got lots of peer and trainer feedback and I took LOTS of notes today, so hopefully I'll be able to turn it around.


Tomorrow we're hoping to get our details from the branch - where we'll be living (exactly), how we're getting there, our cars, first day of school, teaching schedules, etc.  I'm looking forward to it!  Hopefully, there aren't any hang-ups to delay them until Tuesday.  I heard from someone that on Tuesday and Wednesday we're moving to our locations.  Exciting!!


For lunch, Nicola, Helen, and I went to Freshness Burger.  I've been dying to try Freshness Burger ever since I heard the name!  (meals during branch training are on us)  I got the bean burger and it was nice, if a bit... mushy.  Not something I would eat often, but definitely something I'd eat again!  ^_^  Sorry I didn't get a picture of it, but I can't really lug my camera around during training - it's too bulky!  We walked around a bit in the shopping center by the station, and I found a fabric shop!  With sewing machines!  They seemed to be around $350 each.  D:  I'll have to save up a bit.  I could do with a more basic model than those... maybe I'll see if I can find a second-hand shop or something.  We also found some 'New York style' bagels.  I got a strawberry and white chocolate bagel.  It was good!  The flavor was mild and there was no gross aftertaste like you sometimes get with store-bought bagels.


Poor Nicola's still sick and the flu is apparently going around and I think three people stayed in their rooms today instead of going to training!  o.o  The trainers are going to take them to a clinic, I think.  They're encouraging the sick people to stay back and rest so the healthy ones don't catch it.


After training, I really wanted to try to find Animate, so a bunch of us met in the lobby for a dinner/shopping group.  After being lost for rather a while, we found it.  >.<  I was soooo disappointed at their Sengoku Basara selection!  TT^TT  I really wanted to get a t-shirt!  (They had a lot of cool Tiger&Bunny stuff though, and I almost bought the Wild Tiger Hero Suit watch!  I might go back and get it because I need a watch).  I bought a Tokugawa phone charm for when I get my phone, a SB doujin (allegedly it's all gag and comedy) which I haven't looked at yet, and a copy of CosMODE, which will probably end up belonging to Athel sometime in the future because her picture's in it.


For dinner, we ended up at a ramen place which was totally empty when we went in.  I think he called his wife for back-up when 11 foreigners came in.  XD  We were put in the upstairs seating area (we would have flooded the downstairs).  I got the salt-flavored ramen.  It was yummy.  ^o^/  The guy was so sweet.  I asked if he had anything without meat (for me), so every time someone handed him their order-ticket from the order-ticket machine, he would say 'this has meat, is that okay?'  It was wonderful that he was so concerned!  I tried to explain to him that only I was concerned about it, but that bit didn't seem to get through.  XD


Not many pictures today, I'm afraid!

Dinner group for ramen

My ramen!  Topped with sprouts, carrots, seaweed, and something else... cabbage, maybe?

The optside of the ramen shop!  I didn't even notice the slightly creepy pic until after we walked out.  

We got a bit lost on our way back from dinner, but we made it back just fine.  More training in the morning! This training isn't half as intense as the other, but between being mentally active during the day and not sleeping as well as I could at night (due to the bed and pillow), I'm so tired every night!  D:

Forward to Hamamatsu!

Today was the relocation to my branch area.  Nikola and I got up early enough to catch breakfast before it got crowded, then went back up to our room to pack.  I didn't get a picture of the hotel room, but I wanted to get a picture of this nifty feature to make sure no one left lights or the TV on when they left the room!  The room key goes in a thingy on the wall by the door.  This is basically a switched outlet for the room.  If the key is in there, there's power (lights, etc).  If the key isn't in there, everything shuts off!

Key thingy.

So, we packed up and got on the bus.  Getting everyone's luggage on was a squeeze, even though we didn't fill the bus, so we stacked some suitcases in seats!  On the trip, we passed a lot of stuff!

Tokyo Disney!  This picture of the castle was zoomed in as far as I could go, then cropped.  XD  It was pretty far away, but the huge resort hotel was right by the highway.

We went past Tokyo Tower, but we were too close to get a decent picture. 

The Rainbow Bridge.  We went over this to get to... the other side?  I'm not sure if this is important, but it was pretty complicated and had a fun name, so here's a picture.

This is my best picture of Mt. Fuji!  Mt. Fuji is in Shizuoka Prefecture (where I'll be living) and we saw it several times during out trip, from various distances.  We got pretty close once!  Although it's really famous, it's not even really that big.  It takes about 7 hours to hike to the top.  Usually people go up during the night so they can see the sunrise... then spend 5 hours going back down!

We made a few stops at highway rest stops.  They have really nice toilets even there (unlike at home!), so here's a picture of the stall in one (with a western-style toilet).  See all the buttons?  That for things like a bidet and bum-rinse, and things like that.  The seats have a warmer, so they're never cold.

Rest-stop potty.

The silver button on the wall flushes the toilet.  The dispenser is a sanitizer so you can wipe off the seat.  Not sure what the white thing is... and you can't see it, but off to the right, there's a child seat to park your baby in.  XD

After about 7 hours on the road, we got to Hamamatsu, which is where our branch is headquartered.  We checked into our hotel and a bunch of us went exploring for dinner options.  We found an okonomiyaki place.

Okonomiyaki is a savory omlette/pancake...thing made with egg, cabbage, etc.  This one is a cheese flavor, so there's lots of cheese and some onion and the pink stuff is pickled ginger.  The one in the bowl is onion, so all that green is onion)  The grill is in the middle of the table.

Finished Okonomiyaki.  The dark one (it's dark because of the sweet BBQ-esque sauce you put on it) is the one cooking above, and the one on the right was the one in the bowl)

The lady at the restaurant helped us with the okonomiyaki and the yakisoba because none of us knew how to do it!

Finished yakisoba (fried soba noodles and veggies)

Group picture at the yakisoba place.  I'm still working on remembering people's names!  D:

We went to a game center as we started to head back toward the hotel.  It was fun~  I didn't play any games, but I LOVED the one where you flip a table and you get points based on how hard you flip it, then more points for the 'damage' caused by it - the more property damage, the higher your score!  XD

Then we split up and about half of us came back to the hotel while about half stayed out to find a bar or something.

I know this entry was pretty picture-heavy, but I'm tired, and I hope you all find the pictures interesting.  I still have to take a shower.  D:

We have to be dressed in our business attire, ready to get crackin' by 8:45 tomorrow, so I'm gonna go for the night.  :>  I enjoy reading the comments in here, Facebook, and in my e-mail!  Thanks for reading~ <3