First week of work!

MONDAY:


Monday was my first day of school!  I was at O. Junior High all day.  I got there right when I was supposed to -about ten minutes before I'm supposed to start (so in other worse 7:50am) and checked my memo to see which shoebox I was supposed to use.  There was a sign hanging on it that said 'Welcome Katrina-sensei!' so even though I'd made a note of it, they reminded me.  ^o^/


I didn't have anything to work on, though the company has always said to look busy no matter what.  XD  I brought our teacher textbook thing from training and my first-day lesson things.  The teacher in charge of me was really busy with his homeroom class, so he wasn't around much, and I was sort of adopted by Miki-sensei... who is not a secretary, but does a lot of administrative work?  I don't really understand her role.  Anyway, she has really good English and helped me out a lot.  


I watched the students going to the gym (different indoor shoes designated for gym-only) and then they practiced lining up.  I guess there's a rather specific way they're expected to line up, so they practiced that.  Afterwards, Miki-sensei introduced me to the student in charge of... it's really hard to translate these jobs!  In charge of student life, I guess (not the student council leader, though).  She's sweet and fairly outgoing, so she likes to say hello to me.  ^o^/  Then, I was encouraged to explore a bit, so I did that.  The grades are separated by floors.  There was some really impressive woodwork displayed on one wall - small things the size of a spoon or so, but nifty shapes and very smooth-looking!


I ate lunch by myself in the teacher's room (well, there were a few other teachers eating there) which made me sad.  Miki-sensei said that she had to check to see if I could eat with the students because my lunch was different.  I found this quite upsetting because I was under the impression that my packed lunch was what would enable me to eat with them (instead of shunning the days lunch).  She said she thought it was good to explain to students that there are other types of people in the world (like those who don't eat meat), but that she had to check.  Le sigh.


After lunch there was an assembly to welcome the first years.  The second and third years entered the gym first, and the band played as the first years came in.  (So cute!)  The class representative had a little sign with their class number on it and they came to the entrance of the gym, bowed, and led their class in.  The boys in particular are adorable~~~ because their jackets are way too big!  I'm sure their parents are trying to avoid buying more than one jacket for the time they're in junior high, but it's SO CUTE!  *A*  Once all the first years were in and seated, the upperclassmen all sang a song for them.  It was hella impressive!  There were at least four parts and honestly they sounded more like a high school choir than ALL OF two grades!  


The student council made a few brief speeches, then organized a game for the students to get to know each other.  There was a little song about going hunting for something which everyone was supposed to echo from the student council president, then when she said 'Ah!  Ah! X-X-X-X'  you had to form a group with the number of people the same as the number of syllables as the word (and you were supposed to have at least one student from each grade).  In your group, you were supposed to sit down and introduce yourselves to each other.  Miki-sensei and I joined in and it was fun.  XD  


After the game, there were a few more announcements, and I introduced myself.  There was a nice preface from Fujita-sensei (my tanto) who said (in English) that he didn't want to have to translate my introduction, so everyone should listen carefully!  I tried to keep it brief and spoke slowly.


That's about it for Monday.  Most of the day was incredibly boring and spent at my desk.  One of the teachers (the Special Class teacher who sits across from me in the teachers room) told me I have a very nice  speaking voice.  :>


TUESDAY:


Tuesday was O again.  I didn't do much earlier in the day.  There was an assembly about school manner and dress code, which is fairly strict, but not all that bad.  For example, all the girls have to have their hair off their shoulders and socks have to be white and of a certain length (shorter than crew cut... what's that called?!), but they can take their jackets off during classes if they like and there are racks in the hallway with hangers, should they choose to not wear them.


 but during the late morning, I wandered around as the students had their height (sitting and standing) and weight measured and their sight and hearing checked.  I played at sneaking around the hallways and whispered/talked to the students waiting for their turn.  SO MUCH FUN!  When it seemed people were finishing up, I started going into the third year classrooms and talking to the kids.  In each class, there were at least a few who wanted to talk to me (all girls and several nerds <3 ).  I made my way through a couple of classes before being startled by a teacher's voice behind me.  It was my tanto (in-charge-of-me) sensei!  *A*  I went to make a break for it but he seemed really pleased I was there and told me to stay if I wanted.  ;D


I had lunch with his class too.  I ended up at a table wit ha bunch of boys who didn't want to talk to me (le sadface) and I made a few weak attempts, but their lunch period is only so long, and they were eating VERY SERIOUSLY (because they didn't want to talk to me).


Let me tell you about lunch in Japanese schools.  It's pretty cool!
There are a small handful of kids in each room who are in charge of school lunch, which is eaten in the classrooms.  They wear white coats, face masks, and a bandana over their hair.  As the students go through the line with a tray, the lunch-students dish out an even amount of everything for each person.  Each student gets everything and brings their own chopsticks!  After everyone has been served, there's a call for if students don't want something or don't think they can eat everything (if they haven't already given it to friends).  That goes back in the pot to be fought over by the boys in the class (who decide everything in the world with rock-paper-scissors).  After everyone has settled on their food, everyone puts their hands together and says 'itadakimasu!' and then they can eat.  The lunch period is half an hour (and usually some popular music is played over the school intercom).  After that time, there's another bell that signals cleanup time.  Everyone puts their hands together and says 'goshisosamadeshita!' and then they take their dishes back to the cart in the hallway (everything eaten!).  They collapse and tear open their milk cartons, which are rinsed out and put in a special bin to be recycled.  Then all the students brush their teeth at the sinks lining the hallway.


So~ I had lunch in the classroom.  Then the students have a free period of about 20 minutes, so I went back to the teacher's room.  Once that was over, some students came to fetch me to play outside with them (I had been asked by Fujita-sensei earlier and it was only the second day of school, so no real classes yet).  I was able to borrow some outdoor shoes from another teacher and it was a bit of a squeeze, but they worked better than my high heels would have!  We played a weird version of tag and then dodgeball with some crazy rules I didn't understand at all!


Not much the rest of the day.  I learned how to make copies.  When we were playing outside, and I told Fujita-sensei I'm really bad at sports, but I wanted to bond with the students, he said he liked my attitude!  SCORE~  *\^o^/*


After school, I distributed my omiyage - the little treat bags I made up for everyone.  People who weren't there, I just left if on their desk.  They seemed to be well received with a few people commenting on a particular things.  The school nurse, for example, was delighted to see the peppermint and said she she was a child, those were her favorite.  ;D  


On the way back from the nurse's room, Miki-sensei (who was accompanying me) told me that I'd been seen the night before at the grocery store.  I'd been seen by the office guy (cutest guy at the school, btw) who is in charge of school lunch.  I said 'oh no!  I was buying junk food!'  D:  She said that he said he'd seen me buying tea... and beer.  OF ALL THINGS!  D:  I explained that I was really just buying it to take a picture of how small the can was because it's cute and then she was sad that I'm not a big beer drinker... I guess there's nothing to be embarrassed about after all?  When we got to the office for treat-giving, she relayed my dismay to the office workers who were also sad that I'm not a bigger beer drinker?  XD  When she said I was taking a picture of the beer because it was cute, the cute guy whipped out his phone to show off some sport-themed cans he'd bought to take a picture of.  XD  They they complimented my headbands and noted that I'd worn a different color the day before.  ARE YOU PEOPLE STALKERS?!  I'm amazed how much they notice.  O_o  I said I'd bought four different headbands and they told me I should get another so I have one for each day of the week.  XD


In the evening, I went to Hamamatsu in search of athletic shoes and clothes.  I got some unflattering capris and a shirt from UniQlo and some sneakers at ABC-MART (I ended up with the white-with-red Mizunos because they were a tad wider than the white-with-purple Nikes and the same price).  Now I'm prepared to play next time!  (I didn't find a cute, cheap headband for my collection, though)

The beer picture.  The Kirin can is the size of a normal soda can, so you can see about how big the Asahi can is.  So cute!  There's an even smaller can, but it's an even worse monetary value, and I couldn't bring myself to buy it just for a picture.  It's about the size of canned coffee cans.

WEDNESDAY:
My first day at K Junior High!  From my introduction day, I expected a warm welcome.  No.  T_T  I pulled up in the rain and had to park right up front because although there were other spaces open, that's where the teacher out from gestured for me to go.  D:  The kids all stared at meeee.  D:  I said 'Good morning!' cheerfully and went inside.


All the teachers were busy and no one said anything to me for a while.  I had to ask how to use my computer because it requires a password, but soon discovered that even trying to use that thing is futile because it's SUUUUPER SLOOOOOWWWWW and locks up a lot.  TT^TT  It's basically worthless.  After a while, the music teacher who sits two desks down, tried chatting with me (in English).  That was nice of her.  TT^TT  She also let me help her clean during cleaning time.


I caught my tanto briefly to ask if it was alright to walk around the school. I got permission, so I started to wander and figure out which part of the building wasn't in use during the day and which grades are on what floor.  The kids were noticing me in the hallway, so I went back to the teacher's room to not be a huge bother.  One kid just stared at me in shock.  <_<  Good.


Outside the teacher's room, the third year Special Class (it's literally called the Special Class in Japanese, which is their way of saying 'special needs'.  It's nice that they at least try.) was planting flowers in planters for the courtyard - by the way this school has a REALLY COOL courtyard.  I joined them and got acquainted with two of the three students (the third was absent).  One of them didn't really want to talk much, but the other seemed to understand quite a lot of English and translated for him.  I hung out with them a little bit, then went back to the teacher's room for lunchtime alone.


Probably the most frustrating part of the day is that my tanto was NEVER AROUND.  >.<#  I had my schedule which said the whole thing was supposed to be a planning day, but I wanted to ask what the heck I was supposed to do in my classes on Friday and I didn't have the opportunity!  After school, the teacher in charge of second and third year English told me what he wanted me to do.  With like... an hour and a half left in my work day.  D:  So I scrambled to come up with an activity for reviewing conjugations of 'to be' and eventually came up with one I liked enough to proceed with.  Then I went home.

THURSDAY:
My first day teaching at O JHS!  Aaahhh so nervous!!!  I taught my intro lesson to class 3-4.  The class wasn't as responsive as I'd have liked, one of the questions on the worksheet had no correct answer, and then I ran out of time because I was thinking the periods were 50 minutes (they're 45!  K has 50 minute periods!)  I got some really sweet compliments from Fujita-sensei and some good feedback.  I made a note of everything I wanted to change for the next time.  I had one period to get it in order.


Third period, went MUCH BETTER!  I was able to fix most of the problems and the class was more talkative, which helped smooth it out.  I had a great time and I hope the students had fun too!  I got an even better and more enthusiastic review of this one.  *^-^*  I felt SO GOOD and accomplished after class.  My first day of teaching EVERRRR.  The homeroom teacher for that class asked me how they did and I was able to give her a good reply (she's the teacher who lent me shoes the day before).


I had lunch with Fujita-sensei's class again, sitting in a different area this time and I managed to elicit SOME conversation from the girls, even if it was just 'what is this?' about the school lunch, or 'after lunch, are we going outside?'  The answer was no.  :<  Really classes have started, so no more playing.


I didn't have anything else to do the rest of the day, so I worked on my game for Friday at K.  After school, I was invited by the second year English teacher to watch the band (club) play to try and recruit new members, so I went to that.  They played "Heavy Rotation" by AKB48, "Sing, Sing, Sing" and a song I didn't know.  They're small - maybe 30 members and only three of them are boys! - but they sounded good and were fairly well balanced.  One of the percussionists... I can't think of a better word to describe her than genki.  She had a huuuge smile and was very bouncy and adorable.  She looked like she was having a better time than anyone else. 


I visited a few other clubs to watch as their showed off.  I watched basketball and volleyball for a few minutes, mostly to make an appearance, but also to stand very close to some particularly small first year boys and make them jump.  XD  CUUUUUUUUUTE.  When they noticed me (and totally jumped) on said 'Ah! Katrina-sensei da!'  cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute!!!!!!!!!!  They had watched the music club, but they told me they really like volleyball, so I figure that's where they'll end up.  Outside the ping-pong club, I caught a member of the kendo club, and she led me through the girls ping-pong area to where they boys were playing ping-pong in the same gym where the kendo club was practicing.  I was about to install myself in a corner to with and watch when the whole kendo team turned and bowed to me.  O_o one of the student leaders of their coach teacher must have told them to acknowledge the presence of a teacher.  I was very flattered, but a bit flustered.  They resumed and I watched their practice as they whacked on each other and I could smell sweat every time one came near me until my legs fell asleep under me.


Since I had spent some of my working time watching clubs, I went back to the staff room and finished my worksheet for Friday.  This worked well, seeing as my internet at KJHS is worthlessss.  I finished it up and put everything on my flash drive to print the next morning before school.  I had printed some pictures already and I didn't want to use too many of O's resources for K.  :I  I left school around 5, so only half an hour extra, and I felt very accomplished and happy about my day.  I seriously love this school already and hope I don't find myself playing favorites.

FRIDAY:
My first day of teaching at K!  After my impression on Wednesday and how much I enjoyed my Thursday at O, I had to psyche myself up for today, telling myself it would be great and that I'd better not play favorites - it's not fair to the students!  I'm sure they don't pick which school they go to!  It's not their fault they got the short end of the stick and the older school!


I got there early to try and print my worksheets.  I got settled in, got out my flash drive... and it wouldn't go in the computer.  TT^TT  There design of the laptop prevents something as bulky as my USB (it's really noy bulky) going in.  In desperation, I asked the teacher next to me for help.  He found USB ports in the back where I hadn't looked, but then the worthless piece of junk wouldn't read my drive.  T________T###  We tested it with his flash drive and it read it, so I guess I'll have to get another one if I want to use it at K.  It worked fine at O.  <_<##  Nobuji-sensei (called by his first name because there is another sensei with his same last name) let me use his computer to open my documents, then ran off to do something he had to do, so I had to ask the assistant principal how to print because there are tons of printers.  >.<  After I had that, I tried to hunt down an English teacher.  I was able to catch the upper-level English teacher and he helped me make copies (turns out it's the same method as O).  I finished just in time to scamper to my first-period class.


First period, I had with my tanto, Ishida-sensei and the second year special needs students.  There are three boys in the class.  I gave them my 'guess about me' worksheet which I had shortened and totally re-made to be different from the one I had used at O.  It went well.  There were a few times when Ishida-sensei stepped in and explained things in Japanese, but we took out time and they were wonderfully interactive and responsive when I encouraged them.  One of them seems to have a stutter (though maybe just when speaking English) but he writes absolutely beautifully (even cursive!), which makes me wonder if he spent a bit of time abroad.  The other two were lots of fun.  The most enthusiastic one actually had the worst grammar and of the three, but even then it wasn't bad at all!!  Certainly waaaay above the level I expected, but I didn't have ANY prior knowledge of this class, so I was going in blind.  They had lots of questions for me, which was great!  After class on the way back to the teacher's room, I commented on how happy I was with the result of the class, and Ishida-sensei expressed surprise herself at how well they had written and how eager they were.  HA!  YOU SEE, JAPANESE TEACHERS?!  IF WE DON'T CODDLE THEM, THEY CAN COME THROUGH!  Still, she suggested maybe not making them write.  WHY?!  They did such a great job!!!  <_<  You make no sense, woman!  (For my OSU franz, I want you to know that this woman could be Kuwai-sensei's twin.  It's creepy.)  


Something else... I didn't know 'YouTube poop' was something that people said, like... IDK... outside America?  One of my Special class students asked me if I liked to watch YouTube.  I said yes, and asked what he liked to watch and he said 'YouTube poops.'  For those who may not know - a YouTube 'poop' is a kind of usually annoying, sometimes very catchy video usually spliced together from other materials and having no real content.


During my planning period, I rushed to finish the cards for my game.  For the life of me, I can't find laminate to buy, even though they said in training that it's available at the 100yen store.  I ended up buying trading card pages and cutting them up to protect my cards.  I finished with a few minutes to spare.


I wasn't sure how the time would go, but I was going to attempt to split the class into my intro and the game, as requested.  The class wasn't very responsive, and I had to volunteer almost all of the answers myself.  D:  They either didn't understand when I wanted them to repeat the question, or they all refused to.  >.<  I gave up after a few attempts answered with silence (what the heck, guys!  The Special class did it with no problem!  >:[ ).  As the class progressed, it became clear that I wasn't going to get to the activity, but Yamazaki-sensei said it was more important to finish the worksheet.  <_<  He also translated a bit too much, in my opinion, but I'm sure he knows what's best.  <_______<#  


Fourth period I had a class too!  Back-to-back!  D:  I tried to make a few adjustments, but it helped that this class was more interactive.  I chatted to a few girls by the door during the break between classes (10 minutes!).  They're nerdy types, so they were ecstatic to talk to me about anime, so I had some allies during class whom I could call on, even if they didn't volunteer answers without my encouragement.  A few students in particular enjoyed when I drew a picture of myself on the board and with each incorrect guess as to letters in my name, I added to it, slowly dressing myself as Sailor Moon. (Hangman is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN in school, as a number of Japanese school children hang themselves each year - country-wide).  They caught on pretty quick and one or two students kept making incorrect guesses on purpose, but it's interaction that I was going for, so I was happy to have it!


One of the kids liked Sengoku Basara - I saw it on his writing mat (shitajiki) - so I commented on it.  He was the one making all the wrong guesses at my name and he would occasionally yell out the Japanese for what I just said, so apparently his English is pretty good, but I might have to pry it out of him.  I had a hard time getting them to ask questions, so I volunteered information when there was too long without input from the class.  It went better than the previous class, in any case.


After class, the nerdy girls rushed me again, wanting to know if I'd read or watching this or that.  I could say yes to almost everything, which tickled them all kinds of pink.  As I was erasing the board, one of them asked me if I cosplay.  o.o  WHY WOULD THEY ASK THAATTTT?!  I didn't want to lie and I'm not ashamed of my hobby, but I don't think it's something I should flash around the workplace here, so I said 'Secret!' which is the same reply I gave for 'do you have a boyfriend'.


Lunch was next, so I asked their homeroom teacher if I could join them for lunch, and the free period after.  Much nerdy talk.  Even if it's just "Do you like XYZ?  I like XYZ too!" I'm glad they WANT to talk to me.  ;D  One of the girls told me that I looked like a gender-bent Barnaby fomr Tiger&Bunny, which made me laugh pretty hard as all the others agreed.  I told them my favorite was Tiger!  Couldn't I be female Tiger?  I was wearing a vest!  As they were gushing out things to see if I'd seen/read them, there was one I didn't recognize, and they twittered among themselves.  One of them said 'BL da' and I know I got a weird look on my face.  They noticed and commented that I seemed to know what BL was.  I had to remind them that we can only talk about appropriate things, to I said 'TEACHER!  I'M A TEACHER!!' and covered my ears dramatically.  They got the message and laughed and said 'oh right!'  XD


When the free period was over, I went to the teachers room and dithered around for the rest of the day.  For cleaning time I went to the music room again and ended up helping to clean the hallway.  As long as I get to help, I'm happy (I say, but I don't want to clean the bathrooms. <_<)  After school, there was an earthquake drill.  All I know is what I pieced together from what Nobuji-sensei explained to me.  There was an announcement made and all the students started moving, so I asked if I should do something and he said to follow him.  What I don't get is why they shut off all the lights and went outside (wearing their indoor shoes because in the case of a real emergency, they wouldn't be able to change shoes).  I thought for earthquakes you were supposed to get under a desk?  Anyway, they all went outside and lined up according to class, where the teachers took a headcount.  There was an announcement made and they all re-arranged by signs which designated areas in which they might live.  Another headcount.  Then we went back in.  I was pretty confused.  Nobuji-sensei told me that he's only been here for two weeks himself and he didn't really know the particulars of how everything here is done, either.  


He's actually very nice and I'm glad his desk is next to mine.  :>  He's the art teacher.  Now that we've chatted a bit, I feel I can ask him things, so I asked him if clubs were recruiting after school like they had been at O. He said not as such, but the first years would be wandering around looking anyway.  There aren't many clubs at K.  I think he listed only five - judo, culture (which seems to be an anything club from crafts to science), band, baseball, track and field, and maybe one other.




That's about it.  Sorry for the wall of text and only one picture!  I was too tired this week to write posts as the days went.  >.<

Shinto Wedding at Rokusho Shrine

I'd like to preface this with saying I successfully got rid of one bag of burnable trash today.  SO PROUD OF MYSELF.  Unless you've been in this situation yourself, it's probably a bit hard to understand how I felt about it.  XD

Sunday was rather unbelievable.  Hands down one of the coolest things I've gotten to do in Japan and a good part of my life.  On top of being invited, I was treated as a close family member.  TT^TT  I wasn't able to take all the pictures I wanted because I didn't want to disturb the ceremony.

Late in the morning I caught a train to Toyohashi, where I changed from JR to Meitetsu (different train companies) and caught the Special Rapid into Higashi Okazaki.  I met up with Yoshiko (my host sister) and she took me to the location for the wedding.  To my astonishment, it was the shrine I'd gone to the other day.  o.o  I hadn't even known what to expect for the wedding - Eastern, Western, traditional, modern... (they got married in January in America, so this was a second wedding) and I soon found out I was in for a real treat!

We parked and went into the... uh... building.  XD  It's a modern building apparently used to staging events.  I'd never met the bride - an American - or groom - the son/brother of my host family.  She was done up as a triditional Japanese bride - wig and all, and he looked very sharp in his outfit too.  We chatted briefly when we were introduced - I'm sure she was tremendously uncomfortable.  She said the outfit was very heavy and the wig was itchy at the front.  ^_^

This is the first picture I took.  :>

With some family members.  The lady on the bride's left is my host mother.  Note everyone is wearing brown slippers provided by the shrine because you can't wear your shoes inside!

After standing around awkwardly for about twenty minutes (I don't know how long everyone else had been there), we moved outside.

A picture of Lori by herself.

We kinda just gathered outside and took a few pictures.

Satoshi-san and Lori outside.

Then the priest and priestess came to pick us up.  O_O

Soooo legit.

Let's get a closer look at this guy. *A*

We were organized into a line to process up the hill to the shrine.  I was afraid we'd be going up the stairs of doom.  I was afraid for myself in my high heels, but moreso for Lori in her finery and her mother who was a little overweight (and not super young) and needed to rest often.

See what I mean by I was included as close family?  I was RIGHT UP FRONT, behind the parents, next the siblings.

It turns out there's a tricksy paved path that goes around the steps of doom, but it's still pretty steep.  We stopped in the courtyard area of the shrine so that all of us could purify ourselves.  The priest went first and showed Lori how to do it, with Satoshi doing it too and translating.

Remember?  Rise one hand then the other, then pour some water in your left hand and rinse out your mouth.  The priestess then gave each person a (really nice) paper towel which you could use to dry your hands and wipe your mouth, if you needed.

Loir and Satoshi, but this picture is also so you can get an idea for how awesome Lori's dad's beard is.  Onlookers included friends of the family and probably some strangers.

Heading into the shrine.  The lady in black on the left of Lori was her handler.  It was cool watching her help Lori stand and sit and herding her to the correct positions, then fluffing the bottom of the kimono into the correct position.

We headed inside, walking in the little gate and removing our shoes and placing them on racks.  This time, there were no guest slippers and we all proceeded in sock or stocking feet.  We sat on little folding stools and I discovered that the carpet on the floor was like a heated blanket!  My feet were nice and warm!  There were traditional instrumentalists sitting in the back and they accompanied the ceremony.  I didn't have a chance to take a picture of them.  D:

This is basically the view I had the whole ceremony.  There was a big wall in front of me (well, there was on on either side) so unless you were sitting in the middle, you could only see the bride or groom.

Again, I was seated up front with the family, which was super flattering, seeing as I'm sure I knew the bride and groom the least of everyone in there.  And as I said, not everyone fit inside.  Maybe 30 of us packed in there.  It was a small area.

A quick shot of the interior.  Even though I asked if pictures were okay and got a positive reply, I was hesitant to take many.  D:  But please note the fantastic carvings.  <3 

There ceremony began with music and the priest doing stuff I couldn't see.  This was the story for most of it. We all were cleansed or blessed or something when the priest waved a paper thingy... ugh.  I don't know how to describe it!  It's like a stick with lots of folded paper...  anyway, he waved that at us.  The bride and groom exchanged sake.  A while later, they exchanged rings.  It was actually rather a short ceremony, as far as weddings I've been to.  Then the bride and groom came to sit next to his parents, so my row scooted down to allow for them.  We all had a small cup of sake.

Cups for sake.

Aand that was about it.  It was really cool, but like I said, it was basically impossible to see and I couldn't understand a word of it.  We exited the shrine's main building and some people wanted to take pictures outside.  I was one who wanted that, but I was shanghaied by the aunts of the groom, who wanted a picture.

I don't remember their names, but the one in blue looks JUST LIKE her brother and sounds a lot like him plus who knows how many years of smoking.  Anyway, she's absolutely hilarious.  I couldn't even understand most of what she said, but just the way she spoke and her mannerisms were great.  If not being able to understand her wasn't quite so frustrating, I'd want this woman around me on a regular basis.

I did get a good picture of Lori before the bride and groom left in a REALLY COOL car.

Note how the doors are different on each side.  I can only imagine it was designed specifically for traditional weddings where the bride can barely move and has a crazy head-dress (usually a hood-like piece larger than what Lori wore)

I took a picture of the pond and cherry blossoms as I chatted with Lori's brothers, then left and headed to Kame-han sushi.  <3

It was so nice to go toe Kame-han again!  They were really busy for the party, but I did hand over my gift to them.  I wasn't able to bring something from home because I had to pack gifts from home for my host family and co-workers and that took up a lot of room and weight as-is, so I got some local sweets at the Kosai gift-shop place that's right by my apartment.  XD  They looked nice and were packaged in the traditional Japanese gift-giving style, and a big part of it is just the gesture anyway.  It was well-received.  :>

I tried to keep up on taking pictures of the bajillion courses we had during out three-hour meal, but I did miss a few of the little things.  Ready?  This is pretty crazy!  (Notations on what I did and didn't actually eat)

One of the tables for the party.  My seat is the second one in (again with the groom's family).

My place-setting.  Already feeling I'd really have to try hard to eat the meal.  I'm attempting to be a pescatarian while I'm in Japan, but Lori's sister is a really strict vegetarian (Lori's pescatarian too), and I was feeling sorry for her too.

Close-up on the crab meat in a half-shell.  The darker stuff on top is.. uh... well, they call it something that sounds like 'miso' but in this case it means the innards.  o.o (I left the innards.)

Oh boy.  //orz  Each person got a fish with its fins artistically splayed and a lemon in its mouth.  I think the black 'eye' is a sticker or something, because it didn't seem real.  I didn't poke at it or anything to try to find out. D:  The dish is two large chunks of said fish, wrapped around shiso leaves in a bit of a sour dressing.  The dark green is seaweed. (ate it)

This was a 'tea' of sorts.  More of a palate-cleanser, it was a bit salty and warm and had cherry blossoms floating in it.  From what I garnered from my eavesdropping, it's a special kind of cherry blossom that isn't from around here.  We drank this while waiting almost an hour for the bride and groom to change and join us.

The orange stuff is fish eggs with some grated radish on top.  There were two green things on a long pine needle which were EGGS, not olives like I thought they were.  In the shell is some sort of sea creature, which had been primed, but needed to be pulled out of the shell to be eaten.  (I tried one fish egg under pressure and are the green eggs, then gave the rest to my host mother because she loves things like that.  The fish egg didn't have much taste, it more weirded me out than anything)

Yes, that's a lobster body.  It's a bit hard to see, sorry.  There was a bed of some shredded veggie there, fleshing out (no pun intended) the sashimi on the platter.  Sitting on the lobster tail is lobster sashimi, and also there we have some tuna (the red stuff) and some other white fish.  (I managed to eat this dish with much quick chewing and swallowing and lots of wasabi and soy sauce.  I particularly hate shellfish.  TT^TT)  When the waitress was collecting the plates, a couple of the older ladies requested to keep the lobster bodies to use for soup stock.  I was 100000% grossed out and impressed at the same time.

Tempura.  Shrimp and a couple kinds of veggies.  Instead of dipping it in the usual sauce, you were supposed to dip it in a bit of salt.  (Ate it)

Sushi course.  The rolls are tuna, the yellow thing is some sort of really hard roe which seemed like plastic.  In the front row, we have some sort of clam, eel, and tuna.  (I left the roe and clam, taking a cue from my host sister anytime she said she hated something and wouldn't eat it.)  The roe is apparently a rather symbolic thing, also commonly eaten are New Year's.  

A clear-broth soup with a ball of some stuff.  I dunno what the heck it was, but it wasn't bad. (Ate most of it)

Finally, desert!  A strawberry sliced in half, a bit of pineapple, and a pics of very sweet orange with some Japanese jelly. (ate it.  :> )

The wedding party went through so much beer that the restaurant ran out of the brand we were drinking and the last few bottles to come out were Kirin instead of Asahi.  O_o  Those of us who were going to be driving had to abstain because the legal blood alcohol level for operating ANY vehicle here in Japan (even a bicycle) is absolutely 0%.  So we drank a ton of tea instead and went through many bottles of that.

After dinner, I went over to my family's house for a little bit.  It was nice to see Gackt, but I had heard at dinner that he had some sort of medical problem and now his back legs don't work?!  O_o  I was rather anxious to see what this meant.  Gackt is a dachshund, I should clarify.  I asked Lori about it when they got there, to see if Satoshi had explained it better than I could understand.   I guess it's something like a slipped disc?  She wasn't sure either, but I guess he's been like that for a while now and it's not fixable.  For a dog who can only operate his front legs, he's got a lot of spirit!  He powers around and his back end just sort of comes along with him.  It's upsetting, but in my long life full of pets, I'm thankful to have never had to have been the one to make any sorts of calls on their medical treatment.  Anyhow, he was still very sweet and loved the little squeeky pig I brought him.  Apparently, he's quite fond of the other toys I've sent.  ^_^

I stayed for a little while and shortly before Yoshiko was going to take me back to the train station, we heard that something was messed up on the tracks and so I wouldn't be able to get that train.  I was perfectly fine with taking JR instead of Meitetsu, but my host father said he'd drive me back.  O_O  It felt SO BADDDDD because by car it's an hour each way.  But my host mother packed a large bag of food (leftovers and snacks) and we left, with Satoshi riding shotgun for a return-trip partner.  I felt extra bad with Satoshi in the mix, but I couldn't really decline, either, with my first day of school in the morning.  I absolutely had to get back!

So, we had a nice trip back, with some light conversation.  I learned that they have an ancestor who was high up with Oda Nobunaga, to the extent that his name is mentioned in Oda's biography.  O_O  Gotta read that - I wonder if there's a translation of it available.  Same last name (Tsukamoto) and then some totally rad old-fashioned name.

I'll wrap it up here!  It's getting late and I've been going to bed early to get lots of sleep so I look decent for school.

As a side note, I think I messed up my Skype.  I accidentally clicked on 'don't allow' when it popped up asking about internet access... and now it won't connect.  I think I may have to re-install it because I can't figure out how to fix that. <_<#

My next entry will be about my first week of school, and hopefully I'll post that tomorrow.  :>

Princess Road Procession/Festival

Saturday, I headed out again in the morning to go to Hamamatsu (wearing my new Ieaysu shirt - not that anyone saw it because I had my jacket on all day).  I had trouble finding information about the Princess Road Procession (festival...thing) online, such as where it was exactly, how to get there, or what time it started.  I met up with Nicola at the station, and we inquired at the Tourism Information booth.  They gave us the bus number we needed to get, when it was coming, and how far we needed to go.  We also got a little pamphlet about with procession, including a map of the parade route.

The parade started at noon, and it was a bit after 10.  The bus ride to get there was about an hour, according to the tourism ladies.  I called Steven, Joel, and Josh, none of whom answered.  :<  So we got breakfast to kill time and Nicola told me about the welcoming party she had gone to the night before.  I really hope I get invited to one from at least one of my schools.  Some people have been invited, others haven't, according to what I'm hearing.  It also seems that I'm the only one who hasn't had my first day yet!  O_o  Tomorrowwwww!

My totally nutritious breakfast (sorry, Mom):

I got in touch with Steven and Joel who said they would join us later because they couldn't get there before we wanted to leave.  We caught the 11am bus with several old people who looked like they were going to the festival too.  The bus routs was very similar to the one we took to go to the shrine the other day, so I think it must have been close, though the fare was 50yen cheaper this time.

Toward the area where we were looking to get off the bus, the driver announced that he wouldn't be stopping at the Kiga stop and to get off at the next stop for the Himesama Dochuu.  Wellll to be sure that's he he said, I went up to ask as people were getting off.  He was kinda busy, so I ended up asking the old man sitting up front, and the driver overheard and told us that was where we wanted to get off: go over the bridge, turn left, and walk down the path of cherry blossoms. So we got off and started across the bridge.  As the bus went past, he STOPPED, opened the door, and told us the directions again to make sure we understood, which was very sweet of him.

We weren't sure what to do but to follow his directions, though it didn't seem we were near the beginning of the parade route like I had originally hoped (so we could swing over to the end and see it again).

The path was lined with cherry blossoms and lanters.

We came to an area with a few tents and quite a few yomise (yo-me-say, by the way, since I didn't say last time).  As we passed the first big white tent, a man came out to talk to us in English.  He asked where we were from and what we were doing here (the usual) and wanted us to go inside the tent.  Okay... So we went in and there was a large cloth on a table at the far end - they're making a kite for the Hamamatsu festival next month and in honor of the earthquake/tsunami areas, they wanted people to write a message on it.  We selected our markers and did our best, trying to go with the feel everyone else had.  Someone from California wrote on it in English, too!  He saw my camera and wanted to take pictures for us.

Then he gave us each a pack of REALLY NICE postcards with pictures of the parade and princess from years past, a pack of local treats (it looks like tiny toast but is actually a bit like shortbread with orange, butter, honey, and sugar) and sent us on our way, telling us to 'please enjoy Japan.'  <3  Yaaaay people being nice to us!  (Then I saw the 500yen price on the back of the postcards and felt a but guilty, but they were really nice and I don't know that I'm going to send them to anyone.  <_<  Because I like them.  I asked when the parade would be coming to the area and was told about 2:30, so we had plenty of time to look around.

Behind most of the tents, you can see the area where most everyone was sitting eating and watching the performances.

Girls at one of the goldfish booths.  They're dressed to perform.  :>

One of the more colorful takoyaki stalls.  Takoyaki is a food made of  batter, some veggies, and a chunk of octopus cooked into a handy little ball.

We perused the shops and settled on some yaki-mochi like I bought in Hamamatsu the other day.  This one wasn't nearly as yummy!  The rice wasn't smooth and it just wasn't as enjoyable.  :I  I ate a little bit of my bento and we watched the performers on stage.  We looked at the map and figured out that we were actually pretty far down the parade route.  After a horrifying trip to the port-o-potties (which were Japanese-style), we wandered around a bit more.  Nicola bought a Hello Kitty mask with a pinwheel on it, and we both got a 'cheese ball' which was fried dough with was allegedly camembert cheese in the middle.  It was weird and I couldn't finish it.

Cheese ball.

Around that time, Joel and Steven arrived, so we accompanied them to get food, then sat back on the steps to watch the very snazzily dressed band which played the 'Detective Conan' theme and other songs I recognized, but couldn't name.  Josh showed up not much later.

More love for the foreigners time: an older man came up to us and gave Joel a box of food with five chicken wings in it - one for each of us - and an appropriate number of chopsticks on the top.  We were a bit confused, but thanked him and ate them.  Well, Josh ended up actually eating three of them because well, I don't eat chicken, and Joel didn't like it, but we faked it when he turned around and checked on us.  XD  After the chicken was gone, we noticed he had disappeared from his spot nearby.  A few minutes later, he showed up with a huge bag of french fries which he gave to us!  We ate these slowly, lest he feel the need to feed us further.  Then they started packing up the performance seating up front to make room for the parade to stop and dance.  We made our way up to the path where the parade would come, but first we stopped to thank the nice man who gave us food.

With the chicken wings.  Ever tried eating chicken wings with chopsticks?  Exactly.  >.<

Bag o'fries from Tomodachi (props to anyone who gets that.  Though I haven't seen the movie or read the books...)

My stupid boots gave me no traction at all for the hill we were standing on.  Luckily, I was able to kind of get my balance or lean on one of the others until they switched sides of the road.  There was a drunk and rather funny guy to my left and a man standing in the tree behind me.

When the parade finally came, processing slowly down the path of cherry blossoms, it was pretty darn cool. Everyone's wigs looked great (at least from a distance - once you got closer, it was very clear they were all wigs) and their outfits were very colorful and fun to see.

We saw the front of the procession long before we saw the princess because she got bombarded by the press (I saw NHK press badges) and hobbiest photographers a little way down the path.  When they finally finished, we got to see her.  ^_^  Of course, she's not a real princess, and I don't know what the selection process for being the princess is like.  This is just a re-enactment (celebrating its 60th anniversary) of what it would have been like for a princess to travel in the Edo period.

The princess was followed by some close attendants, and umbrella-carrier, her doctor, and palanquin (should she choose to ride instead of walk), more attendants, her belongings she brought with her on the trip,  and more guards.  After they went past, we made our way back down to the stage area, to try to get a good view of the dancing.  At this time, Josh went to get something to eat and came back with squid on a stick and some other people from our branch (plus a med student living in the area who went to University of Michigan).

The parade came down into the area and slowly made its way around until the princess was in front of the stage while the announcer introduced each role being portrayed.  Then all the retainers and attendants sat down, but the people who had led the parade (who introduced themselves as something or another to do with Hamamatsu - probably government), the princess, and her primary attendants.  The guys made a speech, then the princess and attendants were interviewed briefly.

The girl who was seated in front of where I was standing.  I couldn't really hear/understand most of the interview, so I took pictures instead.

The rest of the parade members were offered canned tea with straws so they wouldn't mess up their makeup, and some people went around fixing wigs and makeup.

The vanguard samurai were the first to dance.  It was very slow and deliberate as most traditional dances in Japan are.

Then the ladies danced two dances.  I noticed that the music during the dances said something about 'ohimesama dochuu,' which I took to mean that they were written particularly for this event, though maybe it was named after the song.  No idea.  Either way, it was fun.  Again, slow movements, though not as slow as the men.  The first dance was with a spray of flowers in one hand and a wreath of them with bells included in the other hand.  The second was just hands moving.  Some of the girls seemed to be enjoying it and at least smiled a little bit.  Others were either too focused on the task at hand or completely miserable.

After the dancing, people were allowed into the area to take pictures of the princess and her attendants by the palanquin or to talk to and get pictures of/with other members of the procession.  I ended up taking pictures as usual, and didn't end up in any myself.  TT^TT

The one on the far right is a young samurai.  Apparently, this role is always portrayed by a female, even though the character is male.

After a while, the announcer got back on the mic, urging the parade to reassemble for its final part of the procession and the non-parade people to go back away from the parade so it could go.  We started back toward the bus.  I took a picture of a man playing a tin whistle by a tree.. he looked like a leprechaun.  ^_^  We split from our fellows who live in the area and after a few more pictures of the cherry blossoms, my camera battery died.

We went back into Hamamatsu for dinner.  A nice lady at the bus stop wanted to talk to us (this time in Japanese).  There were come cute little girls on the bus who were staring at us, we smiled and waved and I made faces at them until they laughed.  Then they kept commenting on Nicola's Hello Kitty mask.  We got dinner at the department store above the station.  I got some cold ramen which you dipped into an oily tomato-y sauce to eat.  It was better than it sounds.

I got a couple of books at the book store because they didn't have them at Book-Off (Gate7 books 1 and 2 and Polar Bear's Cafe) and went to Bic Camera to get an ironing board which I desperately needed to acquire before starting school.  The prices increased exponentially for a few inches more of room, so I got the smallest one, which is possibly two feet long and stand about 8 inches off the floor.

I guess the people on the train home felt that I had reached my quota for gaijin love for the day because they took to other route: 'don't-touch-it-it-might-be-diseased'.  When my train finally got to the platform (it was cold although it wasn't late, I had a 15 minute wait after realizing I was on the wrong train and getting off the other at the last moment), it was empty - just beginning its run.  I choose a seat a little way in, next to one of the holding bars, which some look at as enough separation to not straight-space (that means go every-other and the term really doesn't apply here, but I use it in a general sense).  No one sat on either side of me.  There were even people standing because the train was full otherwise (there was one empty seat down the way a bit on the other side next to a student that no one took either), but even at subsequent stations, people got on, but no one sat by me.  So I had ALL THE SPACE, even though I tried to keep it to just one seat, in case someone did want to sit down.

After the walk home from the station - which I managed in about twenty minutes, which is exactly as long as my train ride was - I realized that I had a hole in one of my socks.  >.<  I've only worn them a few times, so I'm highly displeased.  And over-the-knee socks are expensive!  Verrrry annoyed.  I guess they're burnable trash... (speaking of which - I really need to get a feel for the trash system.  I've got it all sorted in my room, but don't understand when to put it out and it's getting ridiculous.  I have piles of 'trash' most of which is plastic. o.o)

For mah nerds out there:  I watched the first episodes of "Polar Bear's Cafe" which is adorable (and I want to cosplay Panda), "Hiiro no Kakera" which looks like it's going to be stupid, but I'll probably watch it because I've watched a lot of shows like that and I'm kind of immune to them (besides, the uniform is really cute), and clicked through the first episode of "Sengoku Collection" which looks absolutely heinous.  Taking advantage of my sparkly internet here, I watched "Sengoku Pasadise" episodes 1-5 and it's lolsy.  :>  I finished Brave10.  I liked the lords, but none of the retainers (except maaaybe Rokuou), so maybe I'll give reading it a go.  There are a couple of other new shows I want to check out - what are you guys watching?

Next few entries: Shinto wedding and first few days of school~

In other news:  One of my neighbors really likes to whistle.  I find this rather annoying.