The good thing about genkans …

The good thing about genkans (Japanese-style entryways) is on a rainy day, the floors inside the school are completely dry. 

玄関のいい事は雨の日に学校の中に干ている。

It rained really hard this morning.

今朝にとても雨が降っていた。

But inside the school is dry. 

学校の中に雨が降った事見えない。

Return from MYC

Last Thursday/Friday was the Hokkaido Mid-Year Conference (MYC). Technically it’s been re-named to Skills Development Conference, but that sounds like we’re all in special ed, so I refuse to use the new name.

It was a fun even with some very useful talks (as opposed to past years that have had some very boring and un-useful ones). It also included some fun with friends.

The conference ended with an announcement that the big snow storms had been causing problems for JR (Japan Rail) and many trains were cancelled or delayed.

We made our way home on Saturday night, myself and some of my far-north friends taking the very last trains for our destinations.

We ran through the gate to line up so we would be able to find seats and then discovered that our train was not on any of the reader boards. In fact, none of the express trains were even on the reader boards at that time.

We went back to the JR desk near the gates and had a chat. Is the train cancelled? No, the one before it hasn’t even left yet (was supposed to be leaving as we stood there).

Will I be able to make my connection? We had to wait about 5 minutes for an answer to that one. Turns out yes, I should be able to make it.

I got on with two friends who both lived near stops before mine. We arranged the seats so we could chat and then settled in for the trip to our towns.

By the time we made it to the town where my connection was, we were merely 10 minutes late (compare that to my friends headed way north who were over an hour late and hit 3 deer on the way home).

I got there, hurried to my train and settled in. I was supposed to have 20 minutes for the stopover and still did by the time we left 10 minutes late.

The whole time I’m thinking about how terribly covered in snow my car is going to be and how I’m going to get into it with my luggage hanging on me.

When we finally arrived at the stop before mine, there were about 10 people on the train – a few post-high school girls (they must be early twenties, because I’ve never had them as students), a high school student and a couple of other people.

After we had been stopped for a few minutes (the train often stops here for a few minutes so it can arrive at my station on time), there was an announcement. I listened carefully, but understood nothing.

I saw the group of girls pull out their phones and knew something was up. Unfortunately, it’s one of the many places where Softbank doesn’t have service. I couldn’t call out even if I had wanted to.

So I waited. I hoped that I was going to be able to get home that night.

A while later, 3 cars show up. Again, I can’t call anyone, am I going to be able to get home tonight if these people are picking up their kids?

Thankfully, when the ladies that came out to rescue their kids got on the train, they rescued not only their own kids, but the other random people riding the train – a sweet woman in a long parka motioned for me to come into her car.

They drove on main streets that had more snow on them than I’d ever seen on any of our main streets. Apparently that afternoon and evening about 50cm (almost 2 feet) of snow had fallen. I was glad I didn’t have to drive home and glad I didn’t have to dig my car out that evening.

I finally made it home at about 11:30 pm, almost an hour after my train was supposed to have arrived at my station.

The next day, when I went to dig my car out of the mess, this is what I found.

Pre-JLPT place to stay

My dear friend Laura decided I should come stay with her and her husband before the JLPT (JLPT = Japanese test of doom). Above the bed I'm sleeping in the next two nights, I found this awesome poster of encouragement.

Japanese fail

In fifth grade English classes recently, we have been working on "What's this?" and answering "It's a ~." I use this question all the time, so they understand it, but they always forget the "It's a" part and just answer "pen." 

Anyways, today we played a Mystery Box game where the class would ask and one student would reach in the box through the hole and have to tell what it is. Then we played a game where they had to figure out what a picture was when they could only see part of it. 

The kids had a whole lot of fun and one student asked me what the name of the game was when she was trying to write her reflection (this class does this at the end of every English class). I wanted to tell her (in Japanese), "you can call it whatever you like," but my answer came out in a big jumble of words. She nodded that she understood and we both giggled a little. 

It took me a minute to sort out the correct way to say what I was trying to say (or at least a sensible one): 「何の名前使ってもいい。」 (Nan no namae tsukatte mo ii). 

After I thought of it, I went back and confirmed it and she gave me an ok. 

When I make silly mistakes, my students see that trying is more important than getting it right all the time. 

Snow and a friend

Tonight I stopped to turn this scene into an Instagram master piece (meaning a photo that I feel no pressure to make absolutely perfect).

As I finished posting it, two random shadows walked up and I discovered that one of them is one of the ladies from choir. When we got to the place where our paths should have split ways, she invited me into her house to meet her husband and grandkids (who are my students). It was so much fun chatting with them and getting to learn a bit more about this lovely lady who I chat with in choir.

I'm thankful for things like snow that slow me down and put me in the path of friends.

ナイトdeライト

This weekend my church hosted a band for a concert on Friday night. I decided to go and I’m glad I did.

The band was ナイトdeライト (nighto de raito = light in the night). They were a lot of fun to watch and it was a lot of fun to listen to them along with a bunch of the people from church.

Here is their YouTube video:

Meeting a Creeper

Tonight I was walking around to find something for dinner. As is always the case, when I am by myself and have too many choices, I just can't make a choice, and then I get hungrier and, in the winter, colder until I just pick something.

As I was walking around looking at my map and trying to see what was recommended via Foursquare all while cursing Apple Maps, I heard "大丈夫？" (Are you ok?).

I said yes, and expected the guy to keep moving when he didn't my sense of hmmm went up.

He said somethings and said his age then asked are you the same age? No.

How old are you? 27.

Did you go swimming tonight? No.

I'm sitting here thinking this is an odd question and can't figure out what's up with this strange guy as he continues to talk to me, asking the same thing a couple more times and then I realize that my hair is wet and it's freezing out - 0C/32F.

Are you wearing a swimsuit? (he looks me up and down) No.

Why is your hair wet? Onsen (Japanese bath).

Do you have long hair? Kind-of.

How long? I gesture that's about shoulder length.

At this point he reaches out to touch my hair and I lean away.

He finally seems to get the fact that I don't really want to talk, gives me a high five and walks away.

Even though I pay attention to what's around me, I rarely meet creepers. Usually when people walk up and want to have long-ish conversations with me at random times, it's to practice their English or talk to a random foreigner. This guy didn't even seem to notice I was a foreigner - the conversation was entirely in Japanese and I don't think he asked me once where I was from.

After that I was on high alert for creepers, when a guy followed me down a row of tiny shops, I was wondering what I was going to do if he continued to follow me and turned when I got to the next road. He of course, didn't - I was just a bit paranoid because of my strange encounter a few minutes before.

Eventually I realized how cold my hair actually was and how cold the temperature was and that I needed to make a decision, I landed in a shop I had been in before for the local specialty.

Floor curling

Tonight I was invited out with the BOE to try floor curling. Not sure if it exists anywhere else, but I tried it.

The most difficult thing about floor curling is getting the "stone" to go straight. Mostly mine rolled out.

But I got two that stayed in and the second win the round, it was only 5cm away from the target!

Here are some fun photos of the evening:

Japanese study update

After all the tough-ness of speaking so little Japanese when I came, lots of good, encouraging Japanese moments have happened recently.

A few weeks ago, I realized the manga a friend recommended was getting pretty easy, it was still a bit tough, but I could understand most of it. So I decided to start working on reading my first Japanese novel. A friend was with me who had seen the movie Brave and thought the novel version might be good. I’m currently 4 pages into it!

With lots of friends having just left and making new ALT-friends, I’ve found myself in a couple of moments when I had the highest level of Japanese. Before, that was very rare. Now it’s because a lot of those friends have left or I’ve been in groups with mostly newbies, but I’ve never been in that situation before.

I signed up for the JLPT (the Japanese Language test of DOOM! aka the Japanese Language Proficiency Test). Which I’ll take the first Sunday in December. I’m taking N3, which is the middle level they offer. It’s going to be a challenge to get ready, but I think I can do it.

And last, this weekend we were sitting around chatting at a hostel in Sapporo when a guy from Tokyo asked if either of us (Liz and I) could speak much Japanese. The hostel owner, pointed at me and said “She can.” It took me a moment to realize he must be talking about me!

Now it’s time to study some more so I’m ready for this crazy test!

One more year!

Today, I changed the decision I made in February - I’m sticking around in Japan for one more year.

Since I made the decision to go, I’ve been doubting it and stressed about it - I didn't want to say goodbye, I didn't want to quit studying Japanese, I didn't want to leave yet.

I was feeling really sad about leaving and really uneasy about the decision I had made (usually it's one of the ways God tells me he wants me to do something else). Would I really be able to keep up friendships with friends in Japan, many of whom speak very little English? If I went home to be a first-year teacher, would I even have time to study?

I began to pray that something in my paperwork would be wrong and I’d be given the chance to change my mind, if this is where God wants me to be next year.

Friday all of this came together to make me realize that I didn’t want to leave. I was talking to a teacher and telling her about how tough this year had been. Since August I’ve been seriously sick twice (two weeks total), major car issues twice (four months total of being car-less), home for three weeks and in August fridge broke. Since August, there have been maybe two months of time when I’ve actually been here, healthy and able to get around.

It hit me then that even though it was really late, if this is where God wanted me he would open the doors that really shouldn’t be open to me at this point in the year. When I got home that night, I sent a text to the PA (Prefectural Advisor) for Hokkaido, knowing it wasn’t urgent, but that he might know that the time had passed already and I’d be able to put it out of my mind.

I decided not to bug him about it again until Monday because as much as I don’t want my job to be my life, I’m sure he doesn’t want it to be his either and it wasn’t an emergency.

On Saturday night, we had welcome party number three (this time for Junior High School staff). God continued to stir up the feelings of wanting to stay longer.

Sunday was Easter and despite being car-less, I knew I wanted to find a way to get to church. I asked a friend if she would mind picking me up at the station. We had a station mix-up, so we ended up at church a little late, but the drive was fun. The service was good, the friends were good. The thing that has always stuck out to me about this church is how much they love people.

After the service, one of the little girls I always play with saw me and shouted to her sister “kita!” (She came!). I felt so loved! I even got to chat with a woman who joined the church at the same time as I did, and we’re the same age, but just haven’t managed to talk much – I guess she was just shy.

At the end of the day, I even got a ride from another friend I had only talked to a bit, who I found out lives in the next town over from mine. I was surprised at how close she lived and thankful for her kindness to drive out of her way to get me home, so I didn't have to wait for the train.

All this time, I continued to pray that if God wants me to stay next year that he’d open the door.

Finally, Monday came. I knew it was time to bug the PA, if I didn’t hear something from him first. Mid-morning I got a response back that no, it was too late to change. I wanted to cry, I’m not ready to leave this place yet.

Then I got a phone call from a mystery number, which I ignored the first time (I’ve gotten some really strange calls in the past). It came again, so I decided to answer – it was the PA. It turned out there might be a loophole and so, if my BOE was ok with it, they were too.

Today (Tuesday), I was at the BOE because the JHS had school on Sunday, but I had wanted to go to church, so I didn’t get the make up holiday with the school. I waited to see if my supervisor would ask me about the phone call they had received the day before from the PA explaining the situation. By mid-morning she didn’t, so I decided to ask her, I wanted to find out the answer.

When I asked, her first reaction was it’s impossible. I asked if she had gotten the phone call from the day before. She hadn’t. She went and talked to the person who had taken the message. After that, they called me into the Kyoikucho’s office (the superintendent). They asked me a few questions including if I was going to stay a fifth year – I said I didn’t know that yet, but I definitely wanted to do one more. Then they looked at a book, and said some things I didn’t understand to each other and finally decided I could stay!

All that to say, I’ll be here for at least one more year! I’m excited to see what the time brings. I’m also very hopeful that I’ll finally get to enter some students in HEC (Hokkaido English Challenge – a contest the Hokkaido ALTs run) next year.

366 Project, Week 9

(57/366) Riko’s new glove.

(58/366) A fire hydrant that I often walk past and debate whether or not to take a picture.

(59/366) The drive from one of my small schools to another. The clouds were doing a cool thing and I tried to capture it. I didn’t have much luck.

(60/366) We decorated the third year classroom the night before graduation. One teacher decided we should use birds on the window – they gave a cool affect. I captured a small part of it, so I could get them against the sunset.

(61/366) Graduation day party! The teachers always have an enkai (dinner party) after graduation. I ate shabu-shabu for the first time! This was the shabu-shabu sauce.

(62/366) Driving to another one of my tiny schools. If you look below the bank and to the left, you can see the tents for ice fishing.

(63/366) Soba shop! We had a day in Furano for winter sports and we decided to have lunch at this soba shop. I think it’s the most delicious soba that I’ve eaten since being in Japan.

366 project, week 8

(50/366) Walking home from school, since I’m currently car-less. I liked the combination of sunset and train tracks.


(51/366) I hadn’t taken any pictures that day, so I decided to take my camera to choir. During our break, I shot the keys of the piano.


(52/366) Sitting on my couch after a busy day of cooking, I hadn’t taken any pictures. I looked at the stack of books on my shelf and liked the variety of textures their pages and the iphone-connector had.


(53/366) After coming home, I noticed how nice the melted snow flakes looked on my hat.


(54/366) One teacher must have been reading my mind because as I sat at my desk wishing for a snack, she brought snacks around.


(55/366) Baking day! A near-by friend organized a baking day at her community center. It was loads of fun and they had real ovens, so we could cook about 18 cookies at a time! As opposed to the usual 6 at a time in my moven (microwave-convection oven).


(56/366) Some friends invited me for dinner and I liked the top of her teapot.

366 Project, Week 6

(36/366) The super tiny produce section in my local grocery store. Thankfully it was full this time when I went in. (Side note, I’m now 1/10 of the way finished with this project – wow!)



(37/366) It was bento day at the junior high school. So I packed up my lunch and put it in my cute bento box.



(38/366) Was trying to see if I could stop the snow. Not really the greatest of pictures.



(39/366) I was staring at my banana saying “I know I should eat it, but I really want something sweet.” This is the result.



(40/366) What my desk looked like that day – lots of Japanese study and tea, not a lot going on at the elementary school. This is actually what a lot of my days look like.



(41/366) My favorite buttons in the staffroom! Push the smaller of the two pink ones and then the bigger one and hot water comes out! In the winter time, they are so wonderful because a hot cup of tea is my favorite way to spend slow afternoons.



(42/366) I spent the weekend with some friends. One was trying to make Valentines Chocolate for her husband and co-workers. We were her test subjects (pretty good role to play in the making of chocolates).

366 Project, Week 5

(29/366) A sign I drive by regularly for an old rest stop that has since closed down. It has several old vending machines inside and a window that used to be for ordering Bentos (what the sign says).



(30/366) I was driving home and realized I still hadn’t taken a photo for the day. I spotted this scene and knew I wanted to capture it.


(31/366) Driving back from an elementary school, I spotted this scene. I wanted to capture it but the power poles kept getting in the way. I decided to try and embrace them and see what happened.


(32/365) I made sweet and sour chicken for dinner and wasn’t super happy with the results, so I decided to see what affect flash would have on the photo. Using my wireless flash, I was able to make my dinner stand out more and the background darker.


(33/366) After my success with the sweet and sour, I decided to see if I could isolate the strawberries. I liked the results.



(34/366) If it’s the breakfast of champions, can it also be the dinner of champions?



(35/366) This was the fun part of the day – I went snowboarding with two of my students. One is about the same height as me and the other is super, super short (and cute!).

366 Project, Week 4

What a start to a year! In the first 6 weeks, I had a whirl-wind visit home, got really sick, didn’t re-contract and crashed my car. I’ve managed to keep up with most of the 366 project photos, but I haven’t been so good about posting them.

During week four, I finished with the weird illness I had again.



(22/366) I continued to be sick and spent tons of time reading on my new Kindle. Since I was around my house, I decided to see what happened if it ran out of batteries, entirely. The photo above is the result, and the only photo I took that day.

(23/366) Continued illness and an unhelpful doctor’s visit – it was decided even after I got really sick that I had a cold.



(24/366) What does one see all day when they’re sick on the couch? Oneself, of course! Here are my jeans.



(25/366) My new winter jacket. One of the reasons I liked it was the textured pattern it had.



(26/366) Back to school – finally! This was on my beautiful drive home from the school that is the farthest from where I live and I love the drive.



(27/366) I signed my contracts today with a pen similar to this, it was a hard decision. I will be leaving the JET program in August and most likely Japan, too. I’ll be sad to leave my town, friends I’ve made here and to not be able to study Japanese so easily, but I’m super excited to be back in a place where good friends don’t live so far away.



(28/366) I met a friend in the town near mine today. The sky was so bright and the LCD screen on the back was so hard to see, I decided to shoot in raw. This is the first photo I’ve taken from start to end in editing in raw. The clouds that day were so amazing.

366 Project, week 3

During week 3/4 I got sick. So there are a few holes as I just didn’t think about getting a photo.



(15/366) The mountains on my drive home from church. I loved the combination of sky and mountains.



(16/366) My kindle cover. I had forgotten to take a picture and it got toward the end of the day. I really liked the texture of the edges.



(17/366) My students were playing karuta. Karuta is a Japanese traditional game where one person calls out a word that corresponds to various cards. These were in super stylized calligraphy, so I couldn’t read them well enough to play. For example, I looked at this one, skipped the crazy calligraphy on the left, and read it “さも” (sa-mo). One of my students had to point out the squiggle on the right which reads “し” (shi), so it actually says “しさも” (shisamo).

(18/366) I got super sick on Wednesday this week, including puking and a fever. I was barely able to keep myself going through the day, let alone remembering to be creative and take photos.

(19/366) Though I finished getting sick the night before, I continued to have a fever and very little energy on Thursday. I spent most of the day on the couch.



(20/366) On Friday, I ended up feeling good enough to move around a little. My supervisor brought me fruit and as I looked at it sitting on my table, I liked how the light caught the plastic on the bag. It took me several shots to get the variety of light the way it is now. I finally ended up bumping the exposure down while focusing on the right part of the bag. I don't really love the way I framed it, but I was finally happy with how I caught the light.



(21/366) While browsing pinterest this day, I noticed someone had made a really cute zipper pack for their headphones. I thought, “that looks cool! I should do that.” Then I realized that I didn’t need to, I had already had the non-sewing version of this idea – use a coin purse. I especially liked this shot because of the star on the silver part of the lower headphone. I kept spotting it in the camera, but couldn’t tell, in camera, if I had caught it.

366 Project–Week 2

During the second week of the year, I had my last few days at home and then returned to Japan.



(8/366) My sister and my good friend J. We had my dad’s side of the family plus a few friends over so I could see everyone while I was home. It was a blast.



(9/366) We played Family Cranium that a friend gave us for Christmas. Family Cranium was loads of fun. Here E is drawing something with her eyes closed that my dad has to guess. She’s a really great artist, even with her eyes closed.



(10/366) The view as we left LAX and headed for SFO – I loved all the lines of water in this particular shot. On the way home I got the joy of flying down to LAX and then SFO before finally flying out for Haneda (Tokyo). It was a LONG day of flying.



(11/366) This day only really existed for me on the plane. Finding the outlets that are always supposedly on planes was pretty exciting. I saw the guy in the row across from me pulling out his cord and I asked what he was going to plug it in to. Turns out they put these in a super sensible spot – under the arm rest!



(12/366) Taking off from Haneda Airport (Tokyo). After an incredibly long layover in Haneda Airport, we finally left. Haneda does not like to share their electricity – there were a couple of desk spots, for using your computer, but no other plugs. If you’re like me and have a computer with very little battery life then you’re out of luck.



(13/366) On my first day back to work, the office lady and I went out to lunch. I don’t know what the stuff in the container was – some sort of veggies that were stringy like Natto, but actually tasted good.



(14/366) My luggage came! In Japan, people rarely travel with lots of luggage. Often, they send it via the post to wherever they are heading so they don’t have to deal with it on trains. When I arrived in Haneda, I sent my luggage ahead.