The latest update

Hello one and all

I decided since I am sick and spending the evening at home under the covers anyways I might as well try to pass along a few words of what’s been going on in my life lately.

Since the school posting, I’ve gone through a range of emotions and events. Reading my brother’s blog inspired me to share some of the events that I might not otherwise talk about on this blog.
Earlier this month I lost two people in my life. Although I wasn’t as close to either of the men as I could have been, it still affected me and was really sad to lose each of these people. Ryan was always smiling and up for adventures. Ross, was like part of the family. I always respected Ross because he would go after what he wanted and was full of so much information. It was hard dealing with each of their deaths, so close together, especially being all the way over here, but I was lucky because Duane was visiting during that time.
Duane’s visit was something I was looking forward to since August and we had a wonderful time together! It was strange to have two different parts of my life overlapping but at the same time I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. I think we both gained a little independence while he was here since he had to make it to Gifu Hashima on his own, and I had to learn to survive on my little Japanese and reliance on other people’s English as opposed to having Kiri and Narin around all the time to translate. I think we also grew together as well, when we traveled and found our way around foreign places. One of our highlights was Kyoto, where we saw many temples, shrines, gates, pagodas, and even a few Geisha. On our second weekend together we went on a water rafting trip where we camped out in cabins with 40 other Jets. It was cool for Duane to meet all my friends (ooh and come to my school and English conversation class) and I think it probably helps that he now can put a face to a name when I tell him all my news and stories. We also had a Karaoke night which was heaps of fun—lots of blackmail pictures came out of that night! *For these and more check Facebook : ) * I made sure to take Duane to a few different Japanese cultural experiences including taking the Shinkansen (bullet train), eating Sushi made right in front of us, an onsen, and a Sumo arena. We weren’t able to actually watch real Sumo but we saw lots of them on the street and we wandered into a children Sumo tournament right across from our hotel which was really interesting to see. Our third weekend winded up being in Tokyo before Duane headed back to Canada. We went to Asakusa, Akihabara, Shinjuko and Harajuko as well as other neighborhoods. We saw the old culture and the culture-less areas of the massive city and were pretty proud of ourselves for ‘mastering’ the subway system with only a few missed stops!
Duane left on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which made it extra tough for me to say goodbye and be alone for the holidays. I was able to talk to my parents, cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunt via webcam though which was awesome! Although I was jealous because I was not in Jasper with everyone having the big meal, I did get to share that day with my best friends here when Narin cooked a Thai stirfry for six of us. Speaking of holidays, I am now confirmed to go back to Canada from Dec 21 to Jan 5th. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with as many people as possible in that time!
Before my Canada trip I’m also going to Korea with another Canadian girl who is doing Jet. We are getting pretty excited. I am taking advantage of every weekend I can to travel around Japan and soon to be other parts of Asia. Hey, when’s the next time I’ll be able to fly to Thailand or Korea for so cheap right?
I refreshed my perspective and attitudes about being here when Duane left. I am taking learning Japanese more seriously now and have renewed my original idea of talking to as many different people, learning as much as I can, and seeing everything out there. I feel I have fully settled in now so there are no more excuses, time to get my butt in gear!
One of the things I did since Duane left, was go to a Sake festival in northern Gifu. Narin, Jess (both from Aus) and I met up with Jordan (from Calgary) in his new hometown of Shirakawa. It was so beautiful and had UNESCO World Herritage sites right in the village. We went to the festival (I LOVE JAPANESE FESTIVALS AND RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE!), drank some moonshine Ume-shou, slept under his Tokatsu (heated table), went to the onsen, bought more Hello Kitty charms (I really am getting quite the collection now!) and of course did more Print club stickers! (they are just too much fun here!)
Other highlights lately have been my weekly English conversation class (made up of four ladies from the area who come to my house where we eat, drink tea and practice English), learning Japanese with Sandra and Narin (followed by Grey’s Anatomy on Narin’s computer!!) and lately I’ve also been really enjoying my job. I’ve gotten the chance to do more activities and become more involved in the school which I’ve really enjoyed. I absolutely love playing with the kids (esp elem) at recess, lunch, during cleaning time, and while waiting for the bus. Even in class lately I’ve had a blast and feel like I by far have the coolest job in the school –especially getting to teach Halloween and bringing stickers, a stuffed pumpkin, blow up ghosts and lots of games to school. I can’t believe I get paid for this sometimes : ) …. Although, at the same time re-contracting emails have been sent out and papers should be on my desk tomorrow. The option is there to renew with Jet and stay in Japan another year but at this point I think I am just going to enjoy my 9 and a half months left here and hopefully start teaching back in Canada in September.
I’ll leave you with a quote found in the Gateway I was reading online the other day. “When you live in a place for a number of years, the strange becomes normal, the amazing becomes ordinary, and the unusual becomes commonplace”—so… Shake it up people! : )
Hope all is well! I love hearing from everyone via email, msn, snail mail, skype whatev! Thanks for reading and keeping in touch
~Julz