Livin' in the Inaka

It's 1:30 on a school day and I'm sick in bed. I just got back from the hospital after leaving school 2nd period. I suppose it was inevitable with all the students getting sick (I still think it's because it's so darn cold in the classrooms). While teaching the 3rd years this morning I had to sit down during class while correcting their essays 'cause I felt dizzy. I left the class and went back to my desk. My 1st yr JTE suggested I take a half-day of one of my vacation days, so i signed the papers and took off. They made me go to the Fukushikaikan where Mizuuchi-san, my supervisor, took me to a nearby hospital. Even though it was nothing serious my school insisted I go. After a short check-up they sent me home with a billion types of medicines, none of which I know the purpose of... Yesterday was a holiday here in Japan- Labor Thanksgiving Day- which supposedly has no affiliation with the American Thanksgiving, even though it coincidentally falls upon the same day....

It's ridiculously cold in Toyama, and there's no escape. Neither our house or the schools are heated. I bought my ticket to Hong Kong last Friday. It's going to be sweet...can't wait to flee south for the winter- right now in HK its in the upper 70s :) Too bad I'm only visiting Kim for 3 days :( While teaching the 3rd years the other day I was starring out the window and noticed the mountains surrounding the valley are all snow-capped now... just a matter of time. The snowfall is so heavy in this region that they're building bamboo enclosures around all the shrubberies and trees here to keep them from getting crushed under the weight of all the snow (!) crazy. I wear my coat and scarf to class now. I feel sorry for all the students who have to wear their skimpy uniforms, especially the girls in their skirts. The sun came out briefly yesterday for our day trip to Kanazawa. I've befriended a woman who works in the office at my junior high- she helped me buy th...

Kyoto This past Friday was a national holiday (Culture Day, aka 'bunka no hi') For the 3 -day weekend I travelled with a few other JETs for a trip down south. There I joined the massive crowds of tourists who flock to Kyoto to see the brilliant fall colors this time of year(kouyou in Japanese). Unfortunately its still pretty warm down in the Kansai region so most of the leaves hadn't turned yet. On the plus side the weather couldn't have been better. Like everyone says, Kyoto is indeed a beautiful city worth visiting. However I thought a lot of its cultural and historical beauty has been sadly overshadowed by Japan's affinity for tourisim. All the temples and shrines are flooded with people taking pictures and venders selling tasteless souveniers. The temples and shrines themselves are pretty remarkable (unlike many of Japan's "historical" points of interest which have been so badly damaged by war, fire, and weather that little if anything remains of ...

I'm Halloweened-out... didn't think it possible. In the past 2 weeks I've: -planned and executed 17 Halloween lessons (on my own!) -organized and hosted 2 school Halloween parties -attended one JET Halloween party and -entertained 26 trick-or-treaters. I never did nearly that much celebrating in the States. The AJET annual Halloween Party was held at a club called Bananas in Uozu. The party was specifically for JETs living in Toyama Prefecture but there were a few Japanese people also present (friends of friends?) As usual I procrastinated up until the last minute to find a costume. I was teetering between a few ideas but ended up going as Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill. I was sorta against it at first since it'd been done by my sister already, but that's how it worked out. It turned out pretty well even without the other characters- people were able to recogonize it from the weapon alone (the most expensive part of the costume was the chain). Some other costume...