Bittersweet Endings

So one adventure comes to an end, and a new one is beginning. We're leaving Japan in 3 days. It's hard to believe that our time here has come and gone, and like all impacting experiences, it seems as though it's gone at the same time quickly and very slowly. I am thankful that we have had the opportunity to come here, grow together and experience so many things as a couple. Now, it's time to get on with the next part of our future.

Our friends Al and Lane arrived for Golden Week and, as promised, were taken all over Tokyo, Ashikaga and Nikko. Not only did we get in everything on the itinerary (with the exception of the fish market) but we got in some extra, too! To say it was an action - packed week is putting it lightly! We definitely experienced a lot and all of us were exposed to some new sites and tastes in Japan. And, with the exception of the natto experiment, Al and Lane seemed to enjoy all the new things. :) Thanks guys, for coming to visit!

We also had an unexpected visitor the weekend after - Tio (Uncle) John! He had come to Japan for business for the first time, and we were happy to also show him around a little in Tokyo Saturday and Sunday. It was great to spend time with you, Tio John! We've been so lucky to have so many come visit during our stay here. It's great to be able to show people close to you first-hand what you are experiencing, see if their first impressions are similar to yours, and what stands out to them.

This weekend, our friends Michi and Yuki hosted us at their house for a goodbye party. They have been great friends to us here, and developing the friendship with them is one of the best things we've done here. The best way to get to know a culture and people is by forming deep relationships and frienships with them, share differences and similarities, and learn about each other. They invited us into their home, cooked us dinner, invited us to spend the night, and cooked breakfast in the morning! It was great quality time with wonderful people.

The students and teachers found out at the beginning of last week that we're leaving, and so the send - offs have started. Jon's school held an assembly exclusively to send him off on Friday, and he read a speech he had written and had translated into Japanese for the students. Tomorrow morning I will do the same. We've both written goodbye speeches for our students and for the teachers which we will read, and we hope to be able to transmit to them the depth of our appreciation and love for them. Of course we've learned so much thanks to them about Japanese culture and kindness, and there are so many things we'll never forget.

The next few days are sure to go by in a blur of packing, cleaning, hugs and tears. Although we're ready to go home, we will miss many things about this beautiful country and people. We hope to say only "see you!" to Japan and that we'll be able to come back some day, not too far in the future. For now, though, sayonara, Nihon! Arigato gozaimasu!

Cherry Blossom Mania

Strange things start to happen when the Sakura (Cherry Blossom trees) start to bloom. Looking at it from a science perspective, these trees are quite strange. So, I guess the unusual Japanese tradition of Hanami (Cherry Blossom viewing) shouldn't be any less strange. These trees shoot out thousands of quarter-sized pinkish white flowers at the end of March (or beginning of April for northern Japan) before ever exposing a single leaf to the sun. It all happens very fast too. The trees start showing their flowers and less than ten days later, the wind has blown the tree limbs bare (the Japanese call this the Spring Snow). This botanical firework display by mother nature signals the official start of Spring in Japan. The Japanese school year also coincides with this arrival of Spring orchestrated by the Sakura. Homeroom classes often take their first class picture of the year under a big Sakura as its pinkish-white petals cascade to the ground. Hanami is a Japanese tradition that I would compare to a college homecoming. Family and friends gather in large numbers near Sakura filled parks and stream banks to eat, drink, and be merry. And they also drink a lot. Did I mention that already. It's basically a nationally sanctioned excuse for adults to drink themselves silly in public and forget about some of their daily worries. So, we used some of our Spring Break time to head to Tokyo to experience hanami (minus the booze) in some of Tokyo's most famous Cherry Blossom viewing venues. Ueno Park was packed with boozers by 10am (that's a bit early for us to start drinking, especially when we had a whole day's worth of walking ahead of us). Anyway, we witnessed some of the most breathtaking blossoming Sakura and we took tons of pictures. We both felt very fortunate to be in Japan during this part of the year.

We'll be heading back to the U.S. next month so I've been doing a lot of reflecting on American society versus Japanese society. I'm sure that it would be no surprise to anyone if I said that in many ways American culture is really cold and not very welcoming at times. This is most obvious here in Japan were the societal emphasis is on the group and not the individual. Things like hiring a company employee for life (i.e. keeping that employee on the payroll even during a recession), saying "good morning" to everyone that you see in the a.m. (even the crossing guard near the school), and thanking people for doing the 'little things' all come to mind. The flip side of the coin is that the hyper dedication that a Japanese employee has for his/her employer can have a detrimental effect on family life. Whereas the U.S. population is growing at a rate of about 1% each year, the Japanese population is growing by only one tenth of that rate. Perhaps married couples aren't dedicating enough time to their marriages??? There's a lot of research to support this hypothesis. Perhaps the U.S. is better off with a slightly more relaxed work ethic. I think that the U.S. has become a little too relaxed however. Everyone in the U.S. seems to be looking for the "shortcut" to success. "There must be an easier way," many Americans might say when confronted with a difficult or lengthy task. I think Americans have lost some of their grit. A recent book that I've been reading has had me thinking about the influence of religion on society. Without getting into any personal beliefs here, I just want to point out some glaring differences that many might find surprising. In the U.S., 95% of Americans claim to be religious and attend religious services frequently. In Japan, people only utilize religion (namely Buddhism and Shintoism) primarily for special ceremonies and events. Religion isn't infused into daily life like it is in the U.S.. And yet, the rates of crime in the two countries contrast sharply. Crime in Japan seems almost nonexistent. I, for one, have never felt safer than I do right now. Do many Americans affiliate themselves with a particular religion because they think it looks like (when viewed by others) the moral and right thing to do? But do people really walk the walk and talk the talk? Is genuine religious devotion and practice the only route to a moral and sound lifestyle??? I don't know the answers, I'm just putting it out there for yall to chew on. Sorry, I'm starting to ramble. Let's clear some clutter.

We're having our second and last guest (my friend Al) coming to visit in about two and a half weeks. We have an action packed itinerary planned. Shrines, Temples, Flower Parks, Tokyo nightlife, wineries, palaces, castles, fish markets, and hot springs are all on the agenda for his visit. Al, you're gonna have a good time, that's guaranteed.

I'll leave everyone with one last random fact to mull over. Did you know that more than one half of all young, unmarried adults in the U.S. now live with their parents? Mom, we'll be home (to your home) in a month and a half. See you then:)

p.s. The pix are of our Tokyo trip, my favorite teacher at my school (Sato sensei--sadly, she was transferred to a new school a few weeks ago), and some strange facial treatment that Veronica was giving herself.

The Beginning of an End, an End of a Beginning

It's hard to believe it, but our time here in Japan is almost over. We sent our resignation letters in this week, and if all goes well, we will find ourselves back in the States on May 26th. That's only a little over two months away! We're both beginning to feel a little "senioritis" and are thinking more and more about home, things and people we miss and making mental lists of the first things we're going to do when we get home! Here are some things from the top of the list:

1. Of course, seeing, hugging and talking to all of our loved ones
2. CAMPING!!
3. Hanging out in the Uptown area of Minneapolis - running around the lakes, going to our favorite restaurants and just enjoying that wonderfully unique environment
4. Drive around in a car!
5. Eat all our favorite meals (no, not at once). For Jon that includes COOKIES! For Veronica that includes good coffee and chai!

Excluded from the list is the obvious get 2 jobs in San Diego. It would be great if we are both able to secure jobs before we come back, but if not, that's definitely top priority aside from #1.

Some things that we will be happy to avoid:

1) Rice and green tea for a good long while.

2) Sleeping and maintaining a futon bed

3) Using Japanese - style toilets

4) Did I mention rice?

So what are our plans, you ask? Well, as previously mentioned, we are hoping to get jobs and move to San Diego, CA. Veronica is hoping for a non-profit type job, and Jon is hoping for a teaching type job. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Once we arrive and settle in California, Veronica will begin to study for the GRE, take said test, and hopefully enroll in the graduate program at San Diego State University as a resident of CA in the fall of 2011. She will be going for her MSW (Master of Social Work degree).

In the last month since our planning began in earnest, it's been somewhat of a struggle to stay "present". We've got to make the most of our last two months here, though, and hopefully we'll be able to stay mentally in the moment. Some things, though, you can't help but notice.


Some interesting things have happened in our "school life". On March 11th, we got to attend the 3rd grade graduation (9th grade for you Americans), the last year of junior high school and the last year of "required schooling"in Japan. I was waiting to see if the big slackers graduated, and they sure did. It seems like you don't have to do much to graduate junior high. Both of us, however, felt very honored to be witnesses to the graduation ceremony. In Japanese culture, as the head teacher of Veronica's school explained, "emotions make for a better memory". It is not awkward or embarassing to express your emotions here, and many of the students and teachers cried quite visibly and audibly during the ceremony. At one point, a student leader read a speech that seemed to cause the whole auditorium to erupt in tears. It was very moving and a wonderful experience.

Up until graduation, the 3rd graders had been preparing for, and taking entrance exams for high school. Graduation occurred on a Thursday, and on Friday, they found out the results of the exams. One of the Japanese teachers told me that this is a new system and they used to find out the results before graduation, but this caused a lot of stress for the students and they weren't able to enjoy the graduation if they knew they weren't going on to high school, so for the student's sake, this is the way things are done now. I think this system is very indicative of Japanese culture as a whole. Children seem to be protected from a lot here. A couple months ago, some students broke into the school and graffitied a bunch of inappropriate things all over the school. The teacher who opened the school in the morning found the damage and called the other teachers to come to school early and cover up the evidence. When I found out about this, my first reaction was - "what? Why didn't the students have to clean it up?" To which the answer was, "we didn't want the other students to be upset by it." Hm. I still think that if you did it, you should have to fix it!

We've got two more school days before the end of the Japanese school year, then two weeks off! Although we want to see as much of Japan as possible while we're here, it's stressful to think of the possibility of not having jobs secured right away in the US when we get back, so we're trying to save money. We'll do some local tourist destinations over the break, and then at the beginning of May, our friend Al is coming to visit (and hopefully Lane!) to end our Japanese experience the right way! We're so lucky to be able to share our experience with at least 3 (or 4) of our friends!

Now, the cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom and the days are getting longer, and it's a wonderful time to be outside in Japan. We hope you all are happy and healthy! See you soon. Ja mata!

Interesting Happenings

A lot has happened since our last blog. This one should be good. Where to start? Let's see... A new 7Eleven opened up down the block and it drew a big crowd. Before the actual opening day locals were out front snapping pictures of the new establishment. This isn't some super-duper 7Eleven equipped with tanning beds and quiche, just an average 7Eleven. So, I found the neighborhood photographers a little odd.

Something that's even more odd is the cleaning lady at my often patronized Gold's Gym. In the middle of the day when men are walking around naked in the locker room, the cleaning lady is just feet away sweeping the floor. None of the men leaving the shower area seem to care if a fifty-something year old lady is in the locker room with them. Two questions: Is the floor that dirty that it needs to be cleaned during business hours? Would it be equally okay for a male cleaning person to be doing the same in the ladies locker room during business hours? I'm thinking that the answer to both questions would be "No." (FYI-I don't shower at the gym, I shower at home...that's just too weird).

Here's one more for you. In most restrooms in the U.S. there's a modesty panel that's between the urinals and the doorway of a men's restroom. The purpose being to keep any innocent eyes from catching an unintentional view of some old man's Full Monty. Oddly, this safeguard doesn't exist in Japan. In most men's restrooms, anybody walking by can catch a good view of men urinating should they look in that direction at the same time that someone is opening the restroom door. It's interesting how men's and women's body privacy seem to be viewed differently here. Personally, it doesn't make me too uncomfortable. But I can see how it would be uncomfortable for some guys.

Please allow me to share my recent hospital experience with you. It's WAY different than our health care system in the U.S. First off, Mom if you're reading this, your son is fine, take a deep breath. Back to the story.... this past Monday night I was experiencing some strange symptoms that I thought could be telling me that I was having a heart attack (FYI-I'm currently 33 years old and in the best shape of my life with zero of the risk factors for heart problems). Regardless of my current health condition, I was naturally a bit worried when I was experiencing unusual chest pressure and numbness in my left arm all the way down to my fingertips. So, I went to the nearest hospital to have some blood drawn and tested, get a urine analysis, get some x-rays, obtain a CT scan, an EKG and consult with two separate doctors (one a hematologist and the other a neurologist) who both examined me thoroughly. They also scheduled me for an MRI two days later in a neighboring town which I did go to and have completed as well. Without drawing this out any further, the end diagnosis was a pinched nerve in my neck (this injury dates back to my football days in high school) which was causing the strange sensation in my chest and arm that freaked me out. Prognosis: I'll be fine if I just rest for a few weeks and stop working out at Gold's Gym as if I'm training for the Mr.Olympia competition. I must admit, I do go a little overboard (intensity and duration) when I visit the gym and see my weight machines and dumbbells that I've been thinking about all week (tear). Now, I know what you're thinking...How much did it cost? Do you and Veronica have enough money left after your hospital visit to feed yourselves until your next pay check? Get this...my total bill (FOR EVERYTHING) was about 130 dollars. Shoot, I can spend 130 bucks on a week's worth of groceries. The best part was, when I told my work colleagues how much it had all set me back, they were very apologetic saying that, "It's too expensive! They raised individual health care costs recently to unreasonable levels. If you had had all of that done a few years ago, you would have only spent about 80 dollars." Do I dare say it. Why can't the U.S. offer similar affordable health care to its citizens? The answer has a lot to do with the people who are making money (due to the high cost of health care in America) and their willingness to bribe lawmakers (I mean, contribute to their campaign fund) in order to keep the system the way it is so that they can maintain their unreasonably high income for activities that SHOULD BE punishable by law. Am I putting it too harshly? I don't think so. America has other countries beat in a lot of different categories related to quality of life. This most definitely is not one of them. If you are an American, you need to live by two main rules. Number one, don't get sick...ever! Number two, don't get old.

This gets me to my last topic today. America's emphasis on individualism versus Japan's emphasis on the community or group. It's not until you leave the individualism infused environment of the U.S. that you see how detrimental that view is to the overall health of the community. Over the years, I've heard many students say to other students, "Wow...sucks to be you." Who says that? Seriously, how is that going to help fix the problem? This type of attitude also helps to foster the feelings of hate and loneliness in a society. Last week, a fifteen year old girl at my junior high school died. The outpouring of support that the students and teachers gave to this girl's family was enough to make even the toughest of tough guys cry. For example, I've never seen a teacher in America volunteer their entire weekend to help console and assist a grieving family like I saw here last week. It was an uplifting moment during a very sad time. These are the moments that are remembered most throughout one's life that help give a person peace of mind and comfort. I wish the U.S. had more of that. It's not as though we can't be more communal and supportive, we just choose not to. Why is that? Can Americans unlearn poor habits and adapt healthier ones? If we're not too pig-headed and proud I think we have a chance of doing so. Veronica and I have made it our mission to raise our future children in an open-minded setting that's very multinational and worldly. We hope that this will foster a sense of the "greater good" in our childrens' heads and that they will grow up being fully aware of their impact on their community. Maybe there's other new parents or future parents in America that share this view with us. Let's hope.

Peace and Love,

Jon & Veronica

FYI--The pictures this post are of Valentine's Day dinner, the students waxing the school floor (hey, many hands make light work right?), and Veronica's St. Patrick's Day hallway board at school.

Cute Kids, Waru Gaki, and Haircuts, Oh My!

It seems that in the past few months there have been a lack of new gained experiences that are uniquely Japanese. I don't mean in the sense of visiting new areas, or seeing famous places, which we obviously did over winter vacation while having fun with Kristin, but new experiences when it comes to everyday life (la vie cotidienne) that are different from our American experiences. It seems that nowadays we are getting used to everything and not much is "new" and exciting. I am happy to report now that the last couple weeks have been filled with different "new" and exciting unique Japanese experiences that I would love to share with you!

One amazingly wonderful thing that is different here is how much I like my job and "bosses" as opposed to my last job in the States - and how much they like me! (Sorry Deli people if you're reading this, I'm not talking about YOU!) This was especially evident on January 26th. On the Sunday of that week I came down with some kind of illness that was flu-like and lasted about a week. Since I normally never get sick, and especially not for that length of time, I'm sure it was a Japanese strain that I had never been exposed to. It was at its worst for the first few days, but being someone who doesn't like to shirk responsability, I dragged myself to work on Monday. When Tuesday rolled around I forced myself to call in sick. Wednesday I still wasn't feeling good, but two days of calling in sick to me were unthinkable so I dragged myself in. (Plus we don't get paid for days we call in sick!) The vice principal, principal and head teacher took a look at me, conferred for a moment and then the head teacher came over to me, felt my forehead, declared I had a fever and told me to go home. They assured me that they would not call the Board of Education or my company to let them know that I was not at school. "For us, you are at school today, yes? Please, we will not call. Kiotskete, ne?" This meant that I would be paid for not working on Wednesday. I can't conceive of this happening in any American company, especially not where I worked last. From an ethical standpoint I don't know if it was the best thing to do, because I didn't work and got paid, but the idea that someone wanted to extend such kindness warmed my heart and I had the urge to cry. Japanese kindness is wonderful!

Another wonderful new experience was my visit to an elementary school. I went to teach 5 classes - two "English" classes, two "Social studies" classes and one combining the two. I taught 6th and 5th graders all about myself and all about American culture. Going into it was a little nerve racking since I wasn't sure how much English ability the kids would have and I knew that the Japanese teachers would not be fluent in English. Once I got there, I was surprised at the kid's ability and only had a few moments where I was unable to explain something. The difference between the elementary school and the junior high I normally teach at was that the kids had not gotten to the "I'm too cool for school" phase and so almost all of them were really excited to learn all about me and America. It was also really fun to play "Red Light, Green Light" (a 'typical' American game) and answer their enthusiastic questions. Plus, Japanese kids are SO cute! :)

Over time, I've discovered that my junior high is probably not typical of Japanese junior high schools. My school is declared "the worst junior high in Ashikaga" and I am discovering why. There are a few badly behaved kids that unfortunately make the whole school stand out as "the bad seed." I think I've mentioned before some of the pranks the kids have pulled, but let me add some more. It recently occurred to me to ask Jon if a fire alarm going off at school was an almost every day occurrence. He told me no, which came as a surprise to me because at my school this is definitely the case. The other day I was asked to go help a teacher with an issue. I followed her into a girl's bathroom where we found a desk and a chair locked into two different stalls. We had to maneuver ourselves into the stalls to remove said objects. Just a couple weeks ago, I was looking out the window of the teacher's room when trash began to rain from the sky. Straws, chalk and other objects fell onto the front steps of the school. One piece of chalk with particular good timing and aim happened to strike a student in the forehead as he looked up to see what was falling from the sky. I was told not to go pick up the trash because "they might throw more and we don't want you to get hurt". The worst of the misbehaved kids have discovered that saying "fuck you" is not something I appreciate, so of course they make sure they say it often, and loudly to me. On the week that I was sick, a group of them headed me off as I was leaving school and got up in my face saying "fuck you, girl" several times. What's funny is that the reactions that the teachers have toward these kids is not as I would expect it to be. They laugh at the kid's antics, and when those kids get especially angry, they only push them into a room and have a talking-to with them. It doesn't seem to be helping matters any. The latest of their antics was this Thursday when I gave a demonstration lesson to the other junior high ALTs and some English teachers. I guess they figured out where our discussion was held after the lesson because we were rudely interrupted by one kid opening the door and yelling out "fuck you, man" before running away. After I ran and locked the door to prevent another rude interruption, they contented themselves with yelling the same type of thing from the hallway - and including my name. Despite these unpleasant kids, I want to emphasize again how much I LOVE my job and most of the kids! It is never boring, that's for sure.

Well, spring is officially here in Japan. Last week on Thursday was the first day of spring according to the Japanese calendar, and coming right along with spring came our first snowfall. As you can see in the picture, it wasn't much to speak of, but funnily enough, when I got to school the morning after the snow fell, I discovered that school had been delayed an hour. Better safe than sorry, I guess? It was interesting to hear about Japanese traditions to welcome spring in. They include throwing soybeans out of your house to expel evil spirits, eating soybeans, and planting heads of sardines in the garden and hanging them from your porch also to expel evil spirits. Maybe the bad smell keeps them away. :)

I've been trying to avoid getting my hair cut by cutting off all the split ends I can find while bored at school. I was afraid of a hairstylist misunderstanding my wishes and meeting with a hair disaster! However, it's been more than a year since I've had my hair cut, and it was getting a little crazy. So, this week I finally decided that enough was enough and asked an English teacher to help me set up an appointment. Displaying typical Japanese kindness, she called the salon to set up an appointment with her stylist and gave me a discount card of 60% off! Yesterday with much trepidation I set off for the salon. Of course, I had nothing to be worried about, and aside from the person I was with at the moment announcing to the salon what I had just finished doing (yell - "shampoo!" answer by all other employees - "please, enjoy!"), it wasn't much different from an American haircut. Of course, it took me a couple tries and a lot of body language to get the stylist to understand what I wanted, but we got there in the end. My stylist was a young, skinny guy, with very 80s hair - long and curly permed all pushed over to one side. I had a lot of fun watching him cut my hair. With all the swooping and lunging, I felt that I was watching the "haircut ballet". In the end I was very happy with the results and, wanting to make sure that he understood that I liked it, I told him I loved him, and bowed. After all, the students are always telling me that in English, so hopefully he didn't misunderstand!

I'll finish up with a thought about Valentine's Day. How are all of you going to celebrate? Here, the tradition is that women give men chocolate. Then, a month later on March 14th, the men return the favor and give women chocolate. Although many of us probably agree that Valentine's Day is a commercial, unnecessary holiday that just pressures us into buying romantic paraphanelia, at least in Japan the giving is equalled out, right? We hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and a great week! Ai shiteru all!

Lost in Translation??

Tomorrow's February already. It's 5 and a half months since we first arrived in Japan. This means that our stay here is more than half over. Last week, I was issued my much sought after California teaching license that I hope to put to good use in 2010. I've started applying for jobs in the San Diego area and who knows, I just might get one. Veronica is waiting to see what happens with my job search first since teaching positions for the 2010-2011 school year get posted far earlier than any job that she'd be applying for would (assuming we'd both want to start work around the same time). We're also starting to talk about wedding possibilities and such. There is one thing that we have already figured out about the whole wedding thing...weddings aren't cheap. I mean wow! Seriously, the average wedding planner fee is between three and four thousand dollars? For what?

Anyway, on that note, I think it's time for some comic relief.

Since day 1 of our arrival here in Japan, we've been enjoying the English literature found on people's shirts, lunch place mats, junk mail, food wrappers, etc... More often than not, they've left us scratching our heads as to what exactly it is that they are trying to say. Just a quick disclaimer before we get into some examples though. I have no intention of trying to make fun of anybody or any culture by sharing this with you. I just think it's a testament to how different English and Japanese is and it illustrates how easy it is to translate the wrong message or in some cases deliver no message at all.

We've literally come across hundreds of these funny bone ticklers. The list below is just some of our favorites.

1.) On a motivational flier distributed to staff at my school, "Nothing about us without us" was the title in 28 font text.

2.) On the cookie wrapper of one of our favorite brands of cookies, "Chocolate Sand Biscuit."

3.) On our toilet paper packaging, "This propose your comfortable life."

4.) On the outside of my Japanese chap stick container, "Men's Lipstick."

5.) On a students pencil case at my school, "It is necessary to choose the thing becoming oneself."

6.) In a student's essay at school, "At first, Fuju teacher is very easy to be angry with a noody person."

7.) On a popular candy bar wrapper the name reads "Crunky" (This candy bar looks and tastes like a Nestle CRUNCH bar.)

What is clear to me after reading many statements like these is that there is only one person who knows exactly what they mean...the author.

Veronica and I are in "save money" mode now so we haven't been on any exciting trips recently worth talking about. We did go to the movies two weeks ago though. We saw Avatar. If you haven't seen it, we highly recommend it. Regardless of one's political insights concerning the film, it's hard not to marvel at the new, cutting edge animation/special effects showcased in the film. Since the movie ran us about 18 dollars EACH, we've considered that our one and only theater experience for our Japan stay.

Anyway, we hope everyone is staying warm this winter. The days ARE getting longer (daylight hours I mean). Soon enough the temperatures will start to catch up with the sun's rays. Hang in there hearty Midwesterners.

'Til next time.

Peace and Love.

Time Away From Routine

Hello everyone! Konnichiwa!

We hope that you all had a wonderful winter holiday season. We certainly have! There were several things to look forward to coming up on our vacation time and all during.

The first big event was my birthday on December 20th. I was lucky enough that every night during that weekend was special. The school's end of the year party (bon en kai) was on Friday, my birthday celebration was on Saturday and a pizza dinner (yummy!) was Sunday. Friday night was a great experience where I got to know the other teachers at my school on a more intimate level. It was located at a traditional Japanese restaurant (think low table, cushions on the floor) and there were several courses served as well as plenty of alcohol to go around (peer pressure!) and Christmas presents! I was begged to dress up as Santa Claus and help hand out the presents. It was a really fun night! I was completely spoiled and taken to a traditional Japanese restaurant (two nights in a row, lucky me!) on Saturday where we were served a delicious 9 course dinner. There was a whole bag full of presents, as well as a wonderful box Mary Ann sent full of books and DVDs! Sunday was yummy too with comfortingly familiar pizza.

We worked on Christmas day, and honestly I didn't know what to expect. It was surprisingly noneventful but fun. I played Christmas jeopardy during most of my classes and had fun teaching the kids and teacher about Christmas culture and traditions all over the world. We enjoyed a cozy Christmas dinner (improvised to be as authentic as possible) together and exchanged presents. It was very nice! Starting the day after Christmas we were off work until January 8th. We had almost a week to relax and enjoy Ashikaga. For New Year's Eve Jon and I went to the only dance club in Ashikaga and had fun dancing and bopping with the Japanese / American music and experienced a Japanese rap group and a b-girl group performance. We rang in 2010 with people from many different countries, since there were many ALTs as well as Japanese people at the club!

Kristin arrived on January 2nd and as soon as she arrived we were off to a whirlwind 10 day trip to Kyoto, Ise area (near Mikimoto Pearl Island), Lake Hakone area (by Mount Fuji), Ashikaga and Tokyo. It was wonderful to see her and share both things we had previously seen as well as our home town and many new things as well. Among my favorite things on this trip included the trip to Mikimoto Pearl Island (famous island where Mikimoto Pearls have been cultivated since the 1950s - of course Kristin and I bought pearl jewelry), the stay in a traditional Japanese style inn (ryokan) where we experienced rural Japan and a natural hot spring spa, and the visit to the Harajuku district in Tokyo where avant garde fashions run rampant. We indulged in all sorts of authentic Japanese food including ramen, Japanese curry, bento (box lunch), onigiri (rice ball), all sorts of sweets, and of course, sushi. The trip included plenty of the old Japan (temples, shrines, restaurants, inn, etc.) as well as the new (fashion, entertainment districts, bar). Our accomodation ranged from traditional Japanese style accomodations to capsule beds and bunk beds. We also rode on various transportation from trains to subway to cable cars. Needless to say, I don't think it's an experience we'll ever forget, and I think that all three of us feel more confident about navigating in foreign places, trying new things and exhilarated from all the new experiences we've had. Kristin left today to go back to the frigid weather in Minnesota. It was so nice to have someone else to share our experiences with, and wonderful to be around someone who knows both of us in our 'normal life'. We will miss her a lot!

Now we're ready to settle back down, get back to the routine of school, start looking up job openings online and begin wedding planning! 2010 is off to a great start. We hope your year has started off just as well, if not better!

Kiotskete, ne! (Take care, ya hear?)