I'm getting paid for this

It's finally here!!! OBON WEEK aka paid vacation. I need it, you need it, we all need it.

I went to Osaka for a few days with my main girls P ziz and Korean shadow fox. When people ask me, "How was Osaka?" I tell them that Osaka was delicious. I feel like all I need was eat, but I had some of the best food of my life. Takoyaki and okonomiyaki were not among them, sorry (but not really). I think the yaki's were hyped up too much. Maybe those just aren't my thing. Anyway, I feel pretty awkward about it because that's the second thing people ask when they hear I went to Osaka.

Nara Park! Mmm deer cookies.

The top 3 favorite things I ingested while in Osaka:
1. Every and all foods from Restaurant Doudou, this tiny 7 seat restaurant (actually in Nara :x) that was run by a woman who prized fresh oval ingredients and simple Japanese home cooking. It was the epitome of all that I love in food and in life. Pris and I ordered salmon, crispy chicken and shiso wontons, sesame eggplant, and I got a sake sampler. The sake sampler consisted of 3 sake's, 2 local ones from Nara and one from Osaka. I'm still a little fuzzy on the whole sake/shochu names. Pris and I were in heaven, the food was exactly what we were craving after a sweaty day of feeding deer and talking to old Japanese ladies on the train. (Sidenote: Sake has a mean after burn kind of like vodka. From what I understand, sake is basically Japanese for alcohol and shochu is a type of alcohol. Sounds easy right? Well it isn't because half the time the drinks are called sake and the other half they have special shochu-based names, but anway, I'm finally acquiring a taste for sake/shochu whatever it is.)

Steph and I in Nara

2. Pancakes from this cozy cafe called Very Fancy. I mean it was pretty fancy, but the name is still strange. I got roasted banana pancakes with ice cream and caramel sauce. They roasted a banana and put it alongside these life-changingly fluffy pancakes which were topped with fresh whipped cream and caramel sauce. And for whatever reason it came with ice cream lol. Coffee and pancakes yes.

3. Kurumon Ichiba Market is called Osaka's kitchen (by trip advisor lol) and it was a criscrossy matrix of food stalls, fish stands, mochi shops, and random stores. Pris and I walked in and saw the live octopus, shrimp, and abalone in styrofoam crates with water bottles full of ice inside. Some stands had recently deceased organisms and others were alive. There were live blowfish and eel!! We ended up eating at this udon restaurant owned by a sweet old man who hand makes the noodles and seemingly cooks, serves, cashiers all by himself. We had some amazing udon, the first udon I've had in Japan surprisingly. Then we got to decorate a 8x8 card with markers lol he has an impressive collection of these cards from people all over the world!

Baby octopuses on a stick. Delicious.

I guess my top eats were like 70% taste 30% atmosphere and mood at that specific moment haha. All in all, I feel so gross after 3 days of eating, but it was delicious.

More festival fish. 

Ziz and me passed on on the bus from Kyoto to Nara

Steph and I had the most horrendous day traveling back to Tokyo. We were literally struggle bussin it all day long on the Willer Express. Tired, smelly, and crusty we missed our connecting bus and had to speak some aggressive English to get what we deserved. After 20 minutes of arguing with the Willer Express "crew" we somehow managed to get on the bus to Shinjuku and save ourselves from the unknown. If we got stranded in Nagoya we would have been SOL because we had no idea where we were, no transportation, no place to stay, and no Japanese. We narrowly escaped disaster typhoon. We're somehow still in good spirits after 12 hours of transit and countless combini meals.

Steph and me on the luxury bus from Nagoya to Tokyo.
 Pillows, blankets, reclining seats, and strange seat hoods. 

Better late than never

Yes it's true, this appears to be an abandoned blog. However, I'm in my 3rd month in Japan (pretty crazy) and I FINALLY got wifi. It has been a nighmare-ish ordeal but it's almost over. At this point, I think I should just start from my life right now and not bother backtracking to all the craziness I've been up to for the past wifi-less months. I can't be bothered because my computer is at 40% battery and my charger is in Nippori. 

So what's new with me? I guess everything. I started my teaching job and I'm fairly settled in my new apartment. I have experienced the struggle of starting off working on my own and  being broke. I've started to try and learn Japanese, so that's going fairly well. I'm going to try the intoxicated strategy, which is to put worries and self consciousness aside, and speak my Japanese loud and proud to whoever will listen. In the beginning I was always worried about pronunciation or grammar so my Japanese would come out as a mumbled whisper. 

Anyway, here are some random pictures.

Tomato ramen, basically cheesy pizza noodles that taste like heaven. 

Sunflowers on the way to the park near my house

Chillin at the Neko Cafe with the largest cat I have ever seen. 

A student drew the staff at our school! I'm Toki Skywalker, and of course I'm in a padawan outfit. 

My friend Kozue and I after a tremendously sweaty lacrosse session

A vegetable vending machine in Sakuradai

That's all for now! My computer is dying and the rest of my pictures are taking too long to upload. Next week is Obon, AKA paid vacation! I'm going to Osaka with my friends, so stay tuned for more adventures! 

Let's all go to the Tobu, one last time.

Friday night we graduated from sensei training and I don't mean to put anyone down but it was more exciting than my college graduation. I think it's because everything--the work, sweat, tears, and laughs--were all so fresh in my mind. Anyway, this isn't meant to be sentimental so here's a picture of our SENSEI-tional trainee graduates. 

Me and Totoro

That night was Nick Knack's birthday so we all went out for dinner at this 280 place where everything costs 280 yen so that was awesome. Pristopher and I split this raw fish and it was absolutely amah-zing.

yeh me and the birthday man. Brent being a fun sponge.

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Then we went to KAREOKE and it was best thing ever. You pay for a room and get free singing and drinks for an hour. It's not like kareoke in the U.S. at all. It's more like road trip jamming in a room so you can dance and you get a microphone haha. Everyone knows I love to belt it out so obviously I had a blast. Some highlight songs were Feelin' This by Blink 182, Let it Go from Frozen, and Call Me Maybe. Good times. 

Emmy and I :)

The next after we headed to Shibuya! Shopping shopping shopping. I went ham in H&M, one hour of power shopping and when I met back up with everyone they were empty handed and I had a huge bag of clothes. Shibuya was toooooo crowded.

Pris took a sick photo of the main square. 

And of course we had to take a picture next to the Hachiko :) It's a really interesting story that I know nothing about so here's the wiki:

Roomie pic one rainy day outside St. Marc's!

 "In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took in Hachikō, a golden brown Akita, as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachikō greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Each day for the next nine years Hachikō awaited Ueno's return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station."

BTP and Hachiko (BTP is how we label our food in the fridge to protect it from the fridge vultures)

Today some people went to Harajuku and I really wanted to want to go but I was too tired. For dinner Totoro and I packed a yakisoba-licious picnic and headed to the Omiya park (Hikawa shrine). It was just lovely. The loveliest indeed. We set out a blanket and ate dinner just as the sun was setting. Haha and there were inappropriate animal noises the whole time because the Omiya park has a small zoo. After it got dark we were lucky enough to be within listening distance of this fantastic accordion player. Lady and the tramp status. It was starting to feel like Paris until I looked down and remember that I was eating yakisoba with chopsticks in the wilderness. A truly magical way to end my time in Omiya.

BUT FIRST, LET ME GO TO THE TOBU. This is my home away from home. The Tobu is as peaceful and relaxing as the coolest of breezes on the hottest of summer days; it's like a butterfly kisses on your favorite blanket; it's as crisp as the first bite of the cucumber in Totoro; it's like soaring through the heavens on the wings of a Skyhawk and looking down at the earth and realizing that anything is possible. One love. 

Let's all do some blogging, let's all do some blogging, let's all do some blogging to... ?
Well my main reason for blogging is THIS

Cow tongue

So, a lot of times when we go to the fabulous Tobu <3 people just buy whatever looks tasty or interesting. Krista was eating this stuff and we all had some to try and figure out what it was. We thought maybe sea cucumber or something just because it's weird and no one really knew. The wrapper was mostly Kanji but eventually someone read it and they were like oh it's cow tongue... and all the girls FREAKED out ahaha. It was pretty traumatic. But yeh, that's my experience, yeh.

The last few days have been pretty stressful but also fun because I'm at the point of delirium. During the lessons today Priscilla and I could barely make it through the lessons because we were laughing so hard. Sometimes it's actually funny but most of the times it's really not. The lessons ask the most ridiculous questions though, like when we have to think of examples ourselves:

Example: Ask about past experiences using Have you ever.. so I kind of froze and blurted out have you ever... played ping pong? And Emmy went off about how she likes ping pong but one time she got hit in the eye and so I asked if that's why she always wears an eye patch.. and let's just say it escalated quickly haha. 

When I said the example to the class everyone turned and stared at Emmy wide eyed (hah..) because they seriously thought she had a glass eye. 

 Some rooms have really cool futon closets and bathrooms, Krista and my room has neither. I quite enjoy the closets because they are small, cozy, and full of comfy futons.The other night I made it my mission to sleep in Brent and Mikel's closet. It started as a joke but then I hardcore passed out in their closet. Training is pretty stressful and we are all super tired.

Mikel and me chillin in the closet. This photo was not staged; I really am asleep, don't I look peaceful?

Today we are teaching our grammar lessons to real life Japanese students. I'm used to teaching silly British students so I'm a bit nervous but also excited of course. Also, TWO DAYS UNTIL THE WEEKEND!!!! 

Let's go to the mall!

Today was our first day off! I have been go-go-going since Monday and I am exhausted. We spent the morning doing laundry, and by we I mean half the house was trying to do laundry. Some of us literally had nothing clean/dry to wear besides the clothes on our backs. Good thing I brought lots of underwear.

We walked down to Omiya station to do some much needed shopping. I had a list of several things I needed...of which I managed to get 2. The station was so overwhelming. There was a 7 story department store! It was so crazy. It was more like a 7 story mall though because each floor had loads of shops. We were all making fun of the English on the shirts, but this shirt takes the cake!

This is Emy holding up a very opinionated shirt... Some designer out there is very passionate about scooters lol. 

You know how sometimes stores just make clothes with random cities on them? St. George is a small town near where my family in Utah lives who's claim to fame is a shopping mall and a Costco. This bag was just SO random.

The third best thing about shopping was this little mochi/dessert stand with a friendly clerk who sold homemade mochi! It was absolutely delicious :) YUM YUM MOCHI. 

After we got back we stopped off at the friendly neighborhood Tobu and got some groceries. Then Brent, Pris/Pho/Phuh/Priscilla and I made some Japanese curry! Oishi desu! 

First week of training complete!! I don't really know what to say yet...so here's a picture of my breakfast!

I was so proud of this meal haha. Rice, ochyazuke, tofu, and a soft boiled egg in the center! I wish I had a close up of this because it was beautiful. 

This is a novelty SPAGHETTI flavored popsicle... it had real meat products and tomatoes in it. Brent had to eat it because he lost the card game. It was hilarious because I asked if he was going to barf because he hates tomato products and he said something like "I'm not going to barf. I'm a real man" and after the first bite he was gagging and almost ralphed. It tasted like sweet cold tomato soup with a terrible after taste. I don't recommend it...

 Pictures from our night on the town! We walked to downtown Omiya and ate at this strange British pub-type place.

Me and my BFF Tobu. I just love Tobu so much.. 

My Neighbor Totoro! (Brent)

Chopstick level: Expert

It was a great night.. until we got lost in Japan in the pouring rain and our map got wet and disintegrated. BUT we made it home safe so it's all good. The power of the buddy system!! 

Finals notes: If you're using a Japanese toilet, DO NOT press the button of the woman's face. AND something about a blue hippo that isn't hungry.

WHEW What a crazy past couple of days! Flying to Narita, meeting all the trainees, spending the last 20 minutes trying to log into webs.com...then realizing my blog was on blogger not webs. Idiot.

We have 18 trainees crammed into a cool Japanese-hostel type building. All these young energetic crazy soon-to-be teachers are a blast! We don't mean to brag but we consider ourselves pretty sensei-sational... har har. I hope my sister enjoys that pun.

Last night I was on a mission to go to this small local Soba restaurant. I spent like an hour talking about eating cold noodles and just generally obsessing over this restaurant. A small Japanese woman was running the entire restaurant it seemed. She seated us, took our orders, then disappeared into the kitchen until our food started coming out. I decided that if I learn any kanji, it should be the food kanji! Definitely the most practical. Here's a picture of my delightful cold soba! It hit the spot like none other.

Today we went to this awesome Ramen shop in Omiya! 

 You had to order outside with this weird vending machine type thing. You entered the money then it printed your meal ticket which you gave to the server. Pretty strange. I got nervous and just chose exactly what my friend chose since I couldn't read anything and I knew whatever buttons he pushed worked out haha.

After the delicious boutao (?) special of fresh ramen, strange mushrooms, pork, and a killer broth we waddled down to the Omiya Shrine. We partook in some rituals (cleansing of the hands and mouth before entering the shrine and an offering in which you clap once, throw your coin in the vessel, make a wish, and clap twice..or something like that) 

Front of Omiya Shrine. 

 Making an offering.

Our sensei-tional group :) Minus Brent who took the photo and the other weenies who didn't come.. just kidding.. 

Next week and a half are hardcore training! Hopefully I have time to do some more fun stuff though!! Everyday is an adventure.