Awaiting the Tsunami

Nick and I were getting prepared for the potential tsunami earlier today. Our head protection was inspired by a Japanese news caster standing above the shore reporting on the coming tsunami wearing a bike helmet. I guess she thought that would protect her, so since we are about 5 miles from the shore, we thought this would do for us. Fortunately the actual wave was much smaller than expected and there was little if any damage in Japan. We were a bit concerned though because there were announcements over loudspeakers in our town and being two kids from a land locked state we didn't quite know what to expect. Anyway, sending love from the two goofiest people in Japan.

Konichiwa and Welcome

Hello Friends and Family,

I promised before I left that we would create a blog about our year in Japan and now four months after we arrived in Japan, I have created the blog. Sorry, I have never been very good at things like this, but it is important to both of us to share our experiences with all of you, so here we are.

You are probably wondering why the blog is entitled "Nani?". Well, there are a few reasons, but the most important for me is that it was the first Japanese word I learned from my students. Nani is Japanese for what. I noticed I was hearing this word in the classroom all the time and realized it was because they had no idea what I was talking about, and many of them still don't. So, that's the first reason. The second reason is that especially in the first month, I constantly found myself wanting to say "what?" In the beginning when nani was one of five Japanese words I knew, I rarely knew what people were asking me at the grocery store or at restaurants or in the classroom.

I have heard nani much less often in my classrooms, I think my students have finally started to understand and respect the fact that I don't speak Japanese and won't in the English learning environment. I am also asking nani myself less often in basic situations, like the grocery store, and restaurants, and in the classroom. Maybe it is comfort that has been acquired over time or the fact that I now have at least tripled if not quadrupled my Japanese vocabulary to 15 or 20 words, pretty pathetic. I am still frequently questioning cultural customs, employment expectations, approaches to learning English, and why we have to drive on the other side of the road. Some of the questions are being answered and some will certainly continue for the entire year.

Anyway, that is my hello and welcome, I will certainly post more soon. Sending so much love to everyone and missing you all like crazy.

Love,

Past Mass E-mails

In case you missed these early e-mails, here they are.

November 17, 2009

Hello loves,

First of all, Im sorry it has taken me so long to write an email. Contrary to expectations, internet has not been very easy to find. Our employers are very sweet and letting me use their computer now. So we have spent about ten days in Hitachinaka City, Japan. It is a very small town for Japanese standards, about 150,000 people. It is agricultural in a very interesting way. There are subdivisions with houses side by side like they would be in America except there are large fields among the houses. Hard to describe, but I really enjoy seeing the potato fields as a backyard. It is sweet potato season and they are delicious. We stumbled upon a festival for the 3-5-7 holiday when they celebrate children of these ages. It was very fun, everyone was very nice, or at least seemed nice because they were smiling a lot. We also walked into a shop and were suddenly involved in a tea ceremony with a very nice old man, or so it seemed from the smiling. It is very frustrating not speaking Japanese and it is motivating us to start learning. Nick has been practicing the Katakana which is the script used for foreign words...I need to practice more.

It seems like the job will be very nice. The students are pretty well behaved, unfortunately not as good as I expected. They are nice and eager to learn. We have been training since we got here and are both excited about taking over our classes on our own. It will be challenging for all of us that we dont speak Japanese because all the previous teachers have used a lot of Japanese in the classroom. I think it will ultimately be a good thing though. Our coworkers and employers are incredibly sweet. Justin (the guy who hired us) is married to Annie and her parents just took over the school this month. Their names are Mikio and Yoshie and they are two of the sweestest, most welcoming people. They have taken us out to three meals and served us food at school, and Yoshie is teaching us Japanese. It is also very exciting to be coming in at this time of transition because everyone is enthusiastic about making positive changes and open to suggestions.

We have visited the apartments that will be similar to ours and they are quite cozy. We have two rooms separated by a paper door, one will be the bedroom and one will be a living room. There is also a full kitchen, bathroom, and washing machine. We are anxious to move in because we have been living in a guest room connected to the school for the last ten days. There is no kitchen, except for a sink, a microwave, and a refridgerator, so we cant wait to cook on our own. We have found a couple good restaurants and will certainly find more once we are more comfortable with Japanese menus without pictures.

Overall, we are happy and enjoying our situation. We have already started planning all of our vacations and cant wait to start
exploring Japan. We are thinking about going to Hokkaido for our winter break to ski and enjoy the snow, assuming its not too expensive. If it is too expensive, we are also entertaining the idea of a Southeast Asian Christmas.

I love you all and miss you so much. I think about you a lot and hope you are very happy. I cant wait to have consistent internet access so we can talk on the phone and be in closer contact. But, until then, I love you.

Sarah

December 27, 2009

Hello All,

We hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season. We just finished a day of skiing in a beautiful valley in the Japanese Alps. The area is called Hakuba and it was host of the Nagano Winter Olympics. And- we (Nick, actually) know exactly what it feels like to slide down a sheet of pure- and I don't mean that slushy or watered down stuff- ice. I'll tell you, when the sun goes down (at 3 o'clock because there isn't "daylight savings time" here), it's the closest thing I've ever felt to one of those James Bond Ice Palaces. Back to Sarah...other than the ice, we had a superb day of skiing and are looking forward to a few more days. Before this part of our trip, we spent two days in absolute paradise. Since we weren't coming home for Christmas, or exchanging gifts we decided to completely spoil ourselves and we stayed at a Japanese style inn with private hot springs, nestled in an incredible gorge in the Japanese Alps. Let's just say coming to a dirty, cheap, crowded hostel has been more of a challenge than it would have been had we not just spent two days in paradise. Back to Nick...I think I should revisit here. I mean, we're talking ice that you could make one hell of a ice martini glass out of. I was thinking about stealing a block and selling it at a convenience store (ubiquitous here...). Although you would need a monster ice pick because, judging by the color of the bruises on my hips, this is no regular strength ice. Back to Sarah...After six days of skiing (or sliding down ice for Nick) we will be heading to Kyoto for a few days, which is certainly not enough time to see Kyoto but we are hoping to get an idea of the city and plan our next trip. It is supposed the be the best city in Japan with the most well-known temples, amazing food, and Japanese gardens. After Kyoto, we have to go back to Hitachinaka City and get back to work...ugh. In all honesty though, our situation in Hitachinaka City is actually quite nice. Our work schedule is fairly relaxed and our job is very easy in some ways, mostly in that we do the same thing everyday, but the kids always present exciting challenges to keep work interesting. Back to Nick...well, I've been told that I'm talking about ice a little too much. OK. Point taken. Thanks for reading- and we miss you all. Take care, be warm, and be happy.

Love,

Sarah and Nick