Happy New Year from Good ole Nippon

Thank you to all of you who have been there and supported me through this experience abroad, especially my folks. I love you like Caribbean breakfast on Christmas morning!

Thank you for keeping in touch and dispelling my fear of being out of sight out of mind.

I really can't believe that 2009 is here already and that I've lived in Japan for 18 months! Before I know it July will be here and I'll be packing up to go home! As much as I LOVE it out here, there is truly no place like home. Home where you are surrounded by friends and family who love you for you, can relate to you and can communicate with ease and understanding. I really have learned to appreciate even more of the little things while being here.

For me 2009 will continue in the same fashion as last year...harnessing positive energy and striving toward forward movement. I will try to be the best person that I can be and reach for the stars.

I hope this year brings all of you nothing but positivity, health and many blessings. Love you much!

Amanda

Tottori International Festival

Sunday morning I literally struggled out of bed bright and early. I really don't know how I managed but I did. Tottori city is an hour and a half away from me by train and the event started at 11am. I had to be there early to help Simone set up the booth.

The event is called "The Time Festival" and it features a little bit of something from various countries around the world. There were about twenty or more booths showcasing the cultures, food, books and crafts from each country in attendance. People from all walks of life, young and old alike, visited the Trinidad and Tobago booth that we were sitting at. Two older ladies stand out in my mind. They were so cute and wanted a piece of everything. They bought some coconut drops, fudge and one of them bought one of the handcrafted earrings I made. That wasn't enough for them, they literally pulled us to come and take pictures with them.

Everyone got particularly excited by the carnival costume headpiece that was on display. They got equally excited when they realized they were free to try it on. It was a hilarious sight. I caught some good laughs listening to people who had never heard of the twin republic, try to figure out where Trinidad and Tobago could be in the world. The funniest guess was America to which Simone replied in her thick Trini accent "no man, no man, come come come" and showed them to the map. I found it interesting the number of people that asked if we speak English in T&T, but I guess when you don't know you really don't know.

We wasted no time at the end of the day with packing up and leaving. I had to catch the train back to my city or else I'd have to wait two hours for the next. The service is not as frequent on a Sunday.

The event was a huge success, I really enjoyed it. It's been a while since I've been around so many people from different countries so it was refreshing to say the least. It almost makes me want to try and start up an event of its kind in my little city.

Pictures

Hula video courtesy of my cell phone

Bounenkai & Mochi Making

This past Saturday I was chillin' in my apartment when my cell phone rang. It was my neighbour Manabu from down the street. He can speak a little bit of English, but he struggles here and there so the convo was pretty funny. He started with "hello Amanda, what are you doing?" I told him I wasn't doing anything, just relaxing. He struggled with explaining that he was at a Bounenkai, tried to explain what it was about, that he was drunk and that he and his friends wanted me to come out. I asked him if the event was inside or outside and he told me it was half and half. Now, I asked because I went to a reggae event with him before and it was outside and I froze! He sent his friend Sogihara to come and pick me up and when I got downstairs the first thing he asked me was if my clothes were warm and if I had any more. I was wearing 2 fleece jackets and a scarf, then went back up for my winter coat. If you know me well you know I HATE & DESPISE the cold.

Anyway, we got to the event which was at the same OUTDOOR place and I wanted to strangle Manabu. Luckily there were heaters and a fire going inside the tarp tent.

I had no idea what a bounenkai was, but thanks to good old wikipedia I was able to make sense of what Manabu was trying to explain to me. In a nutshell it is a party to say good bye to the year that has gone along with all the worries, stresses and strains that it may have brought usually with alcohol. The alcohol drinking was tame here thank the Lord, but for those who did partake, they slept in tents over night. Japan has a zero tolerance blood alcohol level.

I watched the mochi making process in awe. I don't like mochi at all, or at least the kinds I've tried. I don't really think it has a particularly appealing taste. I mean how tasty can rice gluten really be? Nonetheless, it was so interesting to watch.

Sogihara drove me home around 1:30am. Usually that would be no problem, but I had to get up the next morning to help my friend Simone at an international festival. All in all I had a really enjoyable Saturday night.

Pics

Video 1-Mochi making part 1


Video 2-Mochi making part 2

My students truly make my days

I don't know what it is about the students that I work with. They say you get back the energy that you give off, but I don't think it's me. I don't know where the energy comes from, but no matter how bad I'm feeling as soon as I walk into one of my classes I break out into the biggest smile. It's not the fake "good morning class" smile, it's truly genuine. When I finish classes for the day my face hurts from laughing and smiling with the students. They truly make my days.

This week is my last week at my current school until February. I've been sitting at my desk in the staffroom all day for the past two days doing nada. Yesterday one of my students, Moeno, came by the staffroom to see me. A while back I saw her drawing some pictures at the beginning of class. I walked over to her desk and she rushed to close up what she was doing. I don't know, maybe she thought she was going to get in trouble or something, but I asked if I could look at her work. This girl can draw! I asked her if she could draw a picture of me and she said yes. I forgot about it. A few weeks later she asked me if she could have a picture of me. Now, back to yesterday...she came to the staffroom to give me her drawing and I was floored. It's a small picture, but her attention to detail is crazy. This picture is one of the many things I will treasure from my time here.

Jamaica to di Worl'!!

I took some time to recoup from back to back visitors and just when I thought I was ready to write about it, Barack Obama went and got elected 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE US OF A!!!! Needless to say it took me about a week for that to reaaaaaally register. Now that I'm focused I have time to write about my AMAZING visit with Tamii and Angel.

It's so funny how life works sometimes. What I love about it, is that there are so many defining moments for so many different things. If anyone had asked me 6 years ago if I thought Tamii and her husband would travel half way across the world to come and see me, I have no idea what I would have said. You never really know how much of an impact or how much meaning you have in someone's life until you have defining moments such as this one for me. Trust me when I say there have been many, I'm just adding this one to the list.

Enough of the mushy stuff and down to business. October 13th-18th marked one of the greatest weeks I have spent in Japan thus far. My girl Tamii and her hubby Angel came to visit me all the way from J-A-M-A-I-C-A JAMAICA(whaddup Cham)! As I'm typing this, I still have to wonder if I dreamt it, or if they were in fact here...in my apartment...in Japan. Well, I don't need a pinch because the jerk sauce, Tru Juice, bun, rough tops etc. etc. that are now in my stocks are proof that they really were here!

It sucks that when you really look forward to something, it takes soooooo long to come, but when it finally does come it doesn't last long enough! The week that Tams and Angel were here went by in a blur. It was too the point that by the end of the week, we had forgotten some of what we did at the beginning.

I won't go into every single detail of what we did while they were here, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Tams if you're reading I have to say again, that I am TRULY blessed to have you in my life and I'm so happy that you spent your birthday with me in Japan:) (MUWAH!) Angel if you're reading don't get jealous because you know I love you too. The trip would not have been the same without our delirious, lack of sleep "pump up the jam" dance session. We MUST do it again!

I've Been Busy!

I have about 10 years worth of stuff to catch up on it seems. Usually, I would sit down and do a full-fledged, detailed recap, but truth be told I just wasn't in the mood to write. I think that slump is almost over, but I'll wait and see.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at home in the summer...words REALLY can't explain. From the successful surprise birthday party for meh first shugadumplin niece, to going to the annual Whiteout fete, to reuniting with the movie crew, to seeing my girls in each of their new homes, to visiting my Thursday morning show at CHRY, to getting my hair done at Nanni's natural hair salon, to riding with "my Ian" to Barrie, to one of my bestest visiting from NY, to driving to Buffalo with meh mommy to pick her up and daddy to drop her off, to the Caribana festivities, to having lunch with Frangie, to watching the Wire with Dwayne, to ladies night at Danielle's, to attending Emma's baptism and seeing my extended fam the Langleys, to seeing Aunty Cora after so long, to FINALLY meeting Kris and her little man, to the farewell party...ALL of it was great and reminded me of all the things and people for which/who I am grateful.

These past few months have gone by in a total blur. I've honestly been keeping myself very busy. This is something I decided to do when I signed my recontracting forms last November. I came back to Japan in mid-August and literally hit the ground running. I'm not quite sure how I managed, but I survived without even a smidgen of jetlag. I got in on a Friday and I was at the beach hanging out on Sunday...talk about wasting no time. I went to a housewarming and met some of the new ALTs (assistant language teachers), went to a beach party, went out dancing, caught up with friends, had a girls weekend, taught my private conversation classes, went to Korea, went to Tokyo, started crocheting like a madwoman, watched the previews of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice (2 of my fav shows), went to Okinawa (southern Japan) and snorkled for the first time, had visitors from Jamaica and through all of this I managed to have 5 Mondays off in a row! I just don't know how I do it! ahahahaha.

I tell you this year is going to be an even better experience than last year if I have anything to do with it. It has already gotten off to an amazing start and I'm loving every minute of it. I truly am relishing every last minute I have here because come next August it's back to reality, but for now, I love life and it loves me!

Korea pics

Girl's weekend pics

Okinawa pics

What Can I Say?...Old Japanese People Must Really Like Me.

Yesterday I went to Himeji city to go buy my niece's birthday gift. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so I took my time walking to my destination. On the way, I stopped to browse at the shoes on display outside ABC Mart shoe store. So there I was minding my own business and all of a sudden I feel BRAPS on my left shoulder. I turned around to see an old Japanese man staring me in the face. He was probably just a little shorter than me and had no regard for personal space. He had a lit cigar dangling from his bottom lip as he looked in my face and nudged my arm. I backed away hoping he would leave me be, but boy was I wrong! The man proceeded to put his arms around me in an attempt at what seemed like an embrace. I was totally gobsmacked! Japanese people do little to no physical contact with each other, let alone hugging up a foreigner! At the time all of this was happening, I was holding my cell phone in my right hand talking to Khaleelah. I used my left forearm to try and fend him off and remove myself from his attempted embrace. I ran into the shoe store and in a desperate attempt to ask for help I looked at the store employee and said "tell him to stop". Yea right, like that did anything! I don't know why I refuse to believe that Japanese people can't understand me when I speak English. The old man came in the store all smiles, I walked around the shoe display and made a dash for it out the door. All this time I'm smiling and laughing in disbelief as Khaleelah laughs in my ear because she can't believe what is going on. So I'm walking very briskly down the shopping arcade, turned around to find the blasted man RUNNING after me! In all seriousness I really couldn't comprehend what was going on! I'm running away and the man is saying "no no, yes yes" and gesturing for me to come toward him. No sir! His eyes were red-rimmed, probably with drunkenness AND he had a lit cigarette in his mouth. Awww helll naw! I ran into the glasses shop and when I turned around he was gone. I wasn't scared, but I was shook...shocked really. What really just happened? Did an old grandpa-looking Japanese man REALLY just chase me down the shopping strip? Wow, only in Japan I swear.

On the train back home, an old lady that came to sit down beside me reached into her purse and handed me a candy from a pack, smiled and took one out to eat herself. Today as I rode my bike back toward my apartment from the harbour, the old man waiting for the light beside me reached into his bike basket and handed me a bag of rice which I kindly refused.

Either something is in the air or old Japanese people just really like me?

Alison and Amanda take over Japan

To make things a bit clearer I will break down our adventure city by city. Enjoy.

Aioi

At 9:30am Monday morning I was knocking on Ali's hotel room door. I thought I had the wrong door until I heard "Amanda?" from behind it. She opened the door and I was so happy to see her. I must say I think we have a really unique relationship. I walked in and it felt like we had just been chillin' out and kickin' it a few days ago. I took off my shoes and headed straight to the bed, as did she because there were 30 minutes left until check-out. Granted I do live like 2 minutes away from the hotel, but whatever.

I welcomed Ali to my humble abode at about 10:10am, we took it easy for a while before heading out, on bikes of course, to take in some of my little city. Our first stop was to the Board of Ed where Alison met my supervisor and his staff. It was lunch time when we arrived so some people were taking cat naps at their desks. In walked Rokudai-sensei from his lunch to greet us. He and his staff had heard so much about this friend coming to visit and they were delighted to finally meet her. Next stop was Futaba Junior High school. I don't have much to say except that my students are pure jokes. The girls wanted a picture with Ali so of course I obliged. Next stops were Uniqlo in Himeji for a bit of shopping and then the grocery store and then back to the apartment to ready ourselves for our week of taking over the country.
Tokyo(Shinjuku)

The next morning we took the shinkansen to Shinjuku station in Tokyo. After about half an hour of walking in circles IN the station trying to find the right exit to get to the hotel, we gave up and took a cab. Of course the hotel was about 2.2 seconds away! We didn't waste any time, checked in, took our bags to the room and headed out again to wander Shinjuku and start shopping. Alison got 2 pairs of prescription glasses for drop dead prices...they are pretty cheap here.

The day ended with a really good dinner at El Torito Mexican restaurant where I had my first encounter with tableside guacamole! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Clubbing got thrown out the window because we were both beat.

Yokohama/Ebisu/Harajuku

What can I say? I LOVE this place, especially China town. We first went to the landmark tower, but of course we had to stop and shop first. I thought the landmark tower was a good stop, one because it's just a nice sight to see and two, because there is a Coldstone's creamery on the first floor. *smile*

We proceeded to Yokohama China town (the biggest in Japan), took in some temples and got some good pictures. I kept hearing about this man with fishbowl earrings and finally saw him....and yes my camera was ready.

We had lunch at Aalawi Jamaican restaurant in Ebisu. The food is good and the jerk chicken is actually spicy...well spicy for Japan that is, but still tasty. At this point we were winding down again, but we made a quick stop to the crazy streets of Harajuku. I knew we were both tired because we didn't really attempt to buy anything. The two of us were pretty much on the same page and rather than clubbing we chilled in the hotel and went to bed!

Kyoto

The next morning saw us on the Shinkansen yet again, this time heading to Kyoto. I must say I was extremely excited for this part of our take over because I had yet to visit and I heard so many good things. Kyoto has over 2000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and if I remember correctly, it is also one of the oldest cities in Japan.
We stayed at a traditional Japanese guest house. The staff were so helpful and the location is ideal. After checking in, we headed straight out to Kinkaku-ji (Golden) temple. This place is absolutely gorgeous. The gardens are expertly manicured and the scenery is breathtaking. On our way out we stopped to buy some lovely yukata-type robes before heading back to the guesthouse. After getting ample directions and information from our host, we made a mad dash to a kimono shop where I bought my first kimono and had a little obi tying lesson. It was great! It was so fun that we didn't realize the time...we basically closed down the store and stayed an hour later than planned. We walked the streets of Gion and Pontocho and I swear I felt as though I was on set of an old time Japanese movie.

Friday morning (May 1st) met us still in Kyoto and wanting to see more. Initially we were going to visit a shrine then head to Osaka and Kobe for the day. Needless to say, and executive decision was made and we spent the day in Kyoto and went to Ginkaku-ji (Silver) temple and Fushimi Inari. Unfortunately, the Silver temple was completely under construction so I couldn't get any good pictures of it. Fushimi Inari shrine was so much better than I had expected. I saw pictures of it and marked it as a must see. The first "head shrine" is at the bottom of a mountain. From there you can work your way up the mountain along trails of orange torii. Ever since I saw pictures of this place I had envisioned a picture that I wanted to take there. Ali and I went to work in executing my vision and it turned out thousands of times better than I could ever have imagined. To date, it is one of my favourite pictures of myself!

At about 5pm we made our way back to the guesthouse to get our bags and head back home to Aioi. Our decision to cut out Osaka and Kobe couldn't have been better. We were so tired at this point, we just wanted to relax and that's exactly what we did.

Aioi & Himeji

We got back to my city Friday night and spent it chit chatting, and relaxing. The following day we went back out to Himeji castle and did the walking tour. I didn't realize that the castle would be so busy! It was Golden Week so I swear everyone was out. Part of the tour that usually takes about 5-10 minutes took us 45!! It was pure madness. I'll have to keep Golden Week traffic in mind next time. After the castle we headed back to my place to pack Ali's bags and enjoy what little she had left of her stay. Sunday morning we went back to Himeji bus station so Ali could catch her airport bus, but not before she had me run to the store to pick up two more of the plates she loved from the 100 yen shop. I had about 15 minutes and spent 7 of them trying to remember what section of the store we found the plates in. I felt like I was on amazing race or something the way I was running because there was NO WAY I was gonna let Ali leave without giving her a proper goodbye. I ran back with about two minutes left to see her giving some guy instructions on how to say bye to me if she had to leave..uhh yea right! I got my hug, and kept a brave face until the bus pulled off. I swear if it wasn't for that guy who was there seeing his friend off I would have broken down. It wasn't until I walked back into the train station that some tears actually left my eyes. Just typing this brings happy tears!

Overall, if you couldn't tell, the week was AMAZING! I enjoyed EVERY LAST MINUTE of it and can't wait for us to do it again soon, whether it be Japan or somewhere else in the world. Thanks for coming Ali, I really appreciate it!

PICTURES PART 1

PICTIRES PART 2

Alilboogie in DA HOUSE!!

That's right folks, I had my first visitor in Japan and I'm still coming down off of the high!

Last time I left off talking about how crazy I was going to Tokyo to see Mighty Crown only to be back a few days later. Two days later to be exact!

The adventure began in Tokyo the Sunday night after the Mighty Crown dance. I'm sitting in a club with Latoya watching a dance showcase and my ketai (cell phone) rings. I pick up and hear this little voice on the other end say "hiiiii Amanda!", I'm like hiiii? and then it hits me as I say "hold on a second, I have to go to the lobby because it's too loud in here". I'm getting nervous and thinking naaaaaaah, it can't be. So I get to the lobby and say "hello? Ali?" She says "hi Amanda I'm here, I'm about to get on the bus to Himeenji(wrong pronunciation of course)". The first words out of my mouth were "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE HERE!?" And that's where it all began.

Now my heart is racing because I'm in Tokyo, she's at Osaka airport. I am scheduled to leave Tokyo on the overnight bus to Osaka around 11:30pm(at the time it was about 7:30pm) and I'm absolutely freaking out! Ali asks me if she should stay at the airport and I tell her that makes no sense, to get on the bus to Himeji(20 mins by train from my city) and I'll work something out and to call me as soon as she gets there. She tells me she forgot her rail pass at home and that her dad has sent it to my address via Purolator. This is #2, things happen in 3's right?
We hang up and I run back inside to tell Latoya what's going on as I'm near tears and feeling like THE WORST friend in the world for screwing up the dates. Toya was the voice of reason because I was so ready to pay $150 ONE WAY to take the shinkansen(bullet train) to go meet Alison....money I didn't really have to spare mind you. I call my supervisor to see if he has a spare key to my apartment to let her in. It's bittersweet when I find out that he doesn't. I call some other teacher friends to ask them if she can stay at their place until morning, but I hang up before they answer. Somehow that option just didn't sit right with me. So I call Khaleelah to ask her if she can book a room at the hotel outside my city's train station..she's out to dinner and can't, but as smart as she is she tells me to call one of my friends, get the number and book it myself. See? I was freaking out, I couldn't think straight enough to figure out that I could do that lol. So I call the hotel book the room no problem right?

Nine 'o clockish rolls around and Ali calls to tell me she has reached Himeji. I'm calmer now as I feel like things are under control. She tries to make me feel better by telling me it was her mistake and that the itinerary she sent me was set up wrong so it make sense that I was expecting her the next day. That doesn't do the job. All I can think is 'ohmigosh, I'm such a bad friend! This is her first time to Japan and this is the worst introduction to a new country ever known in the history of man!' Anyhoo, I proceed to give her directions to catch the train to my city, tell her about the hotel, to call me when she checks-in and that I'll be there first thing in the morning. About 40 minutes pass and I haven't heard from her. I look at my phone and see 2 missed calls from the hotel...shoot! I call back about 4 times to talk to her, but the hotel staff kept hanging up on me(or so I thought)! Miscommunication. Scratch that, language barrier! hahahaha. Luckily Toya and I were with this guy who could speak Japanese so he got Ali on the phone. She sounded so distressed. I felt even worse, because she got lost trying to find the train, she broke down at one point and by some miracle God sent an English-speaking Japanese angel to guide her in the right direction. I was a little relieved just knowing she was at the hotel and had somewhere clean to lay her head until I could come to the rescue.

Don't worry it gets better from here on in, I promise. To be continued...

Mighty Crown...East Coast Rulaz!

For the longest time, way before I came to Japan, I kept hearing the name Mighty Crown associated with Reggae and sound clashes. All I really knew about them was that they were supposedly really good Japanese Reggae djs and that they won some sound clashes in Jamaica. I wanted to go to one of their dances when they were in Toronto, but it never quite worked out so I decided that being in Japan I had to see them before I left. Well a couple weeks ago I did just that, just barely though. Khaleelah had been telling Toya, Tamla and I about this party for about a month and for some reason we slacked on buying tickets. I went to buy mine the week prior only to discover that they were sold out. I panicked because I had already purchased my bus tickets and the hotel was reserved. Not to worry I would figure out a plan B. Luckily I had just met a Japanese promoter/club owner/artist a few weeks prior named Zebraman. Yea, I was shocked by that too...his real name is Takahiro but Zebraman is his stage name. You would never think this man was Japanese because he is forever speaking patois. He lived in Jamaica for a few years and then moved to New York, but that's a different story for a different day. Fast forward to the fact that he was able to hook us up with guest list access under his name. Khaleelah had to drop out last minute so it was the 3 of us that went. All I have to say is that
although it was crazy of me to go to Tokyo that weekend to be back two days later with my visitor, it was well worth it! I now see why Mighty Crown calls themself the East Coast Rulaz! They were GREAT! The vibe was positive and full of energy all night. I am definitely going to see them again. In fact they will be in Osaka with Tarrus Riley as their special guest, the countdown begins!

PICTURES