Arigato Gozaimasu

Hello from Japan, friends!

It has been a busy couple of weeks here in Tsu; I have so much to tell you all!

The past year's teachers left last weekend, so this week was our first week living and working in Tsu without their help.  We all became fast friends, so it was hard to see them leave.  On Friday night, we went out to dinner with Aki and his family.  Aki is a friend to OBC teachers each year and helps us with things like taking classes, getting cell phones, and finding great places to go after work and on the weekend.  He took us to a really great restaurant for all kinds of delicious food and then proceeded to take us to a karaoke place.  It was my first time doing karaoke in Japan (where it originated), and it was very fun!  Aki's father impressed us by singing Japanese songs (he even serenaded me a little!) while we stuck to our ABBA, Spice Girls, and Billy Joel fallbacks.  It was a really great experience!

Check out this spread!

New teachers with Aki

Old and new teachers at karaoke

On Saturday, Mike, Nicole, Peter, and I went to a Haunted House in Daimon, which is a shopping area near OBC.  The Haunted House was actually in the other Orden (the "O" in "OBC") building in town.  Each year, people in the neighborhood put together a haunted house for the community to enjoy.  It was only 200 yen, and I was definitely scared!  Peter had to hold my hand through most of it!  That night, we went to another fireworks festival, this time in Tsu.  We went to the beach with Aki and his family and enjoyed a couple of hours (yes!) of fireworks.  For any of you who are visiting Japan this year, try to come at a time when there will be fireworks festivals.  The fireworks are so amazing here!

Food stand at the fireworks

Photos really don't do them justice

School has been keeping me busy, and each day is exciting.  I love each of my classes and am constantly amazed by how unique each individual class is because of the different personalities of the students.  I teach 3 elementary, 1 junior high, 2 senior high, and numerous adult classes.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that I am writing lesson plans and using the "teacher" version of textbooks!  I teach 19-21 50-minute classes per week, depending on whether or not I work on Saturday (which happens every other week).  I enjoy each age level and have already made friends with some of my students.  One of my students gave me fresh tomatoes this week, and another one made me homemade pumpkin soup!  Japanese hospitality is absolutely unbelievable.  I thought the Irish were the most generous people in the world, but the Japanese take generosity to a new level.  That is why this blog entry is titled "arigato gozaimasu" - "thank you very much."

Each week, I have a class with the president of OBC.  Each of the three Japanese staff members takes a class at OBC just to practice their English and get a chance to spend some time in the classroom.  Well sometimes my student is unable to come because he has other work to do, so then his father, Mr. Yokota, comes.  Mr. Yokota founded OBC and is a businessman in Tsu.  He is 91 years old and a WWII veteran.  He has an incredible life story.  He protested the war as a univerity student, so when he was drafted, he was sent into some of the most dangerous situations, but he survived the war without a single injury.  After each amazing story he told me, he reminded me that he is "the luckiest man" and he "is grateful."  I can't wait to get to know him better and hear more of his survival stories.  He is also a very religious man, and he goes to the same church I do each Sunday.  It's good to see a familiar and friendly face in mass.

This week, we finally got to move into our permanent apartments.  Sarah and I had been living in the guest apartment until the old teachers left, so now that they have, we live in a spacious 4-bedroom apartment.  I'll post pictures soon.  I have my own bedroom with an air conditioner, which is really great.  Add to that the fact that I have my official alien registration card, health insurance, a debit card, and a cell phone, and I am actually getting settled in Japan.  And I've been here for a month already!  Isn't that hard to believe?

I had a Guinness at a British pub in Japan!  I saved the bottle because the back is written in Japanese!

Let me know how your summers are wrapping up!  I love hearing from you!