May/7 – 5/12

So I’ve got my flight booked out of Japan. June 29^th at 8:40 pm. It is such a weird feeling and have been feeling quite nervous and scared. I LOVE Tokyo and LOVE Japan. I have a life here now and am so sad to leave it all behind, especially knowing that I may never be able to make it back here someday. This is an amazing country and believe to have spent the best/most exciting year of my life here. It will definitely be very hard to leave. I’ve made some friends that I hope to keep for a lifetime.

I have begun to put together of list of things I want to do before I leave to make sure I see all I want to. Looks as if I am going to fit it all in. I just hope the rainy season this June isn’t too rainy and get to make it to the beach one weekend.

I have booked my trip to Sendai the weekend of June 2/3 with my friend Mai to visit her family, the city of Sendai, and my friend from EIU.

School

School is going all right. My official last day is now June 29^th.

We had our annual Sports Day in the park where we have several sports events and parents and family members are all invited to come. It went super well and everyone had a ton of fun. We all had lunch together and is great to sit and talk with all the parents (and see how different their children act around them rather than at school!)

Thursday May 10^th

One of our housemates sisters is in town as well as two new housemates; one from Italy and one from China, both are super nice. So we decided to throw a little dinner party for everyone and naturally I chose to make some Takoyaki!!! (I am realllllllllly going to miss this stuff.) It was a great night filled with great food and great friends!

Friday May 11^th

It was Sports Day at school so we had a half day. After work we went out to TGIF, Karaoke, and out for the night. It was so great to hang out with all the girls. They are a ton of fun and such amazing people!

Saturday May 12^th

Hung out with Saka and went to the Thai Festival in Yoyogi Koen. I believe Yoyogi may be my favorite place on this Earth. It is such an amazing park and an incredible atmosphere. Plus my favorite season is approaching Matsuri (festival) season. The summer time is filled with all sorts of festivals for food, fireworks, Japanese culture, etc. My favorite is going to all the food festivals and getting amazing and (usually) cheap food from all over!

Came home and then ended up going out to support our housemate Aimy do a fashion show. We had almost all of our housemates and Aimy did so well!

Also Congratulations and Katelyn and Alex Wood! Married May 12, 2012. I wish I could have been at your wedding, I know it must have been amazing!

Sunday May 13^th

Slept in for the first time in over two weeks. Then went and rode my bike over to Yoyogi to meet up with Saka and some of her friends who were all very nice. Then headed back to the Thai festival to meet up with my French friend who I met at my ski/snowboard trip. Got some great food and walked around to check out the festival.

We came back home and then had some ice cream for our roommate Adams birthday.

Kyoyo, Osaka, Miyajima, Hiroshima 5/2-5/6/2012

Shogo and I planned a 4-day trip to visit some other areas of Japan for the Japanese set of holidays called Golden Week. Basically a spring break for all of Japan. We also planned to meet up with our old housemate Andi (who is from and now lives in Frankfurt) and his NOW fiancé Marie (who is Japanese and will be moving to Germany this July!!)

Wednesday May 2^nd

Had school and got home to pack. We went out to dinner in Tokyo station with our housemates Kanako and Yumiko to get some sushi and other Japanese foods. It was great and we talked and learned about more Japanese table manners, and funeral customs.

It was time to find our bus in the pouring rain, which was set to depart at 10:40 pm. It was super chaotic since many other people were also going on vacation the next few days. We left around 11:15 for our way down to Kyoto.

Thursday May 3^rd  Kyoto

After what should have been a 6-7 hour bus ride, although thanks to intense traffic our bus trip turned into a 13 hour one. We arrived at 1pm at Kyoto station and went to meet up with Andi and Marie for a small riverboat tour. Next we headed out to get lunch at this great yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) place. It was in the middle of this small area that had several sake (rice wine) factories with beautiful wood. Apparently this area has a lot of sake factories because of the high quality of water in this area.

Next we headed to Inari Shrine, the shrine that has about over 1000 orange gates ranging from a little over 6ft to 25/30ft. It is paths upon paths where you walk through all of these gates. There are also several large shrines and gates at the foot of the mountain/hill that are very elaborate.

Next we had gotten hungry so headed out for food, unfortunately all we could find was very nice restaurants with food that was 50$+ a plate. So we walked around more until we found a Kyoto style okonomiyaki restaurant. (Japan is quite interesting in how each area has sometime very different styles of either ramen, okonimayaki, takoyaki, etc.) It was delicious and quite an interesting restaurant that had 100’s of ema cards on the wall with rather inappropriate images on them (an ema is a piece of wood you buy from a temple/shrine and write your wish on it and hang it on a rack.)

We then went for a walk to the other side of the river to grab some snacks and sit by the river.

We then took the train to Osaka to get to our hotel. We went out got some takoyaki and a quick walk around the city.

Friday May 4^th Osaka and Kyoto

We woke up and headed out to Osakajo (Osaka Castle) that is located right in the center of the city, and is similar to Tokyo’s imperial palace although with a huge, awesome castle!!! It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We were able to go inside and see a lot of the history of castles, samurais, and development of Japan.

We then headed to Dōtonbori which is the most famous street in Osaka which has lots of shopping, big signs, and great food. We got some more takoyaki (one of my favorite foods in Japan if you haven’t noticed.) As a reminder they are pretty much dough balls with pieces of octopus inside covered in sauce, seaweed/green onions/mayo/fish flakes.

Next we headed back to Kyoto which is just a 30 minute train ride to meet up with Andi and Marie. We went over to Kiyomizu Temple, which is known as the hill/mountain temple. We stopped by the matchmaking area and gave the love stone a rub! Then walked through the temple and continued on the path to see the view of the temple along the trees, it was stunning and would love to see the area in autumn.

We then walked through some very traditional streets of Japan which were so awesome. We saw some geishas (who are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.) although I they were most likely fake since women can pay to get done up like a geisha for the day.

Went back to Kyoto Station (after more takoyaki!) to catch my very first Shinkansen (bullet train) It was pretty awesome, and everyone is super silent.

We arrived in Hiroshima an hour and forty minutes later. Took the trolly and went to genbaku dome aka the A-bomb dome. It was a lit up right along the river with large floating paper cranes. It was an experience to say the least, just realizing what this area must have looked like/what people have seen/the devastation. Headed back to our hostel and went to sleep on traditional Japanese futons.

Saturday May 5^th Miyajima Island

We woke up and got ready to head out to Miyajima Island, which is one of Japans 3 most scenic spots and includes a beautiful large orange gate in the water. We took the train about 20 minutes grabbed some anago (eel) and rice which was amazing! Then hoped on the 10 minute ferry ride to the island.

On the ferry I was keeping an eye out for the gate and finally noticed it….. although it is currently being renovated, which was a HUGE disappointment (although was later made up for with how beautiful this island is.) You could still see parts of it although it was all covered with scaffolding and some sheets as well. The whole area reminded me so much of Hong Kong except for HK was a massive city and Miyajima was a very small Japanese town with lots of history. Both are incredibly beautiful and makes me realize I want to live somewhere beautiful when I decide where to stay.

We hopped off the very and saw a bike rental (so of course I had to take advantage of this) and took off down to see the gates and shrine. Along the path are an abundance of deer just sitting next to everyone relaxing, and are more then happy to have you pet them and take a seat right next to them. We continued on our ride along a path not far from the coast of the island. It was full of hills and you would have to stop every ¼ mile or so just to admire the view with how magnificent it was.

We stopped at a beach and relaxed for a few minutes and headed on back.

Next was our hike up Mt. Misen on the island which was a little over a mile and took about an hour and 15 minutes. It was pretty steep the whole way although had many small beautiful waterfalls. This area was absolutely incredible; I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t live on islands like this one. Along the way are massive rocks as big as an entire room in a house, and a lot of them. We made our way to the top got some udon (noodles) then headed over to take the cable car back down to catch the sunset.

We found a good spot and sat and watched the sunset from behind the gate and the mountains, it was amazing. The sunsets I have seen over here are absolutely incredible.

We got back on the ferry and back to Hiroshima to find our hostel. Got ready and went out to explore the city before we heading back to the hostel.

Sunday May 6^th Hiroshima

Woke up and rented bicycles from our hostel and headed off for a little bike ride to Hiroshimajo (Hiroshima Castle.) Unfortunately it was destroyed by the bomb but was restored shortly after. We got to try on some samurai clothes in the castle museum which was super fun, and again got an excellent view of the city from the top.

We headed back down to the Genbaku Dome and a statue that was left over from the bomb. It is foot and a half foot figure on top of a little pedestal. The area all around the figure is rough from the damage of the bomb except for the shadow right below the figure is still smooth since it was protected from the bomb flash. We walked again through the children’s peace memorial with the 1000’s of paper cranes. That is something I would love to do in my future classroom is to send at least one chain of paper cranes to Hiroshima from my class.

After we headed to the Peace Memorial Museum. Which gave a history of Hiroshima and many facts of the atomic bomb along with pictures of before, after, and during the bomb. Many of the images were very graphic and many items that were left were completely unidentifiable. At the end of the museum are numerous pictures drawn by children of what they had seen, I hope no one ever sees those things in real life again.

Lastly, we stopped at the memorial for all those deceased in the bombing. It included more pictures drawn by victims as well as stories of what people had seen/experienced. Words can’t describe what these innocent people had to see.

We then went to get some Hiroshima style okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) that include soba (noodles) as well. It was 10x better than Tokyo style, although unfortunately much harder to make.

We had pretty much seen all of Hiroshima by this point so decided to go on a 6 mile bike ride up this path right along one of the rivers in Hiroshima. It was the perfect way to end the trip to see how beautiful this city is.

Headed back, hoped on the shinkansen and made it back to Tokyo around 10pm!

Vacation pictures http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb389/mikeajapan/kyoto%20osaka%20miyajima%20hiroshima/

April 2012 pictures http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb389/mikeajapan/april%202012/

Odaiba and events

April 23-May 2

School

School is good the new students are well adjusted my class and doing very well! I am also responsible for conducting interviews for new teachers. I had a phone interview as well as a Skype interview. It is so weird to be on the other end of the Skype interview!

4/25

Sushi and lasagna! I have been hanging out with my coworker Saka the past few days so she came over for dinner. We made sushi and Shogo made his amazing lasagna.

4/26

Michel came back after is vacation with his parents. Michel and I took over the kitchen and made homemade hamburgers with avocado spread and sautéed onions. They were amazing!

4/27

Spent the night hanging out with my housemates at our house. I love this house and still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found this house.

4/28

I took Shogo on a bike ride to Disneyland since it was about 70 degrees and beautiful. We got just over 30 miles in, I cant wait to find some new routes this summer. After the ride I met up with Tami and ate at a super Japanesey place. We had salmon sashimi, fried oysters, this popular Japanese fish and tempura of these tiny fish where you at the whole fish whole.

4/29

Andi arrived from Frankfurt for the week so we met up with him and got some Indian food for lunch. Then Saka, Shogo, and I went to one of my favorite spots that has an excellent view of Tokyo Bay. Next went over to Odaiba to hang out on the beach for a while. We then wandered around to this little grassy island type area that had a big grass area and great view of Tokyo. Next we wanted to go see the huge Gundum character statue so walked over too Diver City mall to see the 1/1 scale (59 ft) statue. It was super cool. Also right next to the mall was a performance by AKB48 who is one of the most popular J-Pop bands in Japan. They have well over 48 members divided into teams so we saw about 6 of them.

We still had some time to hang out so went over to see the Ferris wheel where we saw a little Hawaiian festival and had some Hawaiian tacos! Also while we were eating we had a 5.7 earthquake close to Tokyo. It was my first time being away from home during and earthquake, It’s such a weird feeling and everyone’s phones are ringing for the warnings.

After that we went to meet up with Andi, Marie, and Masaya for Oktoberfest. We hung out there for a while. It made me very excited to see Germany! We then went out in Shimbashi and stopped for some delicious sushi on the way home!

4/30

Saka, Shogo, and I got some delicious ramen for lunch then relaxed at the park where I got to practice slacklining!! Saka went home and Shogo and I went to plan some of our trip starting Wednesday night. We went on the roof and it was so nice out both of us just ended up taking naps on the roof. We then went and met up with Mai, Andi, Marie, and Masaya for Korean BBQ. We had so much food, and is one of my favorite things to get here. Although one thing I am not going to miss about Tokyo is spending $30-$50 a meal each time we go out! I can’t believe how expensive food is sometimes.

4/15-4/22

School

Rough week at school. Although am already starting to miss my students, they are all getting so smart!

4/16

It was Yumiko’s (one of our housemates) birthdays so a few housemates got together after work and had dinner and deserts to help celebrate!

4/17

Went out to Shibuya with my coworker Saka to go grab some dinner and have a mid week break. We went to this really cool tiny Swedish bar where Saka knew the owner. It was just us the owner and a German girl from Berlin. We hung out and talked and had a great night.

4/20

Michel is traveling Japan with his parents and met an Australian girl vacationing in Japan and was on her way to Japan. Shogo, Saka, and I met up with her in Shibuya to eat at an Okonomiyaki restaurant that was really great. Walked around a lil and stopped by a small bar. It is really fun meeting people from all over and also talking about their first responses to Japan and looking back on my memories of when I first came here!

4/21

Finally finished my teaching english certificate!!!!! Shogo, Saka, her friend Park, and I went out for dinner at a nice greek place for appetizers then some japanese food for dinner. As well as out for the night in Daikanyama. It was a great day as well as a great night!

4/22

Woke up and got to talk to my friends Megan and Lauren who I worked with when I was 17 at Oberweis. It was great catching up with them, and I am so glad we are still friends. Went with Saka to an Earth Day festival in Yoyogi park (I LOVE this park.) It hosts so many festivals and a great lil escape from big city life.

I am also in the Japan times newspaper!

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120403vf.html

さくら

April 5^th-April 15^th

I guess it has been awhile since my last update so I’ll do my best to remember.

First of all I have officially signed my contract to go teach in Frankfurt starting in August. I am very excited and can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life, as well as meet up with many of the friend I have met here while in Europe. I can’t believe I will be leaving Tokyo in about 3 months. I love it here and it feels weird to leave this life that I have formed her. I will miss it and everybody so much.

As for school things have been all right, although much busier than before. We have 6 new students, which are super fun and have adjusted to our routine.

SAKURA season!

Probably the most popular time for tourist in Japan. There are a variety of sakura’s around the city as well as ume (plum) trees. There is every shade of pink between white and light purple. The weather has also gotten better, at least enough for me to go take some night rides on my bike and not be too cold.

During the week of the 8^th-13^th I took a few bike rides to go check out some different areas of the city that were popular for sakura. My favorite is Nakamegura, which has this river down the middle with sakura that hang over the river…beautiful. I went there several times as well as met up with some friends for some AMAZING pizza.

Hanami!! Basically a party where people go and picnic under the sakura, this is such a huge part of Japanese culture. Everybody goes out to celebrate and the parks are as full as can be!

April 7^th

I went with Shogo and his two friends from High School to Imperial Palace (where to emperor lives) to go check out the sakura and have a picnic. The weather was pretty cold so we went and walked around to check out several other parks near the Palace. Including another park where a group had a whole tuna and was cutting sushi right there! It was really awesome. We then went to Shogo’s friends house to watch a movie and make some delicious sushi hand rolls!

April 8^th

Hanami at Yoyogi. Shogo, Mai, and I met up with my coworker Tami at Yoyogi koen to enjoy another Hanami. Although Sunday was BEAUTIFUL and was able to enjoy the weather in a t-shirt. We relaxed ate some food and enjoyed the wonderful springtime in Japan. It is Mai’s first year living in this area of Japan and were craving pizza so went and took the train to Nakameguro to check out the river again. I wish The pictures were able to show how beautiful it is.

April 9^th

Began the day with a Hanami party with school. We took all the kids to a park in the area and spent the day outside playing and picnicking. It was a beautiful day about 70 degrees. One of my favorite days at school this year. As well as a reminder spring is on its way!

Took another ride to Nakameguro on my bike (can you tell I love it there?) to take some pictures since it was going to rain a few time the rest of the week, and the blossoms are delicate and fall of easily. Returned home to celebrate Michel’s last night in Shiba house, as he is touring Japan for a few weeks with his parents and figure out his next life plan after. He has been such a great friend and am sure I will see him again somewhere else on this wonderful Earth he has seen so much of.

April 11^th

Went to Shinbashi to go check out our old housemate DJ.

April 14^th

It was pretty stormy so Mai came over and we made some delicious Takoyaki (dough balls filled with octopus.) We made over 100 for 5 of us, I have no idea how we ate so much! They were delicious and a ton of fun to make. After dinner Bryan and I’s friend we met in Hong Kong came over since he is on a business trip for the month in Tokyo.

April 15^th

Beautiful weather = 50 mile bike ride!!! I broke my record from before and it was such a great ride! I wanted to enjoy the weather and just planned on being out for about 5 hours and see where I ended up! I rode to Disneyland, which takes just under an hour and has an amazing view of Tokyo Bay. Rode around the area and got lost… a few times. Then got tired of hitting stop lights so made my way over to the Arakawa River path to pick up some miles as well as keep a pretty decent speed, so kept on that for 14 miles till the path ended. Then made my way down back around Tokyo stopping at Tokyo Dome which includes an outdoor rollercoaster in the middle of the city that wraps around a building.

Hopefully a good wrap up. The weather is dropping back down to low 60’s with rain the upcoming week so unfortunately sakura season will be over as quick as it came.