Poisonous Moth!

So for those who've been to Japan know about the giant bugs that live here. The only bug that seems smaller in comparison to the Americas are the mosquito's...they have smaller legs and look more like some other bug.

Well, up here in the boonies of the mountains, there are more and they seem bigger. And now that summer is here, there seems to be more of them around my house.

About a week ago I found this lovely beetle in my toilet most likely Hideki-chan found her (yes it's a female stag beetle) played with it and when he was done, dropped it into my toilet. He often does this with things around the house that he doesn't want to play with anymore...usually when i'm away for a few days. But this time I found it when I got home from school.

Another thing that I found out was they have poisonous moths here. At school they put this lovely poster up of a pretty yellow moth. Next to that are pics of someones back and looks as if they got chicken pox or some really nasty rash. The other pic is of a person's arm that looks as it were burned and the tissue is healing. Well it turns out to be the reactions a person gets when they come in contact with this moth or it's larva.*shuders* And the way to stop the spread is by putting duck tape over the first sign of the rash.

Ah, the magic of duck tape ^_^

So another little nasty-ass bug I found last night IN MY BED was a geji-geji, aka a centipede. So when I came home yesterday Hideki-chan was really freakin jumpy about anything move out of the corner of his eye or that moved across the floor. From my hand to a piece of paper, he would just jump, but only in the living room. Also he was very sensitive about me touching him on his underside. So I was starting to worry about it.

When I was getting ready for bed, I moved my blanket. Then the damn thing just came skittering across my blanket and hide in the other folds of it. I finally managed to get it off my bed and onto the floor where I killed it. I KILL IT GOOD!!
So I think that explains why Hideki was so freakin jumpy and I'm thinking he might have been bitten by the damn thing. I will continue observing his behavior to see if he keeps doing it.

oh and even after I showed Hideki the dead geji-geji, he was still jumpy about things.

Oh yeah, freakin' spider are everywhere as well. I kill them good too....and only possible cuz they're small. The spiders here get really freakin' HUGE!!

Asami's Game

So while out with Asami, I found out great news!!

Asami's game is finally complete!

On the premiere of the game, tons of people lined up just to play the game she help make ^_^

We even went to see it at the arcade across where we went to karaoke.
The game is the 2006-2007 Football (the real football not that the crap they like in america) Championship. This game uses realistic players from South America, Europe, and Japan.
You also use cards where you can save and collect your favorite players. You place these cards on the platform of the arcade to position your players and you can change them around while playing.
Which I think is pretty awesome ^_^ even though i wouldn't play that kinda games but the concept is still awesome!

Totoro-Ninja

So this weekend I went to Tokyo to spend some time with Asami and her family that live there.
We've been planning on going to the Studio Ghibli Museum and Disney Sea... well, I got sick on Thursday and I still haven't recovered ^^
Anyways I'm fine as long as there's a toilet near by and they're easier to find if you're in a city...plus I made sure I didn't eat anything on the way to Tokyo.

Ok, enough about my sickness and how I was able to adapt while in Tokyo.

We went to the Ghibli Museum and it was fun. Everything was cute and we saw a 15 min movie about cat buses ^_^ Oh and I bought a lot of little things at the shop too...and most are for me ^^
We also ate at the Straw Hat Cafe cuz we were all hungry and all I ate that day was toast and we were eating lunch at 5pm. A lot of the food there had some kind of dairy (for those who don't know, I can;t process dairy at the moment and it's been the longest since I have...while in Japan). I've also been eyeing this meal since we came in cuz it looked so damn delicious, so I ordered the steak dinner. It was damn delicious and I didn't care if I did get sick, kinda. So we finally left but while heading toward the Totoro's bus stop (and yes there is a special Totoro bus you can ride) I remembered how some of us talked about the special themed restaurants they had in Tokyo so I asked Asami if she knew where the Ninja one was at. She didn't :( but Naoko (Asami;s sister-in-law) did and made reservations for us ^_^

So the Ninja restaurant is a place where every one's dressed up like a ninja and you enter the secret world of the ninja. There are signs on the building where the restaurant is at but there are smaller signs pointing to where it's at. As soon as you get inside the darkened entrance, you are greeted by kimono dressed hostess where they call for your ninja waiter to appear out of nowhere to lead you through a series of dark twisting passageways. Since I spoke English our ninja waiter guided us and showed us the secret passages all in English. It was amazing and I wished I could've recorded it but I was pushed up front since we went there for me ^^. The waiter showed us into the ninja's training building and after a series of more twists and turns took us to our dinning nook named Nekome (cat eyes) and told us to remember it just in case we got lost. There we were given scroll menus, one in English and the other in Japanese. There was also an option for the Ninja Surprise dinner -7700 yen/person which is gourmet food all done with surprise ninja moves ^_^ but we didn't get it cuz it was expensive and I didn't feel like eating escargot or ...foie gra??? I don't know how to spell it but that dish where the force feed a goose til it dies so we can eat it's yummy liver -_-

Anyways, while eating dinner a ninja came to our table to show us ninja magic, in other words a magic show just ninja themed. Everything was slight of hand but i still love the card tricks ^_^ http://www.tofugu.com/2007/07/29/restaurant-ninja-akasaka/

Although I was sick I did enjoy my day and wish I could go back again a record the entrance into the restaurant.
*want to view more pics of the place go to photobucket

Going Back

Hey people.

In a little more than 5 weeks I'll be coming back home. In 21 days we will have the closing ceremony and I will have to say goodbye to my kids ;_; I'm going to miss them...most of them, some more than others, harsh but true.

I wish I could stay another year and see the 3rd yr students graduate and see which high school they end up going to. Yes in Japan students get to pick which high school they get to go to. It doesn't mean they are accepted off the bat. The have to study hard and take test to get into the school they want. Their fall back school is the high school in town... Point is that I'm going to miss seeing them move on. I really wish I could see them grow up.

Last week I had to attend a Returner's Conference. There they talked about the procedures to get our pension and how to close accounts here and move on after JET. So now, for those of us who are leaving have packing and tying off loose ends to look forward to.

One thing they had us do was make a list of Things you'll miss about Japan, Things you'll be glad to leave behind in Japan, Things you've missed about your home country, and (my favorite) Things you'll be annoyed about your home country. So I'll just tell you one of each. Onsens, Bugs/being illiterate, Things open after 6pm i.e.24 ATM's, and Rude people i.e. bad customer service. There were a few things on my list but I don't have it with me so that;s it.

Fun things i'm going to do before leaving Japan:
Go to: Tokyo Sea, Studio Ghibili, Hokkaido.
Do: onsens, karaoke, white water rapids (hopefully), onsen, karaoke (yeah i'm going to do those things like every weekend if i can... not the rapids thou).

So see you guys in about 6 weeks.
Oh, and something that I might experience when i get back, Reverse Culture Shock which is basically a Japan homesickness. A large majority of returning JETs get it and usually within the first 2-6 months. So you guys are going to hear tons of stories about Japan and i'll try not to tell the same one's over and over again. Oh just so you know, I didn't get any Culture Shock while I was here and i really didn't get homesick, i missed a few things and those didn't even last that long.

So things to look forward to:
packing
shipping and paying hella money for it
putting Hideki on a 9 hr flight
looking for a job
taking the math section of the CBEST
doing taxes
... ok so there not something to look forward to but things i have to do -_- and not really excited to want to do them.

Ja ne ^^

look forward to seeing pics that i've been forgetful and lazy about putting on the net ex. more school posters!!!

Symphony at School

Yesterday we had a special treat come into Kanna-machi schools.
The Gunma Symphony Orchestra came in to perform for the nearby schools. So in other words for about 200 kids and the teachers of the elementary and junior high of both Kanna-machi and Ueno-mura.

They first performed for the elementary kids, before lunch. Then the coordinator for the orchestra came in to ask for hot water for ramen. And many teachers found this funny... i don't know why.

After lunch we got to see/hear the performance. I was surprised that the gym had great acoustics. They played Mozart, Beethoven's 5th and more. For 15 minutes they played examples of the type of music an orchestra can play. I really liked hearing was the traditional Japanese music being played by western instruments.^^

One thing I found funny was how Takamitsu started to forget to clap and I realized that he was fighting not to fall asleep! And i just found out that on the way back to Ueno all the kids on the bus fell asleep.

Well, I really enjoyed listening to them and watching each player. One thing i like to do is to listen the main parts as background music and try to concentrate to the brass and bass section.

One thing i didn't enjoy...was when the curry we had for lunch started to mess with my stomach and I finally had to get up part way through of the last song -_- and the conductor was facing the crowed to conduct us on clapping along with the song.

Upsetting news

When I came into work yesterday I was informed that one of our students died on Saturday.
She was one of the students with special needs and so I never worked with her since she had trouble adjusting to new people interacting with her.

Although I didn't spend time with her it will be sad not seeing her come into the office every morning with her cute shy smile as all of us said "Ohiyo Chika-chan"

It is shocking to know that you saw this child one day and to later find out that she died the very next day.

I don't know anything about what happened since the only people who really know how to speak English left for the annual 2nd year camping trip. All I know is how upsetting this is for everyone here, especially her homeroom teacher.

One of the funeral services will be today and the other tomorrow, the Otsuya(wake) and the Ososhiki(funeral). I will be going to the Otsuya but I don't think i'm going to the Ososhiki since it'll be tomorrow at 1pm when i have classes.

Rest in Peach Chika-chan

My favorite Onsen

I previously talked about the Art of Onsening (March entry)and i kept forgetting to add the pics of an onsen.

So here's some picks of the changing room and showers/onsen area. Oh and a pic of the outdoor onsen. These are pics of one of my favorite onsen in my area in Gunma. ^^
These pics where also taken when no one was there other than Rebecca and me.