Hello folks! Yes I know it's been many months (OK, just 2) since I updated last, so save that. The fact is I'm updating, so enjoy that.
Lots of stuff happening, and also...not a lot at the same time. Things in the good ol' Land of the Rising Sun are going OK. Since I last updated, I've been many places. New Year's in Tokyo, Yokohama, Snowboarding, etc. For those of you who follow this blog I'm sure you've all seen the pictures. So you mainly know from those how things are going in that arena.
On the actual LIVING in Japan side...things are still pretty much the same. However, I just got a brand new bed yesterday and boy, after sleeping on a futon on the floor for 6 months, it sure felt good to sleep in a bed. Once I actually get some sheets to put on it and such, pictures of my newly remodeled apartment will be up so don't worry.
Luckily it's starting to warm up and Spring is upon us here. Early next month the cherry blossoms come in and I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures of that. I'm excited :)
Lots of allergies and hay fever around, luckily I don't succumb to that! So it's all good :)
My Japanese study is coming along VERY nice as well. I try and study a bit every day and I can honestly say I've learned more Japanese in the last 6 months than I did Spanish when I studied it over a course of 11 years. But I actually like and want to learn Japanese, maybe that's why. Regardless, I hope to be able to speak/understand/be fully literate/etc. before I come home...it is doable I know and all it takes for me is willpower. I can already follow some news/TV shows and read a lot but really just getting the minor gist of it...still progress is progress.
Speaking of 6 months, yes it's already been 6 FRIGGIN' MONTHS since I came to Japan. That in itself is crazy. Time has honestly flown by very quickly, but I'm enjoying every minute of it, especially since things seem so grim in the US right now (to be honest though, Japan has felt the economic pinch as well as the rest of the world). But I hope to keep on keepin' on over here until I know my time is up, it's far from up as I'm concerned right now...I'm just NOW getting used to it! HA!
Anyway, so here was an update for all who were wondering. I'm not gonna promise anything, but I'll at least try to stay regular (on updates that is!)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Kumiko's farewell & return to Shinjuku
Saturday night we had a end of the year potluck and farewell party for our departing Asst. Manager Kumiko. She's probably the biggest help I've had at AEON, plus she has such a good spirit and personality that she was probably the funnest person to work with. The party consisted of the usual. Tons of people in the cramped school lobby and tons of food and drink to go with them. Right before the party, Josh and I, along with Yoko (the new Asst. Manager) were tasked with buying all the drinks for the evening, on only a 10,000 yen budget (about $100). So we get all the tea and sodas out of the way first, then it was on to buying the ビール ("biiru" or beer for those who can't read Japanese) and cocktail drinks. A daunting task it was hauling all of it in plastic bags back to the school.
Josh & I with Kumiko near the end of the party, we'll miss her (and constantly teasing her as well)
I had a three day weekend thanks to the ol' emperor of Japan celebrating his birthday and all. Must say it's nice having a break. So naturally, I took advantage of the extra time and woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to head to Tokyo. Now, every time I have been in Tokyo it's either been raining or I'm stuck in some office building with no time to sight see. So I took it upon myself to take advantage of the nice weather on Sunday and do some exploring of one of Tokyo's busiest wards: Shinjuku.
After an hour and a half or so train ride, I left Shinjuku station and went out of the South Exit. From there, I went on foot in search of the giant government building in which you can see far and wide all over Tokyo. Having not been in this place in nice weather (minus a short business trip back in October) it looked rather different, so it was like exploring a whole new city. The wind had picked up rather quickly and was blowing really hard. I had a chance to see many yellow-leafed trees be stripped of their leaves in a spectacular urban leaf tornado. Too bad I didn't capture a video of it.
Lucky for me, I didn't even have to ask where the building was, I just happened upon it (although I was hoping to make use of what Japanese I knew -- "Tokyo Tocho wa doko desu ka?"). During my journey I snapped a few photos of my way:
My goal point, actually I was two blocks away at this point
A cat statue outside of a building
I finally made it to the building, and took the long elevator ride up (I'd say around 45-50 floors) and I finally made it. While the weather was clear and sunny that day, there was still a slight haze in the sky:
View down of where the cat statue is
It's a shame it was so hazy, on very clear days you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance as well as others. Once I had my fix, I headed back down to Shinjuku Central Park which was right across the street. But before I did I took some shots of some interesting art outside of the building:
And here's a shot of the tower I was in, only now it's the opposite view:
Once I reached the park, I did some walking around and sort of relaxed a bit, oh and I shot a quick panorama of where I was:
Once I left the park it was on to exploring the rest of the city. I was actually quite surprised at how small it is (I say small, in reality it's really big, but I was able to find places I'd been to before quite easily on foot). I was starting to get hungry at this point, so I decided to find somewhere to eat. I wasn't going to settle for McDonald's again so I was going to find a nice, small Japanese place until I saw a Wendy's:
I hadn't eaten at one, even in America, in what felt like over a year. And this was the first one I've seen in Japan, so I decided to have lunch there, and it was quite good.
After lunch I went back to the station and went in the opposite direction. I took a quick photo of the South-East exit of the station, there was a live band playing down below:
Finally, I went back in another direction and found AEON East Japan's head office, only this time I went by foot instead of the subway. Once I made my way back from that, it was starting to get dark (in the winter time, the sun sets at around 4:20PM here). I made one last stop at a department store to look around and it had some pretty good Christmas decorations up:
After having some jasmine tea at a cafe there, I decided it was time to head back. Luckily, I was just in time for a departing train to Utsunomiya. This ride took almost 2 and a half hours though, it seemed as if I stopped at at least 20 stations on the way back.
I was supposed to be going to Oya on Monday with Josh, but it was rainy (again) and got really cold, so we decided to put it off until after New Years. Speaking of which, after this short week, I will have 9 days off. I plan on doing many things during this time. On my agenda is Yokohama (including Chinatown there) as well as spending New Year's Eve/Day in Tokyo. Rest assured, pictures will follow.
Josh & I with Kumiko near the end of the party, we'll miss her (and constantly teasing her as well)
I had a three day weekend thanks to the ol' emperor of Japan celebrating his birthday and all. Must say it's nice having a break. So naturally, I took advantage of the extra time and woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to head to Tokyo. Now, every time I have been in Tokyo it's either been raining or I'm stuck in some office building with no time to sight see. So I took it upon myself to take advantage of the nice weather on Sunday and do some exploring of one of Tokyo's busiest wards: Shinjuku.
After an hour and a half or so train ride, I left Shinjuku station and went out of the South Exit. From there, I went on foot in search of the giant government building in which you can see far and wide all over Tokyo. Having not been in this place in nice weather (minus a short business trip back in October) it looked rather different, so it was like exploring a whole new city. The wind had picked up rather quickly and was blowing really hard. I had a chance to see many yellow-leafed trees be stripped of their leaves in a spectacular urban leaf tornado. Too bad I didn't capture a video of it.
Lucky for me, I didn't even have to ask where the building was, I just happened upon it (although I was hoping to make use of what Japanese I knew -- "Tokyo Tocho wa doko desu ka?"). During my journey I snapped a few photos of my way:
My goal point, actually I was two blocks away at this point
A cat statue outside of a building
I finally made it to the building, and took the long elevator ride up (I'd say around 45-50 floors) and I finally made it. While the weather was clear and sunny that day, there was still a slight haze in the sky:
View down of where the cat statue is
It's a shame it was so hazy, on very clear days you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance as well as others. Once I had my fix, I headed back down to Shinjuku Central Park which was right across the street. But before I did I took some shots of some interesting art outside of the building:
And here's a shot of the tower I was in, only now it's the opposite view:
Once I reached the park, I did some walking around and sort of relaxed a bit, oh and I shot a quick panorama of where I was:
Once I left the park it was on to exploring the rest of the city. I was actually quite surprised at how small it is (I say small, in reality it's really big, but I was able to find places I'd been to before quite easily on foot). I was starting to get hungry at this point, so I decided to find somewhere to eat. I wasn't going to settle for McDonald's again so I was going to find a nice, small Japanese place until I saw a Wendy's:
I hadn't eaten at one, even in America, in what felt like over a year. And this was the first one I've seen in Japan, so I decided to have lunch there, and it was quite good.
After lunch I went back to the station and went in the opposite direction. I took a quick photo of the South-East exit of the station, there was a live band playing down below:
Finally, I went back in another direction and found AEON East Japan's head office, only this time I went by foot instead of the subway. Once I made my way back from that, it was starting to get dark (in the winter time, the sun sets at around 4:20PM here). I made one last stop at a department store to look around and it had some pretty good Christmas decorations up:
After having some jasmine tea at a cafe there, I decided it was time to head back. Luckily, I was just in time for a departing train to Utsunomiya. This ride took almost 2 and a half hours though, it seemed as if I stopped at at least 20 stations on the way back.
I was supposed to be going to Oya on Monday with Josh, but it was rainy (again) and got really cold, so we decided to put it off until after New Years. Speaking of which, after this short week, I will have 9 days off. I plan on doing many things during this time. On my agenda is Yokohama (including Chinatown there) as well as spending New Year's Eve/Day in Tokyo. Rest assured, pictures will follow.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Oh where, oh where have my blog updates gone?
OK, yes I realize I haven't updated this in over a month. I've just been SUPER busy with work and really no time for anything else it seems. But, after this week it's time for the holidays!
December 23rd is the Emperor's birthday, so naturally we have that as a national holiday! It just so happens to fall on a Tuesday, thus giving me a three day weekend coming up! And immediately after that, starting on December 28th (Sunday) I am off of work until January 6th. An entire nine days of no work. Now what am I going to do? I haven't really decided yet. I really want to spend my first New Years in Japan right. Since I'm not really taking a "trip" it seems, I might as well do some local travel to places I haven't been to yet. I might take a trip to Nikko just to FINALLY see it. I kind of wanted to go when it is covered in snow, so maybe it will be within two weeks.
For those that don't know, Nikko is where probably the most famous person in Japanese history is buried. Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb is there along with his grandson's, and the Futarasan Shrine which dates back to the year 767AD. Also of note, it is the original place of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys, yup, that's where they're from. Anyway, that's on my list.
Also, if I can find some friends to go with me, I'll try my hardest to finally go snowboarding. What's great is I can really go anytime I want this winter as there are good ski and snowboarding spots very close to my home city (within a few hours drive).
And I'm wanting to spend New Years Eve/Day in Tokyo of course. Who wouldn't want to be in the world's largest metropolitan city during New Years?
Anyway, that's what's up lately. Hopefully I'll have more to update in the coming weeks (along with wintery pictures) so don't fret. I'm still around.
December 23rd is the Emperor's birthday, so naturally we have that as a national holiday! It just so happens to fall on a Tuesday, thus giving me a three day weekend coming up! And immediately after that, starting on December 28th (Sunday) I am off of work until January 6th. An entire nine days of no work. Now what am I going to do? I haven't really decided yet. I really want to spend my first New Years in Japan right. Since I'm not really taking a "trip" it seems, I might as well do some local travel to places I haven't been to yet. I might take a trip to Nikko just to FINALLY see it. I kind of wanted to go when it is covered in snow, so maybe it will be within two weeks.
For those that don't know, Nikko is where probably the most famous person in Japanese history is buried. Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb is there along with his grandson's, and the Futarasan Shrine which dates back to the year 767AD. Also of note, it is the original place of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys, yup, that's where they're from. Anyway, that's on my list.
Also, if I can find some friends to go with me, I'll try my hardest to finally go snowboarding. What's great is I can really go anytime I want this winter as there are good ski and snowboarding spots very close to my home city (within a few hours drive).
And I'm wanting to spend New Years Eve/Day in Tokyo of course. Who wouldn't want to be in the world's largest metropolitan city during New Years?
Anyway, that's what's up lately. Hopefully I'll have more to update in the coming weeks (along with wintery pictures) so don't fret. I'm still around.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Ice Bar anyone?
You've all heard of such things as ice hotels right? If not, I'll clue you in. In certain parts of the world, from what I've been told, colder regions of Europe, they have themed hotels made entirely of ice. The moment you walk in, everything is ice, from the counter tops, tables, beds, everything. It's the novelty of it I guess that attracts people I suppose.
Now, imagine a bar, made entirely of ice. That's where I was Saturday night.
After a long week of work, I was ready for a good, long rest. This did not take place until much later, as I had already made plans to go partying in Tokyo with Dayne and Anthony, as well as others on Saturday night. A friend of ours, Gregg, had made get together plans to go to Tokyo, however it was sort of disjointed as we all had to meet somewhere and all came somewhat separately. The plan was to meet in Shibuya and start with drinks and food around 7:30. This proved to be a problem for some (including me). I work until at least 8PM on Saturday so by the time I hopped on a train to Tokyo I'd be getting there around 11PM or so. Well Anthony and Dayne didn't want to go early as money was an issue, so the later we go, the more money we save, because Tokyo is a pricey city.
So I meet them at the station around 9PM, and we were on our way. Arriving in Shibuya around 11:15 or so, we wait for Gregg & co. to show up. Once we finally meet up, the plan was to take a short train ride to Nishi Azuba to where Muse (the club we were going to) was. Well, for some apparent and unknown reason, we all took a taxi over there...or should I say a few taxis. The first stop was actually the Ice Bar, which is a bar...made of ice. Sounded alright, and Gregg had made reservations, but the kicker here is that for only 45 minutes, it was around $35 per person. Quite pricey if you ask me. Upon entering you are given some spacey looking silver cape/parka to wear. So the entire place has a strange atmosphere, that is actually quite neat.
The whole group
Mingling for a few minutes
View of the actual "ice bar"
It was a chilly -5 degrees C in there (which is about 23 degrees F) so people were getting cold, very fast. Needless to say we didn't stay the entire 45 minutes.
After leaving, we walked to our next and final destination: Muse. Muse is a nice club, but quite pricey. The cover charge to get in was about $20 and that only came with one drink, the rest are around $12 each. Yeah. On top of it all, it was quite crowded:
We stayed there until about 5AM (when the club closes, but we had heard Gregg had gotten kicked out anyway). After that, Anthony, Dayne, and I went with two others to the nearest train station to head back to Utsunomiya. While on the subway to Ueno station we played the game "20 Questions" and ended up missing our stop in Ueno, so we hopped on the subway AGAIN at the next station to go back. Once in Ueno we got our tickets back to Utsunomiya. At this point, I had been up 22 hours straight and was pretty tired. Once we got back to Utsunomiya station, we all parted ways to get some much needed rest.
I exit the station to get on the bus back to where my bike was parked. Except in my deliriously tired state I got on the wrong bus and it took me to the east side of the station. As a result I had to walk twice as far back to my bike instead of riding the bus like I had originally planned. But I did find a tanning place I'd heard about before on my detour:
Only in Japan it seems. Even being up for 24 hours at that point I had a nice chuckle. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was out cold and slept until around 3PM...it was a nice slow day from then on.
Today I decided to clean and re-arrange my apartment. It needed both very bad. And since it's getting close to Christmas time I decided to be like all the department stores in the area and set up my little tree...it's puny but it livens up my mostly bare apartment at the moment...later I'll get more decorations.
Now it's on to buying Christmas presents for those back home and here...good thing Japan is the world capital for novelty things.
Now, imagine a bar, made entirely of ice. That's where I was Saturday night.
After a long week of work, I was ready for a good, long rest. This did not take place until much later, as I had already made plans to go partying in Tokyo with Dayne and Anthony, as well as others on Saturday night. A friend of ours, Gregg, had made get together plans to go to Tokyo, however it was sort of disjointed as we all had to meet somewhere and all came somewhat separately. The plan was to meet in Shibuya and start with drinks and food around 7:30. This proved to be a problem for some (including me). I work until at least 8PM on Saturday so by the time I hopped on a train to Tokyo I'd be getting there around 11PM or so. Well Anthony and Dayne didn't want to go early as money was an issue, so the later we go, the more money we save, because Tokyo is a pricey city.
So I meet them at the station around 9PM, and we were on our way. Arriving in Shibuya around 11:15 or so, we wait for Gregg & co. to show up. Once we finally meet up, the plan was to take a short train ride to Nishi Azuba to where Muse (the club we were going to) was. Well, for some apparent and unknown reason, we all took a taxi over there...or should I say a few taxis. The first stop was actually the Ice Bar, which is a bar...made of ice. Sounded alright, and Gregg had made reservations, but the kicker here is that for only 45 minutes, it was around $35 per person. Quite pricey if you ask me. Upon entering you are given some spacey looking silver cape/parka to wear. So the entire place has a strange atmosphere, that is actually quite neat.
The whole group
Mingling for a few minutes
View of the actual "ice bar"
It was a chilly -5 degrees C in there (which is about 23 degrees F) so people were getting cold, very fast. Needless to say we didn't stay the entire 45 minutes.
After leaving, we walked to our next and final destination: Muse. Muse is a nice club, but quite pricey. The cover charge to get in was about $20 and that only came with one drink, the rest are around $12 each. Yeah. On top of it all, it was quite crowded:
We stayed there until about 5AM (when the club closes, but we had heard Gregg had gotten kicked out anyway). After that, Anthony, Dayne, and I went with two others to the nearest train station to head back to Utsunomiya. While on the subway to Ueno station we played the game "20 Questions" and ended up missing our stop in Ueno, so we hopped on the subway AGAIN at the next station to go back. Once in Ueno we got our tickets back to Utsunomiya. At this point, I had been up 22 hours straight and was pretty tired. Once we got back to Utsunomiya station, we all parted ways to get some much needed rest.
I exit the station to get on the bus back to where my bike was parked. Except in my deliriously tired state I got on the wrong bus and it took me to the east side of the station. As a result I had to walk twice as far back to my bike instead of riding the bus like I had originally planned. But I did find a tanning place I'd heard about before on my detour:
Only in Japan it seems. Even being up for 24 hours at that point I had a nice chuckle. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was out cold and slept until around 3PM...it was a nice slow day from then on.
Today I decided to clean and re-arrange my apartment. It needed both very bad. And since it's getting close to Christmas time I decided to be like all the department stores in the area and set up my little tree...it's puny but it livens up my mostly bare apartment at the moment...later I'll get more decorations.
Now it's on to buying Christmas presents for those back home and here...good thing Japan is the world capital for novelty things.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Oh my, and update!
Yes, now a LOT has happened since my last post. I'll start with the day after and move on to the other exciting things. Since this blog covers a LOT of information, and there are too many pictures to post...I'll just put the link to my flickr at the bottom to save time.
The day after I dropped my camera, I got a new one. Jung, a student at AEON, felt bad for what happened and I met him around noon. He's from Korea originally, so he took me to a Korean place to eat. If you haven't ever tried Korean food, it's REALLY spicy. But I love spicy food so I enjoyed it a lot.
After an awesome meal, we go shopping for my new camera. After hours of comparing at different shops I buy a new one that's much better than my old one, and it cost about half as much...so all in all it was worth it really.
We then travel to the prefecture government building to test the camera out. You can see all of the city from the top. Later, we met Kaori and Nishii (Takayuki) and went to the Korean place again and then played darts and pool.
The next day, I had to go back to Omiya for follow-up training. It was nice seeing everyone again and during lunch I had a great chicken steak. Not much else happened that day, but it was long.
Fast forward through the week until this past Saturday night. I got off of work and then met Kaori (one of the Japanese teachers at our school by the way) at 7/11 and we rode over to Jung's house for...wait for it....more Korean food. He cooked us dinner. Stacy and Josh were there, as well as Stacy's husband Motoki, as well as others. We had a nice dinner and then watched a bit of Kung Fu Panda....pretty decent movie.
Then today, I made a return to Tokyo, only this time it wasn't for business reasons. Another AEON student found out I was interested in history and we visited the Emperor's Palace, the Edo Tokyo Museum, and then went to Asakusa.
The Emperor's palace was nice, not much really to explain here so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (link at the end).
The Edo museum was great. I love history and Japan, so to see how Japan was during its most famous period was a real treat. Again the pictures will explain a lot. I did however have a near mishap when it came to my bag. We had stopped in Ginza I believe to eat lunch (curry & rice, which seems to be a staple of my diet lately) and I left my bag and my camera case there (NOTE: My camera was safely on my person). I only realized it when we were on the subway to the museum. So we go back and luckily it was still there.
Anyway, back to the museum, once we finished the Edo exhibit, it went on to show parts of the Meiji period (in which Japan opened up to the rest of the world and became strikingly similar in clothing and architecture to Victorian England) and then the effects of the Second World War on Japan (which by the way was completely objective in its story telling).
Once we were done there, we headed to Asakusa by taxi. We bought our train tickets back to Utsunomiya, but had an hour to kill so we visited the giant shrine there. This was my first time to Asakusa so it was a real treat as well. The shrine was HUGE and the place was crowded...but I loved this area of Tokyo, very nice, and definitely worth another trip to.
Finally, after a LONG train ride back...well two in fact, I made it back home, now ready to start what could be my busiest week at AEON (self-study counseling week). But I think I'm going back to Tokyo next Saturday night with some friends, so I'm hoping to have some more fun then as well.
All in all...being busy and having fun, AND I have a shiny, new camera.
Pictures as promised!
The day after I dropped my camera, I got a new one. Jung, a student at AEON, felt bad for what happened and I met him around noon. He's from Korea originally, so he took me to a Korean place to eat. If you haven't ever tried Korean food, it's REALLY spicy. But I love spicy food so I enjoyed it a lot.
After an awesome meal, we go shopping for my new camera. After hours of comparing at different shops I buy a new one that's much better than my old one, and it cost about half as much...so all in all it was worth it really.
We then travel to the prefecture government building to test the camera out. You can see all of the city from the top. Later, we met Kaori and Nishii (Takayuki) and went to the Korean place again and then played darts and pool.
The next day, I had to go back to Omiya for follow-up training. It was nice seeing everyone again and during lunch I had a great chicken steak. Not much else happened that day, but it was long.
Fast forward through the week until this past Saturday night. I got off of work and then met Kaori (one of the Japanese teachers at our school by the way) at 7/11 and we rode over to Jung's house for...wait for it....more Korean food. He cooked us dinner. Stacy and Josh were there, as well as Stacy's husband Motoki, as well as others. We had a nice dinner and then watched a bit of Kung Fu Panda....pretty decent movie.
Then today, I made a return to Tokyo, only this time it wasn't for business reasons. Another AEON student found out I was interested in history and we visited the Emperor's Palace, the Edo Tokyo Museum, and then went to Asakusa.
The Emperor's palace was nice, not much really to explain here so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (link at the end).
The Edo museum was great. I love history and Japan, so to see how Japan was during its most famous period was a real treat. Again the pictures will explain a lot. I did however have a near mishap when it came to my bag. We had stopped in Ginza I believe to eat lunch (curry & rice, which seems to be a staple of my diet lately) and I left my bag and my camera case there (NOTE: My camera was safely on my person). I only realized it when we were on the subway to the museum. So we go back and luckily it was still there.
Anyway, back to the museum, once we finished the Edo exhibit, it went on to show parts of the Meiji period (in which Japan opened up to the rest of the world and became strikingly similar in clothing and architecture to Victorian England) and then the effects of the Second World War on Japan (which by the way was completely objective in its story telling).
Once we were done there, we headed to Asakusa by taxi. We bought our train tickets back to Utsunomiya, but had an hour to kill so we visited the giant shrine there. This was my first time to Asakusa so it was a real treat as well. The shrine was HUGE and the place was crowded...but I loved this area of Tokyo, very nice, and definitely worth another trip to.
Finally, after a LONG train ride back...well two in fact, I made it back home, now ready to start what could be my busiest week at AEON (self-study counseling week). But I think I'm going back to Tokyo next Saturday night with some friends, so I'm hoping to have some more fun then as well.
All in all...being busy and having fun, AND I have a shiny, new camera.
Pictures as promised!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
No New Pictures for a While...
So tonight was our Halloween party at AEON. And well, during the excitement, I was trying to take a picture and someone accidentally bumped into me. The result was my camera falling out of my hands and hitting the ground lens first (it was on so the lens was out about 3cm or so) also resulting in my lens not being able to retract anymore.
What's this mean? It means that my camera, the replacement for my lost one some 2 years ago, is now broken. Since it's a Nikon, I may be able to get it repaired by the HQ in Yokohama if I send it over...but I dunno. If all else fails I will either pay for the repairs or just buy a new and better camera here.
This is twice I've had horrible luck with my digital camera. I lost my first one in a restaurant in LA about 2 years ago, so I bought another one....and now this.
It's all material I understand, and I'm really not all that pissed about it, but what upsets me is it may be a while before I can get to take any pictures of anything...so until then I'll have to rely on others for pictures.
As a side note, the Halloween party/Josh's welcome party was quite fun and I'm sure you'll see pictures OTHERS took when I get them, so don't worry.
Monday is followup training in Omiya again, it's my day off, but I get paid over time and I get to see people I haven't been able to see much since training, so that'll be nice. And then next weekend I'm off to Tokyo with one of my students, should be fun.
So just a heads up, if pictures come late, it's due to a malfunctioning lens...so until then sorry, no visual updates :(
What's this mean? It means that my camera, the replacement for my lost one some 2 years ago, is now broken. Since it's a Nikon, I may be able to get it repaired by the HQ in Yokohama if I send it over...but I dunno. If all else fails I will either pay for the repairs or just buy a new and better camera here.
This is twice I've had horrible luck with my digital camera. I lost my first one in a restaurant in LA about 2 years ago, so I bought another one....and now this.
It's all material I understand, and I'm really not all that pissed about it, but what upsets me is it may be a while before I can get to take any pictures of anything...so until then I'll have to rely on others for pictures.
As a side note, the Halloween party/Josh's welcome party was quite fun and I'm sure you'll see pictures OTHERS took when I get them, so don't worry.
Monday is followup training in Omiya again, it's my day off, but I get paid over time and I get to see people I haven't been able to see much since training, so that'll be nice. And then next weekend I'm off to Tokyo with one of my students, should be fun.
So just a heads up, if pictures come late, it's due to a malfunctioning lens...so until then sorry, no visual updates :(
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Update
To sum up my life right now would be put into one word: BUSY!
But, nothing really significant has happened to report on other than a few things. This past Sunday, a few of us were invited to one of our student's homes for an afternoon lunch. I was amazed at their home & garden, it was absolutely stunning! Their garden has a pond full of carp and waterfalls, as well as many trees and flowers.
And the home was amazingly beautiful, traditional Japanese style, very very hospitable. The "lunch" lasted about 5-6 hours or so, but that is normal. Her husband even had his own wine, which we were offered.
Coming up this Saturday is our Halloween party, I have my costume picked out, but it's rather uncomfortable...I guess you'll see why when pictures come but it's definitely not something I could wear all day...ugh. But it makes me laugh every time I wear it so that's a plus.
This Sunday, I may be going to Nikko with Josh, but it's also the prime weekend for the leaves to change color, so unless we go early enough, there will be too many people traveling from Tokyo to see them as well for it to be enjoyable. Also, on Monday I have to head back to Omiya for followup training, which is on my day off....so that should be fun as well.
Next weekend however, I have an opportunity to go back to Tokyo, but this time it's for my own enjoyment. One of our students invited me and Josh to go to the Tokyo Edo Museum, and I'm really looking forward to going.
So a whole lot of busy, and hopefully more updates soon. This was a quick update only because there really hasn't been that much important stuff to talk about since last time, but hopefully that will change in the coming weeks.
But, nothing really significant has happened to report on other than a few things. This past Sunday, a few of us were invited to one of our student's homes for an afternoon lunch. I was amazed at their home & garden, it was absolutely stunning! Their garden has a pond full of carp and waterfalls, as well as many trees and flowers.
And the home was amazingly beautiful, traditional Japanese style, very very hospitable. The "lunch" lasted about 5-6 hours or so, but that is normal. Her husband even had his own wine, which we were offered.
Coming up this Saturday is our Halloween party, I have my costume picked out, but it's rather uncomfortable...I guess you'll see why when pictures come but it's definitely not something I could wear all day...ugh. But it makes me laugh every time I wear it so that's a plus.
This Sunday, I may be going to Nikko with Josh, but it's also the prime weekend for the leaves to change color, so unless we go early enough, there will be too many people traveling from Tokyo to see them as well for it to be enjoyable. Also, on Monday I have to head back to Omiya for followup training, which is on my day off....so that should be fun as well.
Next weekend however, I have an opportunity to go back to Tokyo, but this time it's for my own enjoyment. One of our students invited me and Josh to go to the Tokyo Edo Museum, and I'm really looking forward to going.
So a whole lot of busy, and hopefully more updates soon. This was a quick update only because there really hasn't been that much important stuff to talk about since last time, but hopefully that will change in the coming weeks.
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