Nesting

     Ahhh...clad in boxers, sipping some Nest Beer - the Amber Ale - as I sit on the floor and post!  The main room is not entirely bereft of tangibile homeliness, though.  Besides the square coffee table that came with the place, I know have a set of three plastic drawers!  I purchased them at the Hard Off store - where things are "Off House!"  It is a second-hand store just around the corner - its better quality than anything I've seen at home though, with locked cases for high-end things and anti-theft devices for others.  I also got some file holders there...such a cozy place I have.  Hard Off didn't have a chair or desk that spoke to me, but I did get a love seat/fold out futon piece that's coming on Wednesday - come visit!!!!!!

     Though I don't have furniture, I do have a house plant and plenty of kitchen items now - including a bottle opener to prevent one from cutting their hand banging beer bottles open and spilling its precious contents.

     Work-wise, I've been finding my groove at the school, getting to know students and coworkers.  I've never been good with names - and my expertise in predominantly Judeo-Christian names doesn't help the process - but I'm getting there.  The students: there are older women and younger men; business men, mothers, managers, miners, whiskey drinkers, baseball lovers, world travelers, local musicians, ultra-marathon runners, surfers, and still more to meet.  The kids I have yet to teach, as I merely observed Marks' bittersweet goodbye's during his final week.  Soon though!

     Work feels comfortable, though quite different too.  As native speaking teachers, English is a must at school and exposure to our Western culture is a part of learning.  Japanese is spoken by other staff members or Japanese teachers to students, though, and students/kids talk with each other - of course - as scheduling and conversation also must occur.  Basically, the school is this outpost of English/Western culture imbedded within a Japanese community - for instance, I shake hands there, but bow everywhere else - though its hard to remember that sometimes.

     I have yet to concert a regular effort towards learning Japanese, but I did get a list of phone numbers of teachers/schools from the government office (in Japanese, of course...).  I've picked up bits and pieces during my required trips to places - like when I registered for national health insurance (Kokumin Kenkou Hoken), needed a home delivery (itsu takuhai?), or needed to find a particular lightbulb (kore arimasuka?).  I have some apps on the ol' iPhone now, and plan to call around this week - since I'll have a couch to do it from.

     On a day off last week, I took the train to Mito City to explore.  It was 12 degrees Celsius (forget Fahrenheit, C is how I roll now), sunny, and Senba Lake was beautiful, despite the naked trees.  Both black and white swans, familiar and foreign ducks waddled and swam near the path.  I didn't walk the full 3k around, but took the footpath to Kairaku-en Park.  The plum and cherry trees were also mostly bare, though in a month or so this one of the "Three Great Gardens" of Japan will be majestic - probably packed too.  The cedar wood forest and bamboo forest were incredible though...

     Entrance to the Cedar Forest...

  

His eyes are red too...another one hissed at me...scared yet?

The Bamboo forest...two hands would get around the trunk.

     With a bit of distance already covered after traversing the park, I decided to walk back home rather than succumb to sweeping my Suica Card at the station - the iPhone helped me decide ;-)  I stumbled upon what was either a museum or a conference center (or both), wandered through a small private college - Tokiwa University - and met many elementary school kiddos in full public-school uniform topped with their yellow hats; many were fascinated by a foreigner and offering me hellos, konichiwas, and some even offering shocked faces and whispers.

     I found myself walking down the main road I live off of, so I ducked into a few stores, corrected some clerks in assuming I was an exchange student, and found my houseplant.  The best part is being able to use the iPhone to Skype a call to the States from pretty much anywhere with a decent mobile network available, which is what I did at a Matsuya I came across - a vending machine/ticket chain place!  Here's the main walk mapped out, which resulted in a 1.5 hour nap - Jon Raab, you're right, walking is tough.

     Today I ventured to Oarai, a beach town via a 20 minute train from Mito.  It was literally one train car that sounded like a diesel engine with a bad cold...and whining about it.  One simply boards the train and pays cash on arrival, not being able to use the computer Suica Card.  The scenery quickly changed to farmland during the trip, with train stations literally in the middle of nowhere (picture an elevated track between cornfields).  All of the sudden we were at Oarai Station, which almost looked like a small office building were it not for the station name plastered on the side - salt was in the air.

Below: Stopping at a train station in...I believe Tom Cruise called it "Bumblefuck"

Below: We're here!  Wait, where?

     After fifteen minutes and a few turns down residential streets, I found myself at a newish looking outdoor mall, packed with surf shops - both chains and local - souvenir stores, and a ferry port next to it (which apparently goes to Hokkaido) all overlooking the Pacific.  I bought a sweatshirt on sale that says "Happy Mon" on it - just as Chinese/Japanese Kanji symbols can be cool in the States, random English can be cool here.  The best shirt read, "A cold does not coming from the cold itself, but a cold is because of the virus!"  I think they were getting at the virus of surfing a gnarly wave, and the cold isn't a bad thing in this case, its...huh?

     On the beach it hit me - I'm standing on the edge of an island nation 9000 miles from home, yet staring right at it; it smells like the beaches I know, looks like the saltwater I've seen, and shells are shells, but its all another world away.

     The Marine Tower offered a 60m view of the surrounding area - nice rolling hills and cliffs on the coast, reminiscent of CA.  From the beach I counted 30 something surfers waiting for waves, donned in full wetsuits.  Two school girls played duets with a trombone and trumpet on the jetty as I milled about the end enjoying the scenery, scavenging for shells and sand dollars, wondering how I'd manage getting a surfboard there from my apartment, let alone storing it; Hard Off has loads of used boards.

     I close with a great shot of some Engrish at a bakery in a nearby train station on the way to some of the best Indian food of my life.  I also close with a promise to upload my loads of pics to an album so one can view much more through mine eyes, since I really only hit the highlights... soon!

     Anyway, perhaps I can advertise myself to stores like this, providing an English correcting service...although, would I have taken a picture were it written correctly?  Despite the grammar, I really do smell the swelled artistan spirit's brown bread after reading it - do you?