The Aichi Expo 2005

WARNING: If you haven't been to the Aichi Expo or would prefer not to know what are inside the pavilions or anything that goes on in there… please skip this entry. Oh and the entry might be a bit too long for some…

On Sunday morning, I boarded the airplane from the Kagoshima Airport and therefore escaped from the crazy typhoon #14 (there will be another entry for the typhoon). After I landed in Chubu International Airport (Centrair), I was overwhelmed by how hot it was. It wasn't much of the sunny and sweaty hot in Kag, but those really irritating humid, wet kind of hot.

Maybe it's because of the sudden increase of people flooding into the city for the expo, the garbage on the streets increased as well. Last time I came it was at least clean, but this time… ah…

Then I met up with Aki and Tanicchi for supper, had some nice yakitori and great agedashi tofu (it tasted almost like cheese!). We decided to get up early in the morning and meet again at the bus centre at 7:45 to board the shuttle bus to the Expo. The ticket was 1500 yen for roundtrip, about 200 yen more than the price for taking Rinimo shuttle train. (But, we were glad to have taken the shuttle bus because we were all able to sit, whereas if you take the train, there's a possibility that you would have to stand or rather squeeze with other people for 35 minutes or so.)

Next morning, Nami and I were so excited to see each other we chatted on the bus the whole time, but Aki and Tanicchi decided to catch some sleep (after they were late for the meeting time, and they blamed it on the typhoon…)
(LEFT: Nami and I posing in front of the Korean pavilion which was one of the most popular pavilions in the Expo. Becauese the Han-ryu Boom [Korean Craze] that's going on, many people in Japan are suddenly very much interested in Korea.

After we got off the bus, there were people herding us to the entrance… It was only 8:30 am, and we were already lining up to get in. It was at that point, Aki said that we'd better give up any hope for getting in the Toyota group, because there's no way we would be able to get in with this number of crowd. And sure enough, when we got in, there was already a long line of about 100 people lining up to get the ticket for reservation of Toyota group.

We first lined up to see the Orange Hall + Mammoth Lab. I already made reservation for it, but then Nami and Aki wanted to see it too, so we all went anyway. Before we got into the Orange Hall, they gave us this card with small pokey edge that has a hold for listening and we were to get the magnetic strip side facing all the red bars on the ceiling so we can hear explanation about each exhibit. The Orange Hall also had a high definition show of many beautiful places in Japan. Kyoto and Mt. Fuji were of course expected, but then suddenly I saw a rocket launch scene… hmmm it can't be?! And sure enough, it was our Kagoshima's Tanegashima Space Centre!! I was surprised that Yakushima was not on there, but oh well. After that we lined up to see all the interesting knickknacks that were collected from the Moon (the moon rock brought back by Apollo 17), and some technology used to navigate on the Moon. When we walked by the real size model of Mammoth, the lady there held up a sign for those people's ticket number ended with 06 or 80 can get a free photo postcard with the Mammoth. It turned out that Aki's ticket number ended with 80 so all four of us stood in front of the Mammoth as the lady who took our picture said:"Manmosu (Mammath in Japanese)" and we said:"Daisuki" ("We love it"). Aki promised to scan the photo and send it to us… We'll see how long it would take~ hee hee.
(LEFT: A musical performance in the Mongolian Pavilion. The big cello kinda like instrument is called "Matochin 馬頭琴" and we actually have a small one in our Museum in Kanoya! It was nice to watch it live. There was also a video montage of Mongolian Fashion show. Really cool stuff.)

Although we all gave up on the corporate pavilions, I did manage to make reservation for the Mitsui-Toshiba pavilion so Tanicchi and I went there when Nami and Aki went to line up for the Korean Pavilion (which was quite nice too I heard). The Mitsui-Toshiba was like a "futuristic casting system" where they take CG pictures of all of us and then put our faces on the characters, hence the futuristic casting. There were so many rules on how to put your face correctly so you can be photographed, and also to make sure there's no hair or glasses… I couldn't get my bangs out of the way, but then there's nothing I could do. Then we watched this short movie completely done by CG. The story line is basically how a crew living on this new planet found a sound echoing in the galaxy (which was the sound of ocean) but couldn't figure out what it was. Then they decided to go back and look for the source of the sound. And then encounter this mysterious girl who… (I had no idea what was going on because we were too busy looking for oursevles on screen.) Anyways, so there's the film with our group's people's faces on the characters!! It took me awhile to figure out where I was, but then I was surprised that I didn't realize it sooner! I was the girl who stands next to the Captain of the crew. And I had a nice sexy voice J hee hee But too bad we couldn't figure out where Tanicchi was. Either he didn't photograph well or we just completely missed him. The funny part about it was that a little boy (about 5 years old) had a sticker on his face. It was not a teeny tiny sticker, but a HUGE square one. So as his face appeared on the screen, everyone laughed while he was like:"あれ？あれ？" ("huh??") wondering why he was on the screen. And his character actually was quite big in the film too…lots of speaking. Hee hee it was hilarious.

The rest of the time we spent mostly going to the global pavilion. The Asia one was mostly comprised of souvenir booths. We went to the Yemen pavilion ONLY because Aki saw the TV program introducing Aichi Expo and that the Yemen people are "great" sales people. They would just put bracelets, rings and other things on your hands, and when you said you are not interested, they would just keep putting on more as you take the others off. Eventually, some people couldn't escape and ended up buying some things they might regret when they get home. Nami and I went in and started walking around, then this guy extended his hands holding this shiny bracelets and motioned to put it on my wrist. I quickly put my hands behind my back and shook my head. He kept saying:"Kawaii, Kawaii" ("cute" in Japanese) to Nami and I, but we just shook our head and said thank you then walked away.

To show my Canadian Pride, we also went to the Canadian Pavilion and checked it out. It was actually a lot better than what I expected. Heather had told me that it was kinda abstract and some people might not appreciate it. But I thought it was quite fitting for Canada. We lined up for about 30 minutes and then got in to stand in front of this wall of mesh. Then the show began with music and rainfalls, basically sound of nature. With visuals of northern lights, the Rockies, and the Niagara. After that we moved a bit to the other side and then watched another big screen introducing 6 ordinary Canadians (they said ordinary people, but I know better…) from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) and their daily lives. One thing that's interesting to me was that the Charlottetown person was the lady who plays Anne in the "Anne of the Green Gable" musical play in PEI. Hee hee very Canadian indeed! After the show, we went into the other room full of computers with further info for the 6 cities and the 6 people. Then there were lots of postcards of Canadian nature for people to take. (yes, free!) I couldn't find my friend Teanna who was probably not working on that day. And I heard the rumor that if you told them you're Canadian, you can get a pin too… well, I did mention that I'm from Vancouver, but then there's no pin giving out… :p

Most of the popular pavilions were all full of people lining up. Nami (who had been to Germany 4 times and studied German) really wanted to get in the Germany one, but the waiting time was like 2 and a half hours just to get in. Too bad it was Theresa's day off, otherwise we would've gotten in with "connection" and enjoyed one of the few rides available in the Expo. We went to the Ireland one, which was quite nice too. Photos of Irish greens and the lambs… Also the Celtic crosses were there for people to take photos with. Then we lined up to see this short film introducing Ireland and the natural habitat…etc. We waited for about 25 minutes, but it was well worth it. I don't mean that the film was interesting (well, not bad), but the sitting was REALLY relaxing especially after walking all day long. It was like a couch, but then reclining so you can see the film projected onto the ceiling, and the speaker was right next to your ears (but Nami used her speaker as a pillow). The position was so nice and relaxing and soothing celtic music was playing in the background with the narration. We were too relaxed to hear what the narrator was talking about. Aki fell asleep (couldn't blame him) and woke up with a jolt for some reason, hence woke up Tanicchi who was also sleeping next to him.

We also went to the UK pavilion and it was quite interest as they have many biotechnology on how to observe nature and how to preserve the nature and all that stuff. They have hands-on things for you to play. Like a virtual book that you can just put your hand on the virtual page and do a page turning motion, the page will follow your hand and move on to the next page. (like the photo on the right!) The souvenir shops sold some tea and biscuits and stuff… but then they were mostly made in Japan (actually I think they were ALL made in Japan so what's the point of buying them there in the pavilion, right?)

Yeah the food… Since there was no outside food allowed in the Expo, we all had to buy lunch and supper inside. We had chicken curry with nan at the Indian Pavilion and supped at the main food court. I bought bibimba in the Korean booth… and it was only okay. The egg was very well done and there was no meat whatsoever. Hmmm… should've gotten bulgogi, at least it would've been hot.

We also went to the Italian one which exhibits some artworks and also the Italian brands... (most Japanese OL can relate to, easily) There was also this statue that was only on exhibit in this expo before it would go into storage or some repair or touchup or whatever... and then we walked in this room smelled REALLY nice... while we were walking, there was this little girl who stretched out her hands to touch this car shell... and her father jokingly said:"Miss, please refrain from eating the exhibit." And that's when I realized, "OMG! This car shell is made of CHOCOLATE!!!" No wonder it smelled so good!! hee hee leave it to the Italians to make an autobody into gourment~

Overall, it was a great experience, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more if I hadn't gone with my old friends from Shizuoka University, Aki, Tanicchi and Nami. They were awesome and we pretty much just had fun ourselves. The rain was never a problem, except when there were a couple of times I was very close to being poked in the eyes :p) Good time, man, Good time...

Well, isn't this ironic...

Okay okay, I know that Alanis Morisette had the meaning of "ironic" all wrong in her song, but I just think this is kinda the same thing she was getting at in her lyrics..

As I'm preparing to go the Aichi Expo (FINALLY!), guess what I see when I was watching TV news weather forecast? A TYPHOON!! great.. so it's gonna rain all day, plus a slight chance that my flight might even be cancelled because of the storm. FANTASTIC...

Well, I don't really have a choice, just gonna go to the airport tomorrow and see how it goes. Oh and I wrote 40 postcards (by hand...) to register for the Satsuki to Mei no Ie house that was in Totoro movie... no reply, so I guess I didn't get it. I probably used up all my luck when I got the tickets to see the DCT concert... oi..

Last night a bunch of us Kanoya JETs and some other friends from Miyazaki, juku teachers... we got together at Weiss and had a few drinks. It was good time~ I like that bar, such a nice little place with great music videos playing in the background and some blacklights to make your shirts and drinks glow.

These days I've been cutting comic strip clippings and getting them off internet... thinking of making a English conversation class with some comic strips. They're nice and short. Mostly they don't use big words, so pretty much like daily conversation type of English.

Oh yeah, the other day I got told that a lady complained that a girl picked up the phone and didn't reply "Otsukaresama desu, Osewa ni narimasu." blah things they always say when they call... okay, so there's not many female around and the only person who would do that is just me... Well I was told that I should answer it no matter what. But in my defense, they were talking so freaking quickly, the best I could do is to listen intently of who they wanna talk to and then just transfer the call. heck, if I say that WHILE they were saying the name of the person they wanna talk to, how would I know whom to transfer the call to??!! Anyways... after that I'm just gonna say it no matter what... just to prove that I can do it... although it's just stupid... if I've never talked to them, how do they "osewa ni naru" me??

Well that concludeds today's rant... tomorrow morning I'm off to Nagoya, to meet up with Tanicchi, Aki and Nami. We're going to see the EXPO!!!!!

oh... gotta pack my umbrella too...

Surprises everyday

Just when you think the JET community is quiet... Nick in Amami's lost and found episode when he was rescued from the beach (after being sucked into the ocean while surfing), by not one, not two, but dozens of people in rescue team and several helicopters became quite famous as soon as it broke out. Everybody was wondering if I knew this ALT...

The good news is that he is safe and apparently felt so comfortable on the beach that he actually told the rescue people to come get him later cuz he wanted to enjoy the sunrise... pretty cool, eh? But I heard that he has to pay for 3,000,000 yen for reparation because of all the work put into searching for him... I never heard that people would actually have to pay for the search operation if they are responsible for the incident... hmmm... I wonder if it's the same in Canada.

Anyways... speaking of surprises, last week I sent a mail to Rina and asked if she wants to come see the Kinko Bay fireworks with me Nanette and Joe... Then she replied and said:"hey you know what, I am in the hospital right now because I just had an appendicitis operation, and have to stay in the hospital for 10 days. So I can't make it." I just about fell off the chair after reading the above message. APPENDICITIS?? I don't even think people can get those anymore?! not since my cousin drank too much pop and had to be rushed to hospital when I was 14...

Then I asked Rina what she would like when I go visit her in the hospital, she wrote:"wet tissue"... hmmm... interesting request. Well on wednesday, I took the afternoon off and got wet tissue at the Midori Drugstore, got some cakes in the cake bakery downstairs, and went to visit her. Since my bike was still parked at the bus centre ever since I went to Taiwan, I had to walk there. Took me awhile to find her room because the hospital had 2 buildings and the rooms are marked most confusingly. Eventually I found her room and gave her the cakes, the wet tissue, and the notebook I got in Taipei 101 as a souvenir for her.

After we talked for awhile, I talked about my birthday flight and incidentally asked her when her birthday was. She smiled and said:"It's today." At first I thought she was joking, but then after a few times of confirming and reconfirming, she assured me that it's today... Poor girl, it was her birthday and she had stay in the hospital... Thank goodness that I brought cake! Rina, we gotta go for a drink when you get out of the hospital... probably not anytime soon though, eh?

Went to a daycare visit today and the kid Ren-kun was driving me nuts again... I don't know why some kids just behave so badly so they can get your attention. Wouldn't it be better for me to notice you if you're listening intently and enjoying the game, rather than rolling around the floor and tried to pulled my shirt then stretch it to a lenght that I can wear it as a dress?? Goodness...

Have been really addicted to "Veronica Mars" and now anxiously waiting for the new season to start. Now moving onto "Arrested Development," and glad to say that it's another great show too.

Ah... TV...

Back in Kanoya... facing the reality...

Well, I know that I had a looooong vacation... and I should be happy that I even got to take times off to see my family (compare to alot of people in my office..) But, 10 days is JUST NOT ENOUGH!! Especially when you know that your family are still touring in Tokyo, having fun without you... :(

Anyways... I'm back to Kanoya, immediately resuming the regular work schedule, eikaiwa classes, meetings, unexpected nonkatas... It's all good.

I'm working on getting my pictures uploaded to either this blog or another space so we can all share what Taiwan is like~ So stay tuned!

(BTW, I think I ate really REALLY too much and it's not even funny anymore. I need to do some serious working out...)

I'm off to Taiwan~

Okay, folks... sorry that it's such a short notice, but from tomorrow I'll be taking around a week off from work and go to Taiwan... after being away for 10 years! whohoo~~

So, if you see any irregular activities (which would be blog entries...), don't worry~ but still leave comments all you want.

alright, I gotta go to bed, got an early morning tomorrow!

I've been tagged!

I got tagged by Jenn... so thought I shouldn't be rude and just write it out for fun... (ah who am I kidding, I LOVE this stuff!!) Okay, so here goes~

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm let's see 10 years ago this time... I was getting ready to go to Canada with my dad and two lil sisters. We packed carefully (or rather, my mom packed carefully for all of us) and we were getting ready for our departure... right after my entrance exam for high school in Taiwan. Now that I think of it, if I studied really hard and didn't get addicted to comics and novels, I would've probably gotten into a decent high school... ah well :p I went to Canada anyways.

What was I doing 5 years ago?
Okay... I think that's about the time that pretty much determined what I am right now. That year, earlier in Spring I had won the Japanese speech contest in intermediate category...and then went to Ottawa for the first time and got invited into the Japanese Embassy to do the speech and compete in the National Speech Contest. Then in Summer... something amazing happened to me... I got a free trip to come to Japan, all expenses paid, AND they give us allowances so we could go out and eat and shop and...etc. I wrote an exam in the Edmonton Japanese consulate, and ended up being the person chosen to join 67 other students learning Japanese around the world and come to Japan as their fancy gaijin guests in Kansai Kokusai Koryu Centre. We went to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo~ That's when I actually realized that I want to keep learning Japanese and eventually work here.... hence here I am!

What was I doing 1 year ago?
Exactly 1 year ago? Hmmm... I had just arrived in Kanoya, and everyday seemed so boring with the office time but without anything to do. I hung out with the other new ALTs, Daniela, Jeni, Dan in Kihoku, Joe, and Heather. Those good old days we had fun... OOOh I think it's around this same time a year ago, we went to climb Mt.Kaimon... well, Team Canada didn't make it (that's me and Heather), Team UK and Team America made it to the top. (although Dan in Team UK argued that the water in Daniela's water bottle was a bit suspicious, that it had a little something extra in it...) :p hee hee

What was I doing yesterday?
I spent the morning chatting with Chris (the new ALT from London) and changed his keitai e-mail address into something comprehensible, then took the afternoon off so I could go the Yamada denki to get my beloved DVD player back (yes they fixed it and without any charge because of the warranty!! hee hee nothing to do with the lightning!), got photos developed for my grandpa, went to Uniqlo to buy presents for my grandparents...etc. Watched "In America" to prepare the Film Night event I'll have tonight... I had to watch it first in Japanese subtitle to see how the story is distored through the horrible translations...(actually not too bad, just not as good as the English lines..) Then last night I went to DUSK eikaiwa class and was pleasantly surprised that Chihiro became REALLY good! She managed to tell us a long story about why she wants another person to take her clothes to the dry cleaner.. all in English!! Very impressive!

What am I doing today?
Hmmm right now I'm just killing time until I can take the afternoon off... I gotta run some other errands (shopping for necessities...), and then the Kuroneko people will come pick up my luggage so they can send it to the Fukuoka Airport. yep, getting ready for myjourney back to Taiwan!!!! I'm so excited! Oh and then tonight (yes I have to work again..) I have the Film Night event and show the film "In America," and tell them why I am showing the film.. and try to get them to talk about it... if they would open their mouths.

Five snacks I enjoy
-"Cheese Arare" that you can get in 100 yen stores,sooo good
-"Chicken Ramen" dry noodle bits in many different flavours, like yakisoba and all kinds
-"Maccha pudding" or basically anything maccha~
-"Senbei(soysauce flavour)" Shoyu aji is the only togo if you are gonna eat Senbei...
-"Green Onion Cake" a specialty from Taiwan... yum~

Five bands I like
Maroon 5, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Orange Range, ThreeDays Grace, and Nickelback!! (Alberta!)

What 5 things would I do with a million dollars?
-take my family on a cruise
-backpacking in Europe
-buy a car..?
-get a HUGE screen TV
-open a bookstore (HOW I would be able to do ALL these with only a million dollars, I have no idea... ;p)

Five locations I would like to run away to?
-to where my mom is
-to the beach
-movie theatre..(any movie will do)
-Uji in Kyoto Prefecture (I just love the place)
-Edmonton... to see my gals~

Five bad habits?
-I tend to talk too loud to the point that people had to tell me to be quiet in the public places.
-I don't tidy up in my apartment unless guests are expected.
-Very VERY forgetful sometimes... (which is why I need my dayplanner with me at all times...)
-Everytime I take a long trip, by the time I'm well out of my house and on the bus/train/airplane... I almost always wonder whether I locked the door/closed the window/turn off the stove... I worry too much.
-I get upset when I don't get to finish the story I'm telling people (like getting interrupted..)

Five things I like doing?
-watching TV/DVDs, blogging (duh!), dip my feet in ariver, reading, talk about books/movies/TV with people with equal passion about these things.

Five TV shows I like?
The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, Amazing Race, The O.C.(yeah yeah, I know :p)

Five Famous people I would like to meet?
(I assume living and dead are all fine, right?) J.K. Rowling (so many questions!), Ewan MacGregor (just to look at him~), Thomas Hardy (to ask him if he did call his maid Tess), Li Shi Min (the greatest Emperor of Tang Dynasty in Chinese history), Murasaki Shikibu (so many things to ask her too!)

Biggest joys in my life at the moment?
That I can depend on my family to be on my side, and that I have friends that I can count on. Finally... doing a job that doesn't feel like a job!

Favourite toys?
I know I'm too old for this, but I love bubble blowing things that you can get in festivals and stuff...

Five people to tag?
I don't have that many people to tag this... so am very sorry, Jenn, this will stop here..

Alright here it is~ whew~ took me awhile to get this up.

Hmmm guess what slanguage I speak?

Wow... so this proves that I'm a true Canadian... finally? Thanks to Jenn for introducing the blogthings~ I absolutely love these trivial things :)

Your Slanguage Profile

Canadian Slang: 75%

Aussie Slang: 25%

British Slang: 25%

New England Slang: 25%

Prison Slang: 25%

Victorian Slang: 25%

Southern Slang: 0%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

If you're a true Albertan...

I just realized that Jenn in Aira is from Edmonton too!!! that's so cool :) The Canadians I've met so far are all from the east coast, and it's just not the same... (you know what I mean...)

Since Jenn said that I can link it... Here it is. A list of things what a true Albertan would do/be/like~

Check this out! Western Canada Rules!!

(well, the Eastern part isn't so bad either...)

Nomikai and Karaoke

okay so we went to the okura hotel for the beer garden, as a wrap-up party for our summer festival thing.. look at Nakano-san, talking about something amusing... probably, and Yume-chan is "romancing" Matsuyama-san, the guy who went to Niger for a year to teach automobile mechanics stuff. He was the guest of honour. We had a nice night out, under the stars~ drinking beer and having second-rate food (yeah the food left alot to be desired...)

And on the right, is Yume-chan, on Chris B's shoulder... yeah she didn't really meet him before this, but that didn't stop her from climbing onto his back so she can enjoy a great view. Well, she looks really cute in this picture, and I think it's probably all that matters anyways...


And then we went to nijikai at the karaoke close by... just me, rina, kawahara-san (my sup) and Chris B... we decided just 4 was too sabishii so I called up Daniela and Gary, and they showed up soon afterwards. hee hee here, you see Chris and Gary singing their hearts out...while Daniela posing in the back :)

Blogthings!!

Found something on Medea's blog... and just had to try this out. This is kinda interesting... hee hee check it out~

I did the Japanese name generator, and look what my Japanese name would be!

Your Japanese Name Is...

Yukiko Matsudaira

What's your Japanese Name?

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

If I'm not mistaken, this picture is probably the Senbiro no taki waterfall in Yakushima... I really like yakushima, everyone should go at least once... especially those who live in Kagoshima!

The Newbies have arrived!

The newbies~ from left: Alison in Tashiro (Fergus's successor), Nha-thy in Kanoya (Mike's succesor), Chris in Kanoya (Jeni's successor). Note the glass of shochu in Nha-thy's hand! It's Osumi's own Kojika shochu!

After a long day of traveling all the way from Tokyo to Kanoya, Chris and Nha-thy had finally arrived~~ We met up for supper in the restaurant next to my apartment and then I called up Nanette and Joe. Then Daniela went to get Alison and her sup... then Michael from Nejime came as well... this tiny little bar was FULL of us gaikokujin!!

I just had to upload this picture... hee hee I love my blog!!

See you later, Heather

So... Heather left Kanoya this morning, and I seriously doubt if she would ever come back... :p maybe to Japan, but who knows when she would actually come to Kanoya in the near future.

I've been preped for this moment for awhile, but still sad that she's gone now. I guess I'll still see her again since she's just back in Canada. Ah... it's gonna be strange that I can't c-mail her anymore...:( Especially she stayed at my place on Sunday night and last night too... It was weird to see her go...

Well, last night we went to Nabeshima for Yakiniku, treated by Ono-san... Jeni, Chris, Mike, David, Heather, Nanette and I went...along with Ono-san and his wife. I don't even know how I got invited, just that Nanette sent me a mail and said that she's coming to pick H and I up so we can go for yakiniku at 8. Ono-san finally called me something other than Joshikosei (highschool girl--because he thought I look too young to be working...)... he called me a Joshiko Ninensei(2nd grade highschool girl).. Yeah, so I have finished my first year,and now I'm a 2nd grader in Joshiko :p

We ended up eating too much food and H had to walk around my apartment (and outside) so she wouldn't feel so bloated. It was a LARGE amountof beef we consumed... It's been awhile since I went to Yakiniku last time... I can't even remember when was the last time I had yakiniku!

Well, yesterday I also walked to Yamada-denki to take my DVD player for them to fix... On Sunday night, I put in "In America" to watch... and no sound came out. The screen on the player was blank as well... I took it there, and the guy immediately said:"is it from Saturday?" Apparently, lots of people have brought in appliances because they had stopped working due to the lightning-thunder storm on Saturday. If my DVD player was damaged because of the lightning, the manufacturer would not cover the repair with warranty... so I'd have to pay for it. I asked the guy if they could throw it away for me in case they want me to pay to fix it, he laughed and said of course. So, in a couple of days, the Yamada-denki people will call me and give me the verdict.

Am still at work, and it's gonna be lunch time pretty soon. I made a sign for Nha-thy, Mike's successor, and Daniela made a sign for Chris, Jeni's successor. D's gonna take the signs with her and Mike when picking the newbies up at the airport. I put a "Princess Kanoya" picture on Nha-thy's as well... thought she might like it. hee hee~~

I guess I'll read JAPAN TIMES for awhile before the lunch time chime...

The Karate Kids in Kag

Yesterday I went to volunteer at this karate tournament event in the city... and I took a few pictures of the event.

The event itself turned out not exactly as what I thought it would have been...and I was a bit disappointed. So I ended uptalking to Mike the whole time. Especially since he's gonna go back, so it's quite nice to hang out with him for a bit before he goes home.

So here are some of the pictures I took... Mostly not that interesting.. but ah, that's all I did anyways...


Here, Mike... for you~ (I don't wanna say anything offensive about this picture, so I'll let Mike tell you all about this picture.. I'm sure he'll have it on his blog as soon as I uploaded this.

Look at Mike... just finished his bento~ hee hee, great pic! 

Look at the karate kids!! I actually think the kids are alot better than the adults... they just do the moves a lot more swiftly. According Mike, it's like learning English, they're always good when they are little.. when they get old... the whole english thing disappear 

The Dragon Dance Company from Yokohama... er... can you tell me again how this is related to Karate? 

Look how many of them!! after about an hour of speeches, the young 'uns were starting to stir... 

The SOLE Canadian participant... GO CANADA GO!!! 

Taiwanese participants, all 11 of them... or a few missing..? 

Some Indian food and a gathering for old and new

Tonight we had a little gathering of neighbouring ALTs for some Indian food~ I had chicken masala chicken curry and some garlic nan~~ so good but I couldn't finish it all ;p

Decided to take a picture for the occasion... well, the lighting wasn't perfect, but I guess this will do. From left back are Bryan, Heather, Cristina, David (Heather's successor), Daniela and Gary. From Right back are Shana, Angie (hiding a bit), Nanette, Laura, Adam, Jesse, and then Chris.



Welcome to Kagoshima, David and Adam~

Alright It's official

Come in September, I'll be teaching at the Jieitai (self-defense army) in Kanoya, with their Eikaiwa club. Yep, there will be tonnes and tonnes of pilots there... hmmm

They told me that they will have to make my identification so I can go in and out of the Navy Base without being questioned much. wow... It should be quite interesting, although a couple of the people at the office were a bit hesitant about it. They thought we shouldn't always agree to whatever the Jieitai wants us to do (especially they are not necessarily always agreeing to our requests... i.e. the fireworks...). But I thought it's fine, just an interesting experience.

Right now it's HUGE rain storm outside... I don't know what happened, but this morning I woke up and there was the strong wind and heavy rain pouring down. I just hope my plants are okay. Ah, who am I kidding, they are long gone since that scorching day 1 week ago.

Was also surfing on the net and realized that the US site for Goblet of Fire is up.. hee hee so I got the supporter kit for Harry in the Triwizard Tournament :)
Yay~ I SUPPORT HARRY POTTER for the Triwizard Tournament~~ Although we already know who's gonna win anyways :p hee hee

It's been one year since...

... I arrived Kanoya! whoohoo~~~ *que fireworks* and a round of applause...

well.. yep, exactly a year ago I was sitting in this exact spot contemplating whether to strip myself naked and sleep like that on the tatami floor or take another cold shower.

When I first arrived, the air conditioning didn't work, all what came out was just warm nasty air. There was no hot water, so I had to take cold shower (which I didn't mind so much as the weather was hot and humid). And I was overly exhausted from my worst case of jet lag (no pun intended) and also the stupid headache was still there when I bidded all the helpful people at my office goodbye, so they would leave me alone.

Ah... the first day in Kanoya.

Now is the question... why did I recontract again?? hmm...

Oh yeah, that's right, I happen to like this job :p and also the people that I've met over the year... also it would be really cruel of me to abandon my already-very-tense-whenever-we-have-an-event supervisor who had just started working in the city hall this april.

Hmm, so another year in Kanoya, eh?

This is by far the most hilarious Engrish!

OOOH my goodness... check out this link posted by a fellow blogger... (Thanks to Mike for sharing this great treasure.) The subtitles of "Revenge of the Sith"... translated into Chinese and then English back straight from the Chinese subtitles. I laughed soooo hard. Knowing Chinese, I totally understand why it was translated into that strange way. All in all, it's still HILARIOUS! Hope you all enjoy this as well :)

Fireworks!!

Wow~ Kanoya Fireworks!! I didn't expect much but it was actually not too bad! Nanette, Joe, Heather and Rina came together, and we walked from my place to Shokokaigisho, where the fireworks would be.



Here's me and Nanette, in our yukatas~ It was certainly nice that I wasn't the only person wearing yukata...

Rina doesn't own yukata... (yet again, I never thought she would anyways.

One of the nice pictures I took of the fireworks!

Here's another really good ones! I never got those REALLY big ones... cuz I was busy watching it :p

Heather, Rina, Nanette and Me!

Kanoya Natsu Matsuri, Summer Festival!

Many people say that a picture tells a thousand words... well, I'm gonna post a few pictures to tell those words because I'm just sooooo tired! We, the Kanoya International Exchange Association--joined by the sign language club "Yamabiko" and the Kichiyo Dance School, did our Han'ya Odori Dance in the Kanoya Summer Festival! We were all very tired and seriously dehydrated. Been up this morning since 7 to prepare the Yamasha, (dashi, which would be float that goes before our dance group) and then taught those who didn't learn the dance until today.

The overall experience was definitely awesome and we had a great time making fun of each other with our happi and head bands. There were some minor mishaps, but they were all resolved quickly. I thought there were a few times that my supervisor Kawahara san was gonna pass out from the stress of organizing the whole thing, but then eventually he handled it quite well... ooooh geez I'd better actually let the pictures tell their stories... :p

Ino-san, posing in front of our "Dashi (float)." hee hee he's sooo funny~ He made the globe on the kei-truck and it actually rotates!!! isn't that cool!!

Okay, right before we leave... hee hee look at us... right under the sun.. sooo hot.

Just when they called out our group and it was time to head out... we decided to pose for one more picture with our sign: "Warera Chikyujin (Us the Earthlings)"

Right before we were almost done... were taking a drinking water break. whew... so tired >_<

Throughout the time when we were dancing there were like random people just handing us cans of beers (already opened, mind you) and then asked if we wanted to have a sip... yeah.. right, we are gonna drink from your beer, that's right...

As we were only wearing tabi, our feet were all wet from the water people poured on the street... it was definitely really weird. Dancing with people watching and bus constantly passing next to us... hee hee~

Oh one last picture...

Ah.... now a picture of our dancing parade. hee hee~ It was fantastic fun, but then now my feet are aching terribly, and the "han'ya bushi" song is still in my head... "Han'ya~~~" oh... goodness, right... time for bed.

A Farewell Dinner at Blue Moon Cafe

Okay, so here we are... one year after... and now Jeni, Chris and Heather are going back home, to the place where the people wouldn't stare at them unless they're doing something weird...

I'm glad that they all came to the dinner thing so we can get together at least one last time... Cuz I know it's gonna be really hectic to get together the week before you leave. Well I've been there, ain't I?

It's too bad the lighting was terrible, and I didn't really trust the waitress to take the picture in night shots... so Gary and Daniela are a little hard to see... Well, at least you've got everybody here. Oh and I REALLY have to show you this picture... hee hee


Okay, here's me pulling Rina's "golden hair" on her face... yep, she's got this hair growing out of her face and her mom kept saying that it's good luck hair and she should never pull it out. And Rina always pulls on it and play with it. We were all kidding and touching it. We took a couple pictures of me pulling it... and after this picture, I turned around to talk to Heather, and then I heard "ooops!!"... then turned back to Rina, holding her golden hair, AWAY from her face... Yep, now her mom would be REALLY mad... hmmm It's okay, Rina, I'm sure it will grow back... however weird that would be.

Yeah, talk about being a Kagoshima-jin!

Just about couple minutes ago, Kodama san came and held a cup of red liquid then said, "Sandy, you wanna try some?" As I took the cup and gave it a smell... I instantly realized that it was more than just red liquid... It was shochu! The shochu that they have produced as the Rose flavoured shochu...

So as not to be rude, I drank it up (it was only about 3 sips or so), but then the strong smell of shochu is still lingering in my mouth... Now trying to drink as much green tea as possible... And, it's only 3 pm in the afternoon!!

So, today I did my best to make the Kanoya CIR home page as presentable as possible. However, I decided to slack off and the blogger.com to do the work and just add whatever links I want it to have. so, there you go! a new homepage! Let me know how you like it :)

I got it! I got it!!

Last night just before I went to bed, I realized that the name R. A. B. on that piece of note from the locket that Dumbledore and Harry got from the cave... could be Regulus A. Black!!! Just when I thought I'm soooo smart and everything, I checked wikipedia, and apparently some people have already speculated it...

oh well, guess I wasn't the only one.

Anyways, I figured it out ALL by myself.

I think I need to take a break from Harry Potter world...

But, let me finish GOF first... :p

Accio HP6!!

Yes yes,... I have the Harry Potter book with me, right next to my seat cushion on my tatami... and I'm glad to say, that I've finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"!! yay~~*cue fireworks*

Now, I just want to read the next and the final installment of the Harry Potter series so we don't have to suffer the agony anymore... It's interesting how so many people around the world let these book change their daily routines (like no sleep until finishing the book, or no eating... or worst of all, no bathroom...???!!) Ah, who am I to judge, I am the same.. except, in contrast to the OoTP, I tried to read it slowly so when I finish the book, I wouldn't feel too rushed.

Well, too late, now I'm doing the same thing 2 years ago, read the previous books...

Now reading GOF because 1) the movie is about to come out in November and I wanna make sure that I get my facts straight first before heading the theatre, and then criticize it... ;p (just kidding, I'm sure I'll love the movie all the same); 2) from the book 6, there were many references to the Riddle House, so I wanna see if Rowling got her story right or not... hee hee... am I obsessed or what??!!

Not to worry, people~ for those people who just stumble across my blog... no spoilers warning, means I won't talk about the details or the endings.

However, I will say this. I like this book better than OoTP... and I'm glad that now Harry has grown to know his own strength and his ability. Not only to fight, but also to face his own fear. But I do hope that there is no more death... I can't stand having to cry over the book when it's supposed to give me pleasure reading it!

There, I've said it. Yes, I cried... but then I cried in book 5 too... actually I did in Book 3 as well... (geez, what's wrong with me??!!)

Oaira-sho kids and the kyushoku~

Me showing the kids how to dance to the "Hokey Pokey" tune~ The kids absolutely love it, especially the 3rd graders! There are always a few that refuse to do it, but then after seeing other kids having so much fun, they just end up joining in and giggling endlessly.

Before we eat our lunch the toban kids have to make sure everybody's got their set of lunch, but everytime I start taking pictures, they would just abandon their duties and decided that they really REALLY want me take their pictures.

Kyushoku for today is hotdog bread, dry curry to put in, cabbage and bacon soup, and of course milk. I was pleasantly surprised by this menu... it was actually quite good~ Usually the menu is really strange combination of sweet jam, white bread (HUGE too), and then some stew... But this time, not too bad, not too bad at all...

Now it's teeth brushing time... look at the girls posing with their toothbrushes in their mouths hee hee... oh by the way, they don't use toothpaste since they would just end up bringing those fruity flavour ones anyways. So they just brush with water... brush brush brush...

Koyama Waterfall on July 3rd~

Went to Koyama waterfall with Heather, Nanette and Joe, and looked what a nice little spot we found! Jesse was right~ it is a really cool place to hang out in. It's definitely less scary to swim in than the beach... (god the tides!!)

Look at Heather go! We all got a little scared when she went around this time cuz I thought she was gonna lose her balance. But then she landed in the water gracefully... or as graceful as she could manage anyway :p

Hmmm I think Nanette is trying to get the rope, but she's a little bit too far from it, I think.

Cooking Class ~Taiwanese Cuisines~

Okay, I know that being the CIR, I shouldn't be doing so many cooking classes because it wouldn't be fair for the Kanoya people to interact with more gaijiny foreigners. :p But I thought that Japanese people should have a taste of the simple Taiwanese food that they can easily prepared at home.

AND, it turned out to be a great success because they were surprised by how easy it was to make 2 dishes and another veggie stirfry to go with and then the egg drop soup to finish the meal. But then they had to go and put equal portions of different dishes for each person's plate... like the Japanese style. Oh well, whatever, since we're in Japan, I guess they can do whatever they want.

The Dongjian Shian Dofu, one of the dishes today... hmmm needs a bit more sauce, but oh well, it tasted just as nice :)

The Sanbeiji, chicken broiled with sesame oil/soy sauce with ginger pieces... hmmm it was the best! and the people that came all really loved it. Oh and Nanette and Joe said they especially liked this one... and it was the easiest one of them all!!

Ah.... the egg drop soup, it's the best thing to have when finishing up you meal... YES, Taiwanese people have their soup AFTER their meals! Which is another reason why we don't put "dashi" or any fancy stuff in there...

So the event went quite well, and my new supervisor seemed a bit less nervous after the event. Sometimes I feel so guilty that I had to tell him what should be done next... cuz he's just new and really had no idea what to do... But then he's supposed to be my boss...

Anyhoo... well, been trying to finish Order of the Pheonix, so when the Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince comes this Saturday, I'll remember what happened before... so as not to go "huh? who is...? what??"

And, now watching SW EPV: The Empire Strikes Back... the huge white mammoth like machine looks vaguely like the thing in Lord of the Rings... so which one came first? Did Lucas copied Tolkien and stole his idea first? or Peter Jackson got his idea of mammoth creature in The Two Towers from TESB?? hmmm intriguing...

The Haraigawa-sho kids and tanabata cake~

The Haraigawa-sho 1st graders, there are only 8 of them!! they are soooo cute :)










The Tanabata cake... hee hee, it tastes alot better than it looks like. All the kids seemed to enjoy the dessert more than the actual kyushoku...

Oh my goodness, it's July already?!

I can't believe it, we're officially in July! Wow... how the time flies... So anyways, after the wedding banquet I attended about... let's see... 2 weeks ago, finally I remember to write what has been going on so people back home can read it... oh well, Debby reads Japanese and she can go ahead and read my japanese blog.. it's good practice for her Japanese reading! (sorry sorry... no more excuses...)

Anyways, last week I felt like I didn't really work at all since there was only the eikaiwa on Tuesday night and then Wako daycare visit on Thursday,... the rest of the week was spent on making my CIR HP for Kanoya/Osumi JETs (which is still incomplete...) Then on Wednesday, I went to Kag city to treat myself for a movie day~ Wednesday is ladies' day for movies in Japan, and since I finally get to have a weds off...

I went to Amu Plaza and saw "Batman Begins" and I gotta say this... I was VERY pleasantly surprised! Christian Bale is a great Batman and I found that the story is alot darker, but more dramatic, rather than the cool gadgets (although the gadgets in this movie are pretty cool as well :p) The Ra's Al Goul subplot has a twist and I didn't expect it (some might say I am slow in that way... just like I didn't get "the Six Sense" until my friend finally told me as we were walking out of the theatre...). All in all, I am now hooked on Batman... been reading wikipedia articles about the movie, batman series, characters, and whatever I could find on that site. hee hee

Then on Saturday, I went to Kag city "again" to see "Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith" with Maruchan... hee hee on the way to Sak ferry port, we spent an hour talking about SW, tale of Genji, japanese lit... ah~ felt so nice to talk to someone about these tops and that someone really knows about the subject to actually be interested (instead of nodding and smiling... then change the subject...).

ROTS was actually better than I expected too... although I had already read some positive reviews on imdb, and I trust the imdb like it's the movie bible... I wasn't really thinking that I would be disappointed anyways.

However, once again, Hayden Christensen was still delivering his lines in monotone, and Ewan McGregor seemed like he wasn't really acting at all until the last moment of Anakin Skywalker (by that I meant before he turned to Darth Vader). Don't even get me started on Natalie Portman... This is an actress who has such potential (see "The Professional"), but her character is just so... boring... when she can be so many things, other than just a fashion model to showcase the wonderful wardrobe that the costume peole designed for her.

The story itself can also be this great sci-fi story as well if it's not for the lack of character development... ah... Lucas, maybe you spent a little too much time on the CG and forgot about the plot, eh?

Anyhoo, the CG is definitely something that can wow anyone from a kid to an adult. The cinematography is stunning and soundtrack is quite nicely updated from the original trilogy, and the CG Yoda... wow! Yoda is just too cool! I like Yoda in the original trilogy already, and I had some doubts about the CG Yoda, but I gotta tell ya, it's quite awesome~

After movie, I went to the beer garden on rooftop of Mitsukoshi Department Store for the AJET Leavers' Party. Got to see a few of the leaving JETs before they head home. ah... Betty is probably in Taiwan by now... She told me that she was gonna be taking the rest of her working days with her nenkyu and daikyu and then just go to Taiwan early to see her boyfriend... ah, how I envy her.

Then on Sunday the 3rd, I went to Koyama Waterfall with Heather, Nanette, and Joe. It was just a cool place to hang out and the water slide was definitely really fun! (although I only tried once, cuz it also looked a bit scary :p) I took some really great pictures and videos... I'll try to post the phots in the blog...

This week (July 4th-8) is basically a school visit week... Tuesday: Oaira-sho, Weds: Kanoya-sho, and Thurs: Haraigawa-sho.

Oaira-sho is probably my fave school to visit and the kids are just awesome. And apparently there is romance in the air, as Hiromu-kun and Riho-chan are an item, and Riri-chan can't decide whom to pic, Genki-kun or Yuto-kun. hee hee

Kanoya-sho, on the other hand, has the most out of controlled kids I've ever seen... I don't know why but there are just so many that tend to fight with each other and just won't shut up. The English teacher there, ah... I feel so sorry for her... there's always alot of yelling whenever a class is in session.

Haraigawa-sho is really quiet... cuz the students tend to be a little shy when it comes to English. But this time I went to teach 1 to 3 grade students, and they absolutely love the Hokey Pokey song and also the Simon Says (or I should say, "Sandy Says") game.

Since Thurs was also the Tanabata (July 7th, the Chinese Valentine's Day) Day, we had to gather around in the school gym and then listen to the picture book reading of tanabata story, have the tanabata kazari (decoration) contest, and then scavenger hunt for the tanbata keywords. Then after that we had Tanabata cake (which was more like a frozen pudding with cream and star-shaped jello on top) for kyushoku... hee hee it was DELICIOUS~~

Anyways... that brings me to today... friday, the most looked-forward-to day of the week. However, this Sunday, I'll be teaching a cooking class to introduce some easy Taiwanese cuisines, and let people ask me questions about why a Canadian CIR is introducing Taiwanese food...

whew~ that's alot of updates, and I'm sorry if people have already given up reading... oops, sorry. alright,I'll write more after the cooking class...