Another Week...

I guess things are starting to flow again at work... We have a big meeting coming up where we have to demo new curriculum, while teaching during a time where parents can observe.... WHILE teaching during a time where we get to do extra trial lessons... I'm not complaining about the extra work... its more like I just kinda wish it was a little more spread out...

This week I've gotten the chance to get to know more the the japanese teachers at some of the schools. Also I've been pushed as a teacher to try and do a little more as well (nothing to do with the fact that I have an evaluation coming up :P)

As a result I really didn't get very much time off... just the sunday... Chris, my coworker yeah a christian coworker!!, and I went to church and window shopped. We also dropped by an arcade... Here are some strange things you may find coming to vancouver... Who knows! hahaha..

You can dress up for your sticker pics!!! The most popular choice of costume - Stitch (Disney)

The popularity of card games.. its a bigger field here.. you have to collect the right cards to kick your opponent's ass.

There was a line up for this.. and If I had any experience and were any good I'd line up to play too... GUNDAM!!! You're in a bubble and the screen is like everywhere but your back.... its like you're sitting in the actual driver seat of a gundam...

Also in Takayama this week... not much going on but I'm starting to day dream about visiting home and seeing people again.. I'm excited!!!! Only one more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FYI: Crappy quality of pics because it was taking with my cell.

VCBCers Hang Out

Jan 13-15

All we were missing was Wynne from the chinese side and we would have the VCBCers of Japan in one place... KOBE!!!! I wanted to use the rest of my seishun18 kippu (youthful18 train tickets) and it just so happens that I got a saturday (well really they kinda didn't fill the holes of my schedule, luckily my supervisor is a nice guy and let me work another day...) Shan had that day off tooo and well Raph is just a lucky guy that lives in Osaka which is the heartland of the Kansai region - Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Osaka... need I say more?

So early in the morning Shan and I get on the trains to meet in Osaka then Kobe. Good fun there, we start off with... COFFEE... then we go hunting for this building that supposed to be created by a famous architect that did the 'Church of Light' which Shan via Alicia (her architect in the making sister) says is really cool cause the building is concrete and the only light is a cross shape window... anyways when we go back thats our next stop... suppose to be in Osaka too...

So its was the Kobe Art Museum...

Then in about the same area is the Kobe Earthquake Museum - They had chronicled over hundreds of accounts, plus videos, recreation sets and science world-like displays... It was so sad!!!!! Least to say, we're all going to die in Vancouver when the big one hits ^^''...

Just outside of it we ran into a High School mascot -
Also there was a live duo guitar group playing... maybe I'll link a clip later... they're pretty good... Doki Doki

Then we headed off to the UCC Coffee Museum... I think my enthusiasm speaks for itself...

Then we wandered into the Chinatown, after going to a Cake decoration exhibition which we weren't allowed cameras, while we waited to meet up with Raph for dinner.

Day Two - After a very cold night at Raphs, in which both of us didn't get sleep - Raph because he was sleeping in a chair/on boxes, and me cause of the cold... hahaha Shan was smart cause she had her super blanket from Vancouver... We head off to a Sake Plant to see their musuem...and tasting of course

Then we headed to the Fashion Musuem cause we wanted to see cool clothes... but no cameras allowed :(

Then we headed to the...

Where Raph climbed more things... Behind me is the Kobe Tower and Maritime Museum...

Kobe Memorial - They preserved a wrecked part of the port from the 1995 earthquake in rememberance of all the people that suffered.... over 6000 people had died.

I used my last ticket (5 tickets in total, 2 to/from Tokyo, 2 to/from Kobe, 1 - Toyota)

Jan 15 - I spent my day with my coworker to hunt down the Toyota Kaikan...
It was quite sucky to get there without a car....
But cool!!!

They had a robot that played the trumpet and we got to see some wierd gadgets... not too much stuff there but enough to stasify the geography nerd in me... *ahhhh* Just-in-Time Production...





Then of course I had to get coffee... Muu Muu Coffee? Flavoured... it was pretty good....

Interlude: Snow!!!

And so, comes winter in Japan.

Just yesterday it was a terribly rainy day in Gifu city. It was moist but not really that cold, yet that night the howls of the wind could be heard and then.... I woke up, to this:

WHOAS! Crazy.... so much snow!!! Then as the freak late person I am - trying to make it for the train to service - I decide to ride my bike in the snow!!! HAHAHAH...

My tips on riding the bike through the snow:
- like cars, please use previous tread marks, prevents getting too much snow stuck in your tires...
- don't break when going for turns - you'll wipeout
- actually don't break at all, you'll wobble your way to a stop
- most importantly, its actually not a good idea to ride your bike...

The high winds and heavy snowfall caused me to look like a frosty by the time I made it to the station... really only shaving 4 mins than 7 mins off my walk resulting in me missing my train anyways... boo hoo.

Least to say, it was quite the experience...

Speaking of experience... I've had some people mention that they really don't know what’s going on in my life, thus, when we try to talk they really have nothing to say to me... I don't know, is that true? Do you feel this way?

How can I tell you more about my experiences? Everyday in Japan is a new experience for me. The two things I find constant are that either I really have nothing happening that day, or I have too much!

There are days I'm completely saturated with new experiences that my body just kinda shutdown and goes on automatic mode... It’s a defense mechanism...

I find that the best way for me to bring up anything I really learned through this time... just talk to me... about anything... I'll drag my experience into the conversation. After all, I'm not good at talking about silly things for too long... well maybe that’s a lie... hahah I've been told I'm no good at flirting either (although that was in high school... but since I haven't 'practiced' this spoken form I doubt there's been any improvement...) I talk about facts, I talk seriously, I talk in incoherent broken-ness... I love talking about God. That is why, I love home - I love the people at home because I can just let my mouth move and talk about facts, seriously, broken and about God... and silly things too.. hahah....

It’s so difficult to speak here in Japan for me... It’s not just the language barrier it’s the people I'm among... However, God has blessed me with the chance to meet so many people to broaden my horizons about the types of people in this world. As a result I've become much more open minded, yet standing strong in my own faith. While I'm at a standstill now at serving God, I hope that all these experiences will lead me to serve him better.

My current spiritual struggle - Not being afraid to listen to what God has planned for me...
Maybe some of you know, I've developed a healthy, and perhaps unhealthy fear of God for the past year or so. It was a powerful moment when God allowed my cousin to pass away. Suddenly all the passages in the bible I've ever heard or read about fearing the Lord and his awesome power... I've reached a new level of understanding that. Part of the reason why I chose to come here was not only to see what God has planned for me but also to push myself into my fears - Living away from home for the first time, facing any failures and learning to except them without reassurance from others, knowing I can do absolutely nothing in my power but pray for the ones I love, going to a place I've never been, living on my own, loosing time with the ones I love, facing people from a totally different spectrum, safety fears like natural disasters and being female... - just some of the things that either have crossed my mind when deciding to be here in Japan, or have developed along the way... Bottom line... learning to trust in Him in all ways... I really believe when I can trust Him and fear Him properly I will be able to make a decision for when I return to Vancouver, I guess my next step in life.

Well, thanks for joining me in Crystal's stream of consciousness, till next time perhaps? :)

Man always able to rant, never able to write a decent paper.... darn.

Actually Happy to return to sleeping on the Floor...

Hmmm The month of December!!!

Well the best news of this month! I got my internet!!!


The first week I was in Takayama... I had okonomoyaki with my japanese counterpart and then we went to a cafe where the owners are in love with cats... so cool....


The second week I enjoyed 6 new classes!!!! I wasn't too happy about getting 6 more hours of work at one school (5 more at another) without a pay increase... but I guess what else would I do with my time?
I think the most rewarding part was that the children seemed to warm up to me. I mean the first time they see someone and this person doesn't speak their language... A little boy in one of my younger classes he looked around the room a little shocked at the new surroundings... but he trusted me enough to grab my finger for comfort and stability in the new environment... AWHHH he was so cute.... I feel really blessed that kids trust me like that.. even if they don't know what I'm talking about....
It was sometime this week that I realize while washing the dishes - wow I'm living on my own cleaning, cooking, etc... in JAPAN!! wierd... hahahah I can actually doing this.... being an adult... hahaha

my last week of 2006 in nagoya at the nagoya english fellowship... I hung out with Mariko afterwards for lunch... she showed me nagoya style stuff....


Week 3 - this is the crazy week.... I had to travel to Tokai South schools for office days - which are min. 2 hour trips away.... and the sucky part was I just got my internet and I really wanted to talk to everyone at home but with leaving earlier for work and the time zones I could only talk so much... sniffles... but I have a vancouver phone number so if you ever want to call me, - msg me.

Dec. 21 - I head out at 7:30 am in the morning for my VERY scenic 6.5 hour train ride... It wasn't too bad.. I managed to hem my pants and read a book - 5 People you meet in heaven... its not bad, but I'd have to agree with Leo - from what I know of Tuesdays with Morrie, that was the better book.

I arrive at 2pm to find Shannon and her friends totally tired and wired at the same time... they were cool people. We hopped on another train to get to narita airport to get on a 3 hour flight to Seoul Korea... so what is that? 6.5 + 1 + 3 hours of travel...wows...

Some pics I got on the train while travelling.. I missed the best ocean shots!!!!!!
(do you see the shadow of my head?.. hahahah)


Dec 21-26 - and... Welcome to Korea!!!!

Think Hong Kong pre SARS cleanup measures and multi level starbucks.... I probably spent all my money there....




It was great watching shan eat korean food - "everything tastes like burning"

Castles in the middle of high rise Seoul...

And then... Lotte World!! Korea's largest indoor theme park!!... its great for kids tho.. so cute... my first time on roller coasters... that went upside down.... its wasn't so bad actually ^^''



My personal favorite - Starcraft marathons on tv they really do battle it out like a sport...
Christmas wasn't celebrated... kinda glad it wasn't... it wouldn't have been the same as celebrating the birth of Christ without the ones that actually celebrate it like it is the birth of Christ and about giving hope and life to us.... I think I had a sub sandwich... it was turkey at least :P

Dec 26-2 - And on to Tokyo!

I think I saw almost every major location in the guidebook, but not what I wanted to see! The Ghibli Museum and the Imperial Palace grounds... both somehow eluded me... boo boo

Fish Market, largest in the world aparently... hmmm tuna

Oh!! But I met my first online friend that I met years ago in High School I met her when I first started getting into all the anime in Vancouver... Sailormoon!!! Ohhh yeahhhh... okay... anyways Shan and I met up with her at one of the biggest Comicbook cons in the world... Comiket.






Wait... this last few aren't from the comiket... its actually from Harajuku...

New year's eve! - On the streets of Shibuya - but really it was dead all over Tokyo... In Japan people treat it like we treat Christmas... Everyone goes back to their hometowns to celebrate and most people are not originally from Tokyo city...

I did a non-touristy thing - stayed up to watch the sun rise over the Rainbow bridge....
I wanted my ball of sun!!!!!.... I waited a while.. and kinda missed it.. hahaha





And met my dad's friend and his daughter Asumi for lunch before going back to Gifu on my scenic ride of 6.5 hours.


Now back in my cozy apartment.... well not really its freezing!!!!