seemingly back from the dead...

My attention and time have been splintered into a thousand pieces lately, which explains the lack of updates. Fortunately there’s not a lack of news to report. I am now ex-staff of the 3 high schools where I began my teaching career. There were goodbye parties, bouquets of flowers, speeches in front of the student body, farewells at faculty meetings, thank you presents [a rockin high school baseball jersey from yoshikawa, a Japanese yukata, or summer kimono, from naoetsu h.s. and an elegant crystal set for serving cold sake from the minamishiro teachers], a few stifled tears, tons of picture taking, really cute notes and gifts from some of the kids and tons of heartfelt conversation. I was truly moved by some of the teachers’ and students’ efforts to communicate their thoughts to me as I prepared to change schools. I was also a bit saddened by the fact it took lots of the folks two years to muster the courage to pick my brain about things that they were undoubtedly curious about for quite some time. Guess the last minute is always a good motivator. This was obvious when I arrived at tsukasa sushi bar’s private room for minamishiro’s farewell party. I expected an intimate group comprised of the 4 English teachers, but was met by 20 staff members, of whom 5 I considered real friends. i thought my sayonara party had been combined with some other event; i couldn’t believe it and neither could the teacher who organized the evening. They applauded me wildly and flattered me all night long. I talked more with some of the faculty during that night than I did during all of my days at the school combined. a special assembly was thrown at yoshikawa high school where i made my emotional goodbye speech [yes, all in japanese. yes, in front of all the students and staff. no, i didn't throw up. i was surprised too], then i was presented with the most gorgeous, huge bouquet and two envelopes containing money from the student council and teachers’ funds. one of my favorite students, masamichi kun, also gave a speech at the assembly about my lessons and my attitude which he complimented. i was really moved. then the students made two lines, similar to that dance line-up they used to do on soul train, and i took my last walk through the kids to booming ceremonial music. the farewell party later that week was tons of fun, but the same ‘must get up the nerve to talk with tiffany cause it’s my last chance’ rule applied. the naoetsu high school english teachers gathered for an 8-course meal with lots of table wine at a local Italian eatery. the students and atmosphere at that school i will really miss.
i’m now employed with joetsu city board of education and i’m stationed at naoetsu higashi chugakkou, a junior high school on the west side of town where the students have a less than fabulous reputation due in part to their discipline records.
along with my new job came a new apartment on the opposite side of town. i was real sad to leave the (closest thing we’ve got to bustling) downtown area but am happy to have a bit larger place where i can properly entertain. it’s kyouinjyutaku, or teachers’ housing, which means it’s cheap but old and uncared for. some friends from minamishiro, my old school, helped me move and when we pulled into the parking lot they were all stunned by how ancient and unsafe the building looks. “ha, ha. it’s halloween everyday at tiffany’s house.” “if you think you even start to feel an earthquake, run as far as you can as fast as you can.” "you live in a haunted mansion [which is english the japanese have adopted incorrectly and use to mean apartment building]." it doesn't always appear frightening...especially in silhoutte.

in actuality, it’s not that bad. i live on the first floor of one of the towers, which is nice when you have lots of groceries but kind of a pain when you wanna walk around naked. around me are 8 other foreign teachers. on the far end are some Japanese teachers that i haven’t met yet. my apartment has 4 rooms, separated by sliding paper doors [now yellowed and peppered with holes from past wear] which give you the freedom to arrange the walls pretty much any way you want. there are traditional paper shutters covering the windows too but unfortunately they have been maintained about as well as the exterior of the place. the flooring is mostly tatami mats, but in the living area, where the mats have been covered by a huge rug for years now, the woven flooring is a bit rotten, which means i’ll have to stick with the carpeting. for those of you who haven't had/will never get the chance to visit, here's a brief tour...
the jungle room

from the pic you can't feel the wilderness and smell the woods like you can when you're actually here [or maybe that's musty tatami and molding wood...]. complete with tons of real jungle relics from papua new guinea. elvis would be proud.

the living room

done in a red and black motif that reminds me of the bedroom i had during my high school days. don't mind all those bags in the corner full of souvenirs that i'm trying to figure out how to carry home later this month.

a proper bathroom

now i don't feel like i'm in an airplane when i shower. it's an older, slightly stained version of the bathroom found in every normal japanese household. i've got a feeling this shower room might ruin me. did you know that japanese people always shower before getting in the tub? no soap's allowed while you soak. and since you're clean when you get in, many times the whole fam will use the same bath water.

the outdated [notice the green linoleum. didn't grandma zillie used to have something like that in her kitchen?] but spacious kitchen

it has a tiny broiler [which i've used every day since moving in. no lie.] under two, count ‘em 2, gas burners. it’s telling to find out what you truly miss when your surroundings change. for me, it was a functional kitchen. please note: i'm not a trash hoarder, it's just that disposing of anything here is a tricky business requiring no less than 6 trash cans for separating paper from cardboard, plastic wrap from plastic bottles, cans, glass, burnable from non-burnable. once you've got it sorted, you have to bide your time until it's a first or third saturday or a second or fourth tuesday, depending on your waste. i abhorred this part-time job at first, but it really does make sense considering the size of this country and the environmental problems plaguing the world. the poster on the wall is an illustrated trash explanation that even foreigners can figure out, theoretically.
i'm lookin at the bright side...i'm saving $130/month in rent, i’ve got a heated toilet, my own washing machine, surround sound, a parking space and a roof with a pretty amazing view [where saturday night we had the first rooftop cookout since i became a tenant]. my building is also nicely situated; a 5-minute drive from the beach, 10 by bike, only 2 min. to the highway which leads straight to hase's house and a 7-minute bike ride to the train station. it's been boiling lately so this close proximity to the beach thing has suited me nicely...

apparently everyone else has had the same idea.

look at those wrinkles around my eyes...see how much it looks like i've aged since my last post...that should give you some idea of how stressed i was for a while there.