Tsuwano horse archery!

Hi guys!
So today I am again making good on my promise of `Things to look forward to` and posting about my visit to Tsuwano and watching traditional Japanese やぶさめ or horseback archery. Before I write about my adventures in Tsuwano I figured I should first dedicate some time to posting a little bit about the background of Yabusame.!

Yabusame is a form of ritualized mounted archery that arose as a form of offering to the gods of Japan, who in turn would grant prosperity and victory to the Japanese people. Zen Buddhism was a major factor in refining and evolving the form of mounted archery used in battle into the more spiritually based form of Yabusame. As a form of martial art, Yabusame helped warriors learn concentration and discipline. The addition of Zen taught breathing techniques taught one to stabilize the mind and body which provided the archer with clarity and focus. This combination enabled practitioners to calmly draw ones bow, aim and shoot accurately in the heat of battle. To do this successfully was considered to be the mark of a true samurai who had mastered his training and fear. 

Ready you are. 

Because of the spiritual nature of Yabusame, most matches are held at Shinto shrines. At the beginning of every match a ceremony is performed, in which the priest blesses both horses and riders. In the match,the archer gallops down a 250-meter long track, using his or her knees to control the horse while drawing the bow, which measures about the same height as the rider. When reaching the target the archer then aims, and with a deep chant of In-Yo-In-Yo (darkness and light), fires. The sound made by the arrow hitting the target is almost as important as the the riders` accuracy. The explosion created in the strike is traditionally believed to transfer the archers` courage to the spectators.

(This is just a brief summarization, if you want to learn more about Yabusame click here, or visit your local library)

So, on April 8th, fellow Yamaguchi ALT`s Brad and Jessica decided that we would drive from Yamaguchi City to Tsuwano (in Shimane prefecture) to see the annual Yabusame ceremony which is held on the 2nd Sunday of April. So we piled into my car and made the slow long trek. Due to a bit of a late start we ended up missing the first Yabusame match that was held at 11a.m., but thankfully there was a second match that would begin at 2pm. So we used that time to explore the grounds, nom on some nomz, and run into other fellow Yamaguchi ALT`s! 

Look! We found Wayne, Sarah, and Matt!

And Brad nomming on some chicken on a stick.

I used this time to stalk and photograph the really awesome yabusame archers!

Just before 2pm we decided to line up near the track so we could get a decent spot, near the third andfinal target, to photograph and watch all the action. We ended up standing near an older Japanese couple who were pretty adept at understanding English and chuckled at the odd conversation that we crazy foreigners were having behind them. 

And then began the really long wait. We knew that there would be some sort of opening ceremony but we weren`t aware of just how long and elaborate it would be. For the most part we couldn`t see the blessing ritual and so we were a little confused about what was taking so long for the ceremony to start. Eventually, when our patience was wearing a little thin, as we were short on time, the judges, horses, and archers walked down along the length of the track in a parade (subdued) like manner, and then the matches began!

We didn`t get to watch the entire match because we needed to start heading home. But we did manage to snap a few successful photos (those horses are really fast!), and see a few successful strikes of the target. Before leaving Tsuwano we decided to wander a little bit around the center of Tsuwano to admire the cherry blossoms, the huge koi and the generally nice weather.

Koi swimming around along the avenues of Tsuwano.

The Tsuwano and the horse archery were really cool to see, I think I`ll go again next year. Also there is a steam train that runs from Yamaguchi city to Tsuwano during the more pleasant weathered months, I`m thinking maybe I will ride it sometime, I`ve heard that it is supposed to be really scenic. So we`ll see!
Until next time!!!

New Horizons

April and Spring have arrived and with it the beloved Japanese cherry blossoms!
As much as I and the rest of the citizens of Japan love the cherry blossoms and Hanami, the coming of Spring also signifies the start of a new school year in Japan. Unlike American schools (and I am assuming schools in most other Western societies) which end around anywhere in June/July and resume in late August or early September, the Japanese school schedule begins from April and runs through until about mid- March. In a way it kind of seems to match having the new school year parallel with the coming of Spring and `re-birth`. (Note: I`m sure there is actually a different reason, but this is just a nice coincidence that I happen to really like).



(Photo Courtesy of Awesome Yamaguchi ALT Brad)


Like I have mentioned, for the past week I haven`t been very busy since classes have been out, my BOE on the other hand has been bustling with energy as people buzz in and out of the office making last minute preparations to ensure a smooth and successful new school year. One of the most prominent shifts that the new academic year presents that directly affects me is what I like to refer to as, `Musical Chairs: Sensei Edition`. So, at the set of the new school year not only are 1st year ES students being initiated into Elementary schools, ES students transferring up to JHS, JHS students transitioning into HS students and HS students preparing to begin University, but behind the scenes there is also a transferring of teachers and other positions related to the education system.

My BOE has had a few transfers, namely a large number of the staff who had worked on the national games have been transferred to different positions around Oshima. Within my office I was a little sad to learn that our department head was transferred, he had a really sexy deep low voice that I liked to listen to while preparing my lessons or typing up these blogs. Our new department head is really nice, so I really can`t complain too much. Thankfully both of my supervisors are still here, both of them have been really helpful with getting me adjusted to life in Oshima and I would`ve been a little torn to discover that I would be getting a new supervisor in charge of governing my professional life here.

The most significant changes of course are the ones within my individual schools. During the first week of April, amongst all the bustling going on around our office, the ones that I paid direct attention to was when my school principals` would enter to introduce the new staff. Unfortunately not all of my schools had the time to be able to stop by, I think I have gotten to meet the `new` staff from about 6 of my 14 schools. In most cases when the staff would enter I was relieved to see that for the most part my teachers have only been shuffled from different schools within Oshima`s school districts. But there were a few teachers that came in who will be completely new faces that I can expect to be teaching with in the upcoming weeks. This is a little bit of a nerve wracking experience for me, seeing as the past 7 months I have adjusted to the different teaching techniques of my schools individual teachers. And now I am getting thrown a curve ball of wild card teachers that I am unsure of how well we will work together in a classroom. Basically, I get sent back to square one of learning how to adjust to individual teaching styles.

There were only a few changes that really sparked my interests. The first being, that my absolutely favorite JTE was no longer the English teacher at Nasake Jima ES&JHS. He was so much fun to work with because he was really young and had a lot of creative ideas for engaging students with English language. Not to mention he was also the most receptive to ideas I had for English lessons and activities. But beyond just myself, I was also a little disappointed to learn that he was leaving (potentially out of Oshima) because I felt that the way he presented English lessons were really accessible and enjoyable for students. Simply put, I felt that he was the most qualified teacher for making a significant impact on English acquisition in Oshima. Thankfully, I later found out that he will still be working as an English teacher in Oshima and that he will actually be visiting all of the JHS. From what I could gather from talking to my new Department head was that my favorite teacher would kind of serve the same job as me, team teaching English at the different JHS on Oshima. So, I`m sad that I likely wont be working with him again, but I`m really glad that he`ll still be about and teaching practical English to the students of Oshima.

The only other major upset so far came when I discovered another one of my JHS teacher switches. This switch was really probably the worst possible switch that I could have ever expected. So there is only one JHS that I very much despise going to, and the reason primarily being was that the JTE was awful. I didn`t so much mind that all he made me do was read out a few sentences and otherwise stand in front of the class, because hey, if he was doing a great job of teaching and wanted me out of the way, no problem. BUT the problem is he doesn`t do a particularly great job. In fact 90% of the English class period is given in Japanese. And the strategies employed are extremely traditional. I had personally been hoping that he would retire, or else transfer off of Oshima. Unfortunately that wasn`t the case. And what did happen was that he was transferred to one of my favorite JHSs. And it`s further disheartening because a lot of the students there are really eager and dedicated to learning English, but their previous teacher`s strategies really facilitated and encouraged them to improve. So I`m really not excited to see how the new school year will be with him at that school. The only potentially bright side to this situation is that the teacher he is replacing will be going to his old school. So I`m hoping that I will no longer despise visiting that school and I know that she will do a really good job of providing the students with the proper English lessons they have been missing. It also means that I will no longer be used solely as a prop at that school! Yay!

The final change that April has brought that directly impacts me is a change in English textbooks. I`ll no longer be teaching from New Horizons but from Sunshine (does Japan have a sense of humour or is this also just coincidence?). Unfortunately the basic lesson structures and strategies are the same (see not practical/useful English) and implemented in the least sensical kind of way. But on the bright side I`m not familiar with the different speaking,reading, writing activities so I`ll have fun doing new lessons.

To sum it up there are a lot of changes on the horizon. Hopefully they will all prove to be for the better.

Things to look forward to: Tsuwano Yabusame (horse back archery). I`ve already posted some photos on Facebook but I will post more and likely some commentary soon!

The fish sprang from the spring like a spring that has sprung in Spring.

(Name check to Jessica Maple for the blog title)


In Seattle: Sorry, but we`re related, cant`cha tell.

Hello family, friends, stalkers, and random readers of my blog!

The other day one of my friends spied me on Skype and stated, `You haven`t updated your dating blog lately, so I`m assuming things are going well.`

Out of this statement I took two things, 1) I should update my blog soon, because it has been awhile and 2) To re-establish my legitimacy as a non-dating blog I shall make sure my post does not go into that direction.
If I was trying to be Carrie Bradshaw 2.0, I would re-locate to Manhattan.


(We share a name, but that is nearly as far as the similarities run, sex/dating columnist/blogger I am not!)

Anyway, I`ve been a really busy bee since the last time I`ve posted, here are some of the things I have been up to:

-Last classes of the school year
-Tokyo Marathon
-Seattle
-Prefectural Meeting
-Osaka/Kobe
-Hiroshima for my B-day
-Hanging around Yamaguchi/Mine
-Seeing my ALT friend Jasmine!
-Attempting to keep myself busy for the past week and a half of no classes. (and the next two coming as well)

For the most part this blog post will focus on the bolded topics. Some of them may get bumped into a later post (I have dayz to fill, so expect a number of blog posts to be coming in the next 2 weeks) depending on how much I devote to writing about each.


As much as I love March, symbolizing the coming of Spring and my birthday, this year it loomed upon me like a big grey cloud. Am I trying to be all metaphorical?, No, I felt that way because quite literally it was extremely grey and cloudy nearly all month. On top of the grey misery, March in Japan is still pretty chilly, many of my Japanese friends told me that I should expect to wait until around Mid-April for the weather to really begin to warm up (>_<). Having spent a large part of my life living in Hawaii, I tend to get at least slightly affected by extended periods of lousy weather. So my main goal for the month was to be as active and busy as possible to keep the March Blues (I never have March Blues, what is this blasphemy! [note: I may have just made up the concept of March Blues]) from setting in.

So below I have listed a a handful of many useful ways of keeping your future March Blues at bay. Enjoying!

Keeping away the March Blues Step 1: Take a festive trip to a city and celebrate

Anyway, so after our big prefectural meeting in Yamaguchi City, my friends Ciaran, Anneli, and I decided to go to the Kansai region for a bit of a St. Patricks day adventure.Although I was disappointed to discover that there was no green beer nor did the local Mcdonald`s have any shamrock shakes, I was pleased to find that the festivities did include Guinness (doesn`t get more Irish than that), plentiful Irish folk, Potatoes, Magners (legit Irish Cider), kilts, bagpipes, food, and shamrocks for dayz!

Look at all those foreigners.

During the festive events I was educated by my Irish friend Ciaran, that kilts and Haggis, which I`ve typically associated with Scotland, actually originated in Ireland. I`ve also deduced that in typical Japanese fashion, adorable children are also a crucial part of celebrating St. Patrick`s day in Japan.


It had also been brought to my attention, as the token American amongst our motley crew of festive revelers, that the Irish are completely baffled by this celebration we call St. Patty`s. ` What is St. Patty`s day? It`s St. Paddy`s day (ye crazy Americans spelling all things wrong)!` Likewise, I`ve also been thoroughly educated on the famine, as the opening line used throughout the day began something like this, `So, have you ever heard about the famine...` (tell me more, tell me more) And in typical St. Paddy`s tradition, the majority of our day and evening was spent in a lovely Irish Pub in the middle of Osaka.

Keeping Away the March Blues Step 2: Go on an adventure to the most desolate part of your prefecture with amazing company and soundtrackz
There is no better way to prevent yourself from hitting March Madness (and not the basketball variety and more like the [mad] March hare in Alice in Wonderland) than a jaunt out in the wide open blustery cold country side.

`Careful, she's stark ravin' mad!`

So a few weeks back, Jessica, Jesse, Laura, and I all crammed into Laura`s little car and took a trip out to Mine! What is in Mine? Well Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido, the Mine cave and Mine Karst landscape. Since many of us had already been to the caves, and they are a bit of a (un)pretty price to pay to see again we opted to checking out the free Akiyoshido instead. And on the car ride, for some odd reason we decided to listen to my first childhood cd (Winnie the Pooh and his woodland friends: Songs from the 100 acre woods) Click the video below to have a listen and reminisce on your childhood.

Anyway, here are the two photos I took, it was really windy and extremely cold, and I hadn`t thought of putting on mittens or gloves. (Excuses)




Keeping Away the March Blues Step 3: Go Sightseeing with a friend visiting from out of town.

Sight seeing is a really great way to get your mind off of how cold, miserable, and ever dragging out the month of March may be. But a way to keep it fresh and funky is by going sight seeing with a friend who is coming to visit from out of town. Reason being is that not only do you get to go out and stretch your legs, but you also have a great companion to enjoy the sights with. The best part is that you can also use the time to catch each other up on what you`ve been up to since the last time you`ve talked.

And luckily for me, my fellow ALT and friend, Jasmine had the time and will to come visit me in little Oshima. Last time I had seen her was back near the end of January, I think. So we had a whole month and a few weeks of catching up to do. Since Oshima doesn`t have some of the most amazing sights in Japan, (though we did later discover some cool things about the island) I decided to take Jasmine to Miyajima and Hiroshima. Since I forgot my digital camera when we went to Hiroshima this blog post will really only cover our Miyajima adventure.

I really love traveling with Jasmine. I don`t know exactly what it is, but everytime we go sightseeing together we happen to meet the greatest people and have a really great time (the latter can of course be explained by how awesome we are).

Anyway, our adventure around Miyajima included meeting some really awesome people that worked on Miyajima in the ferry station(?). They were really excited to meet us, talk to us, and take photos of us (which were later made up into these really cute gifts that they gave to us as souvenir`s. We also later met an older Japanese couple over lunch who enjoyed talking to us and repeatedly kept inviting us to come to their home in Osaka to eat, drink, talk, sight see, and stay. How friendly. Maybe that will be our next travel destination together!

As for the rest, here are some pictures:


Cute little bambi who later tried eating our lunch and our handbags. Crazy babsie.


We decided to rent bicycles to putz around the island on. Here Jasmine is having a bit of a Marilyn moment, it was so windy!



The genki tourists strike again!

And with that, the end of March arrived and the potential prospects of Spring. April 1st was a lovely day but today the weather is looking extremely foreboding.

Okay, that`s enough for one blog post. Expect another one soon.
Next blog topic is likely to be about the Japanese school system: featuring crazy school schedule, and heart wrenching teacher transfers.

Until then!
Keri

My life as a 20-something single in Japan: This country is crazy! (See:Experiments in dating pt II)

Okay, so if you recall from my Post in January, I had somehow managed to bumble my way into a psuedo sort of dating kind of thing. Well, I figured it is about time that I created the follow up blog. Click here <- if you missed the original post.


Maps out this blog post rather nicely


Okay, so just to recap a little, last I mentioned of my Japanese beau was that the situation had
arrived at a one-sided `deeply ingrained` infatuation and a slew of texts culminating in `I love you, I want to drive down and see you`. Sound familiar (see: crazy!)? Well here is how the rest of the tale goes:

For the most part the following days continued as normal as possible, assuming you consider receiving consistent I love you/I want to see you texts as normal. Smooth sailing right?

Anyway, if a love induced text exchange begins so climatically (I love you, after one date) you figure it has got to plateau somewhere and eventually begin to tapper down. (I <3 the female orgasm lecture reference. Anyone?)

But, if you get what I am referencing to above (Which all of you should since I have conveniently decided to include a diagram at the top of this post), you will note that I have forgotten a key step in the cycle.

attempt at being culturally relevant by creating my first Meme

Desire- Reached (maybe even mutually) Excitement- Reached (I think it is fair enough to say that it was mutual, although the excitement may have came from two different sources), Plateau- Reached (I think we`ve sufficiently established that a relative calm consistency had been achieved), and Next I was expecting a nice tappering down that could be referred to as a Resolution.

And of course, before that could be reached it all had to culminate into one explosive orgasm of a crazzzzzy text.


(Yeah....I think we hit that peak.... -_-)

And yet, for some reason, I decided to throw sanity to the wind and go out on an innocent psuedo date with this guy. I mean psuedo because, date it was not. It was more of a dinner together with our friend Miguel. It seemed like it would be alright and a nice gesture seeing as a few days later he would be moving to Fukuoka. So, why not.
(Note: this post is about to get really garbled with intersecting events. I`ll try to make it as sense making as possible, but I can`t really promise anything, so bare with me)

So, after work on Feb. 3rd I drove myself to the station and mentally prepared myself for seeing my Japanese man friend again for the first time since our last encounter. And I suppose it only makes sense that on a day that I am half out of my mind about to go on a crazzy psuedo date that I land myself into another crazy Japanese dating scene experience.

Like I said, I was waiting at the train station, in the cold (very relevant, not really, but it was really cold) minding my own business just waiting to go on my non-date, when one of the Japanese High School students waiting for the train next to me decides to step up his game from Level 1 (making covert glances in my direction) to Level 2 (art of small talk). He decided to open with the generic remark, `It`s cold isn`t it.` I figured that this a good opportunity to practice my Japanese and told him, yes it is [feckin] cold, I`m from Hawaii and I don`t like the cold. And we progress through small talk of `What are you doing in Japan, What school do you go to, How old are you, etc.` After having reached the topic of age, my new acquaintance decided there was no better time than to ask me, `So are you married`. I was a little taken aback and in my shock reverted back into English, `Did you just ask me if I`m married?!?!?!?!?` No I`m not married, are you crazy I`m only 22, look no ring (pointing at my finger). At which point he decides to tell me that he is not married either, accompanied by suggestive smile and wink.
Thankfully about 1 minute later the train arrived, I rammed in my earphones and made sure there was at least one train car in between me and my deranged lover.
Seriously, Japan!?!?


Save these kind of questions/statements for at least the second [real] date

But anyway, lets get back onto topic. Me and my psuedo date with my Japanese man crush. After this odd experience I felt like I was pretty certain I could handle any odd statements/questions my Japanese crush might say to me, because at least they are semi expected now instead of out of left field.
Turned out dinner went smoothly, no crazy protestations of love, moving in together, or marriage. And so, I decided why not stay a bit longer since Miguel had decided to call up more friends so my Japanese friend could have a proper farewell party. And things continued to go along rather swimmingly, I may have even said a few flirty comments at him, or at least saying, `it is such a shame you are moving to Fukuoka (that is flirty right?).` Anyway, due to an odd twist of events (me missing the last train) he offered to drive me to Yanai as I was planning on spending the evening with my friend Ciaran. Which was a really sweet gesture (can you tell I am beginning to fall?). During our 45 minute car ride or so he told me a lot about his past and his hopes and dreams, and we even shared our thoughts on the Japanese education system, which were all really interesting to hear. It`s not often that I can actually hold these more serious conversations with Japanese people seeing as my Japanese is pretty shabby and their English is not much better. And in those moments I really began to understand/agree with one of the texts he had sent me previously that said ` I think if we are a couple we can get newer and broader perspectives with our lives` (Amazing English, right?). (I mean if I wasn`t falling before, I`m sure I must be about there now).

At this time I also voiced some of my concerns over an idiotic mistake I had made earlier that morning. I wanted to know if he could tell me if there was any way possible that I could retrieve my burnable trash which I had put out that morning to be collected and at some point burned. (Japan has crazy trash collection methods). Reason being was that I realized a little too late that I had thrown one of my wallets containing my foreign registration card (and thankfully not much else) in the trash. He said he was pretty sure there was nothing to be done, but that he would look into it. I kind of brushed this aside figuring, yeah ok, probably not.
Anyway around this point we arrived at Yanai and so I invited him up to meet my friend Ciaran and some of our other friends who happened to be over. After having some snacks and playing a resounding game of scattergories I saw him to the door (I even received a small kiss on the cheek to my shock and maybe even more surprising was that I wasn`t particularly opposed to the gesture). Have I driven off the cliff of madness? (probably). Upon returning to the house I asked Ciaran, Erez, and Kyle and the other Japanese guests what they thought of my friend. They all agreed he was quite handsome, had AMAZING English, and that he seemed nice and like a great person. I later told them he was the guy from my dating blog post. Their response: `Oooooh, he`s that guy...!?!? Well, he seems nice (see:sane) enough in person.

And here is where I knew I fell off the deep end.
The next morning I wake up to a text from my Japanese man friend that said (In Japanese, I told him to text me in Japanese only so I could work on improving) 大島の役場に電話したけど、もう全部　燃やしたって。And for all of you, who`s Japanese isn`t as on par as mine it translates to: I called Oshima`s town office, but they said they have already burned everything (referring to the trash). Seriously! Not only did he remember my concern over my accidentally thrown out wallet but he followed through, of his own accord and called to see if he could somehow save the day and procure my wallet. Seriously, i think I hit an all time high in life.

About two weeks later, after a few more mild/conservative texts my friend Ciaran told me. `Keri, grow a pair and ask him out on a date already. If you don`t want a boyfriend, don`t like him, or don`t want to go out with him again, you don`t have to, that is the beauty of it all. There is no need for commitment at this point.`
I thought about what Ciaran said for a moment. And, as much as I`m opposed to a relationship right now, I figured maybe it is just what I need to pull myself out of the stooper I`ve found myself in. After all, like Ciaran said. It`s just one date, and I had found myself slowly but surely reaching some level of enamor. So I did it.

4 hours later this is the response I get:
I`m so sorry. Keri, to be honest I decided to return to my ex-girlfriend. It was so hard to make a decision and I`m still in love with you.

fml.

Looks like I have made my way through the dating lifespan (according to the sexual response cycle anyway). Desire, Excitement, Plateau, Orgasm, and Resolution have all been actualized.


My Japanese friend`s identity shall be a bit of a secret,primarily to protect the innocent.Secondarily, Just in case I have Japan goggles

Observations: If you happen to meet a handsome guy, with great English don`t wait until the last minute to get your shit together.
Even if he does send some chill inducing texts.


Final Observation: I still think dating is too complicated.

Lo Lo Lo La Lola!

You can tell I`m not particularly motivated to write a blog when I give it a uninspired title (actually I changed the title, this new title is inspired) and fill it with lots (lots) of pictures.

So, today since I am not in a particularly blog writing motivated sort of mood I figured I may as well make good on my promise from my past posts regarding `Things to Look Forward to:` and post some pictures from my trip down to Nagasaki and maybe add some commentary. So let`s have at it!


Okay, so here is a map of Japan. Note that I used high technology to illustrate my start point (Oshima) my destination (Nagasaki) and the Oregon trail that I traveled across to get to the land of milk and honey (and goldfish lanterns, wait can`t I just see those in Yanai????) Now, how about you have a guess as to how long it took me to get from the island of Awesome to the land of lanterns (distance: about 244 miles). Think about it.



Now let me relate to you a little anecdote. Yesterday I was at my Eikaiwa (adult english conversation class) and we were each taking turns talking about where we want to travel to and why. After listening to my students (?) tell me that they wanted to go to Singapore, Germany, Mt. Fuji, and America, it was my turn to tell them where I want to go. And so I said that the place I most want to visit is New Zealand,and geeking out about how lord of the rings was filmed there, the hobbit is being filmed there and it is gorgeous (not to mention I want to be a kiwi)! Anyway, maybe you are wondering what this story has to do with Nagasaki, and why I am including it in this post, well I`m getting to it so be patient. After that my students began talking about how New Zealand is really beautiful and they have nice weather (in the summer season) but then they told me, `Keri, New Zealand is so far! Maybe it is 10 hours by plane.` then pause. `But, maybe it isn`t so bad, after all it took almost 5 hours(!!!!!!!!) for you to go to Nagasaki (I had told them about my trip during our last class). But, yes. A nice 244 mile trek took me nearly 5 hours! Worst.Ever!

Anway, I guess it was worth it (see: it really was worth it but I am still bitching about the distance).

Alright, (I`m feeling a bit more blogging motivated, probably from the bitching) so it was kind of a spur of the moment idea to go to Nagasaki. A friend had clued me into the Lantern Festival and a quick glance at the google images results peeked my interest. So after about a week of debating the question `To go or not to go (that is the question)` I found out that Taylor, a girl from my prefecture was planning to go down, and also my friend Jasmine (who lives on a manini island off of Nagasaki) was also planning to make the trip. So, with that I figured why the hell not, and packed my bags, booked a hostel, and bought some train tickets.
4.5 hours later:

Awesomeness!!!!!!



So that evening Taylor, and I and my new friends Joel and Larissa (ALT`s from Kumamoto) ventured around taking photos of lanterns and lit up creature like lantern things. We also ate some questionable Chinese food (to celebrate a belated Chinese New Year), visited a shady American bar with even shadier bartenders, and got lost in the pleasure district (or so I dubbed it) and ate more food.




Taylor, Larissa, and I hanging out with a deranged Panda.
(Photo courtesy of Awesome Kumamoto JET Joel)




Year of the dragon!!!!

The next morning I woke up fairly early to meet my friend Jasmine and her super awesome Nagasaki ALT friends at the train station.
But, before they could appear I saw the most AMAZING/AWESOME boy ever!


Seriously, this kid is like a quarter of my age and already 100000000 times cooler than I will ever be!

Anyway, after meeting up with Jasmine and her friends we made our way to the Nagasaki Peace Park.




This monument symbolizes the hypocenter of the bomb drop. I like the concentric circles that radiate out from the center, it was an interesting visual representation.

After meandering about the peace park we made our way over to China Town to check out all the festivities and admire the lanterns. :D







Pig heads, but why?


Am I back in Yanai?????


Jasmine and I being genki tourists in Japan!


The lanterns were really awesome, and well worth a trip (nearly 5 hours!!!!!) to Nagasaki. But the reason for a return visit: Lola!

Who is Lola? Only the most awesome amazing D-List celebrity in all of Japan!!!! After enjoying the lanterns The Awesome Nagasaki JET`s and I went to Lola`s awesome/crazy/amazing karaoke bar. Too. Much. Fun. I think you have to go there to really understand how awesome this place is! P.S. Before we left Lola gave all of us a signed headshot!!! Amaze! (It is hanging on my wall!)


The super fun Nagasaki JET`s and I enjoying Almas` and Owain`s rendition of Park Life. Nagasaki is well worth another visit just to see these awesome people again too!
(Photo courtesy of Awesome Nagasaki JET Karl)


Ali, Lola, and I. Isn`t he something.
(Photo courtesy of Awesome Nagasaki JET Ali)

Origami Cats!

Just in time for Valentine`s Day, a sure fire way to win over your crush or impress your sweetheart, origami cats! Nothing says `I love you` better than a super cute origami cat made with love. They are also really great for decorating your desk! These little bebes stole the show in my dating post and so as promised, a post dedicated to making these cuties!
Supplies needed:
one (at least) piece of origami paper (once you`ve made one it`s hard to stop, they are soooo cute).
a pen or marker
some patience (these cats are a hassle, but worth it)

Lets start!

1. Fold origami paper diagonally in both directions. Also fold horizontally and vertically. After doing each of these folds individually your origami paper should have the following creases.



2. Next you want to push your two horizontal (marked off in yellow) creases into each other at the center, which will cause your origami paper to collapse down into a triangle.




3. Choose either side of the triangle to work with and fold the two triangle flaps facing down in towards the center crease of the triangle.



4. Next, flip your paper over so you are looking at the other triangle on the back, point facing away from you. Again, you want to fold the flaps in towards the center crease but this time fold them up instead of down.



5. Re-open/unfold the flaps from step 4. Now you want to fold the top of the triangle to fit within the folds we just made (pink dots). Afterwards, unfold them again. All of the creases we just made will be important for our next steps.





6a. Now for one of the trickier folds (once you`ve got it, it wont prove much of a challenge to re-enact). First, make sure the point of your triangle is pointing away from you. Now, look at the base of the triangle and you will notice that there is a sort of mouth like opening.



6b. Push open the `mouth`/white part of the paper until it folds against the crease we made in step 5 (thicker dots in picture 5 above). Doing this should also cause the triangles flaps to follow. Fold these down against the white of the origami paper. If done properly it should look like this:



7. Now take the top (where my thumb is) and fold it down. You should be able to see the crease we created earlier that I indicated with thick dots. Also, notice that the crease is a divider between a triangle and rectangle shape. This will be the rectangle that I refer to in the next few steps.



8. Next you want to fold the rectangle into itself. So push the bottom in and under until it reaches our middle crease (where the thick dots were) that is our triangles base. Like this:



9. Now take the two end flaps of the rectangle and fold them up to the center crease, creating two little triangles on both ends.



10. Unfold all of these so that we are back to the original triangle figure from step 7. And turn it so the triangle is pointing towards you. (in the photo below, it is facing the wrong way)



** WARNING WARNING**
This next step is the most pain in the arse step! The instructions I was given were extremely vague (fold top of head down inside), but hopefully my instructions and photos will make it a bit more clear/simplified.

11. Notice the blue dots I`ve drawn onto the paper. You will want to fold these in one at a time. But at the same time you will also need to fold the crease marked off in yellow in and down into the little pocket.






This is what it should look like when it`s done. Once you have completed this part, everything that follows is a walk in the park.



12. Now flip the cat over so you are looking at the side of paper with no white showing, keeping the point of the triangle facing you. And fold down the two pointy flaps that you made back in Step 3, like this (the thing sticking up in the middle are the flaps that I am pushing down):



13. Next, fold in the edges of the two flaps we pushed down.


14. Fold the two bottom flaps up, however high or low you want. This will determine the height of your cat. I wanted a baby cat, so I folded the flaps as high as I could.



15. Next you want to flip your cat over so that you are looking at the side with the two white squares. Lift up the bottom of the triangle and fold the point up and under so that it touches the crease. Can you see the beginning of a cute little cat face?





16. Now for our cats ears. Fold the white squares diagonally into the top of the cats head to create cute little pointed ears.



17. Next, flip your cat over again and fold in the edges of the face a bit to give the cat a smaller (thus cuter) face.



18. Flip your cat over one last time and draw in her/his paws and face.


And Meow, you are done!



(Not only have my cats found love, but now they also have a baby kitten!)