Asamushi Sunday

Hello dear neglected blog. I'll try to keep you updated more often.

I agreed to be part of a team for the Cheseborough Cup swimming relay in Shariki in August. It seemed like a good idea, and then I realised just how far 1000m was. I have been training in the pool for a couple of weeks, but yesterday Mel, Michelle and I headed out to Asamushi Beach to try swimming in the sea. We dragged Dom along for the ride.

After all that exercise (and playing silly buggers) we decided we deserved pizza. While waiting for the pizza we went to the foot onsen, which was quite hot.

After that we collected our pizza and headed back to the beach and sat on the end of the jetty sort of type thing. We interrupted the romantic atmosphere of girly sunglasses man and "do you love me?" T-shirt girl.

Good times.

Interesting Sunday

Interesting day today. Went to Hirosaki. I got my camera back too. You can have some cherry blossom pictures soon. They were beautiful. I'll tell you all about my day too. It was interesting.

Arrrrh! Bloody Pirates.

Last night I went to Misawa with Mel and Bec. We met a group of other JETs there, and went to see "Pirates of Penzance", put on by the Misawa Base Theatre Guild. Two JETs had starring roles - Sam as the Pirate King, and John as his lieutenant. It was excellent. I have never seen a straight man prance as well as Sam did. Anyone in the vicinity, I recommend you go and see it.

After the show, a big group of JETs headed to a Mexican restaurant just off base for some food. In little America, it is possible to get all sorts of food you can't find in the rest of the prefecture.

Filled with Mexican food, we headed back to the city. I live on the complete opposite side of town from Mel and Bec, so I crashed at Mel's for the night. In the morning she dropped me in town, and I realised my keys were in my coat pocket. Which was in Bec's car still...

I think the most annoying thing was that I had said to Mel "oh, my coat is in Bec's car. It's OK, it's not cold and I'll see her tomorrow anyway."

After I caught the bus back to that side of town, Bec was kind enough to drop me in town again. Then I caught the bus to my house. In all, an hour and a half balls-up. The spare key has now been put somewhere OUTSIDE my house...

I spent the rest of the morning tidying, and then Koto and her kids came for coffee. Minami has just started school, so she was a bit tired and not as genki as usual. Taichi was as hyper as ever.

Tonight, I think is DVDs, junk food and taking it easy. Tomorrow is an EofA meeting in Hirosaki, and then an "Area Leaders" meeting. I am planning to go early and visit Kinokuniya book shop, and go and see the cherry blossoms in Hirosaki park. The cherry blossoms have just started. They are early this year.

That is all for now. Really need to get my camera back...

Kia ora, talofa lava, good morning girls.

Hello. I'm still here. My camera is still at Steve's house, so no photos. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening lately, only several thousand enkais to go to. Last Friday night was the welcome party for the new teachers at Nishiko, and Friday night was the second grade teachers' party. I am trying my best to be the super-genki gaijin, so all the new teachers think I am, and always have been, super-genki. It is exhausting! At the welcome enkai I think trying to make everyone think I was super-genki just came across as "Wow, quiet Karen is super-drunk." Oh well, what can you do?

I have been having a lazy weekend. I just made a couple of banana cakes to take into the office and earn brownie points. The God of Cake is still smiling on me and they came out pretty well.

I suppose I ought to go and find something for lunch. Perhaps I will leave Little New Zealand and see what is happening in Japan.

So, I'm lazy. Whatcha gonna do?

Several weekends ago, in March, I went to Hakodate with Bec and Anne. It was great fun. Here is photographic evidence of good times, in no particular order.

Bec and Anne on the tram:
Chocolate AND prawn crackers, anyone?

Or how about some corn ice-cream?Creepy music-box man! Hisashi-buri!

Fun with statues.

Goryokaku Tower.
Hakodate yama.
King of the World.
Oohhh. Pretty.
Oohhh. Pretty.
Fun with statues. Never gets old.
Never.
Ever.
Miserable looking onsen monkeys at the tropical plant garden.
Original heart made joy な fit? That's just what I was thinking!
And since then, all sorts of exciting things have happened. The end of the school year has arrived and with it crazy boredom and ten thousand nomikais. Teachers have been transferred, and new ones arrived. Unfortunately quite a few of the teachers I get on with have been transferred. Very sad. I'm sure the new ones will be fine.

I went to a two-day junior high English camp at Lake Ogawara-ko. It was fun. I have some photos but they are on my camera.

My camera is at Steve's house (hopefully), because I left it in Helen's car after our Tsugaru peninsula road trip. I have photos. They are on my camera.

Last weekend I went on another road trip with Bec and Dom to Lake Towada-ko. I have no photos, my camera is still AWOL.

This weekend I have another enkai (welcome party for the new teachers), and the E of A indoor soccer tourney. I'm not playing, but I am going to help out. For a while.

That is all the photos I have for the moment. Until I get my camera back. Hopefully on the weekend.

Ciao.

Hirosaki Monday

On the Monday following the graduation ceremony I had a holiday because I had worked on Saturday for the graduation. Bec had a holiday as well, and we headed over to Hirosaki for they day.

We visited Hirosaki castle, had lunch at Zilch, and visited Kinokuniya bookshop. I managed to keep my hands in my pockets at Kinokuniya, which was quite an achievement.


The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. The students had exams all week, so I had nothing to do all day at work. I had one class on Friday, and by then my brain had turned to liquid and was beginning to leak out my ears.

Graduation

On the first of March was the graduation ceremony at Nishiko.


After the ceremony was an enkai for the teachers. It was fairly uneventful. Sugisawa Sensei got smashed (as usual), and an ex-Nishiko principal wanted me to go to a snack bar with him. It was an offer I politely declined.

Challa Bagundi!

Here are the last of them!

After pointing at the non-existent star, Honey had to wash Dave's feet. After washing his feet, Honey then had to ask for money. Being a boy with expensive tastes, he asked for an iPhone. Whether he actually gets it or not is another matter altogether. To ensure getting something, Honey and some other cousins held Dave's shoes for ransom. I'm not sure what happened in the end. I was trying not to spew up again.

After that it was lunch time (for those without a stomach bug...), and then photos.

Here are the happy couple with Dave's parents:Dave's friends, Sam and Tamaki, modelling their pyjama suits:
Me, Dave and Shilp:
Shilp's extended family:
After the wedding it was back to the rented house. I slept most of the afternoon, and felt much better. I spent some time hanging out with Shilp, Dave and Neel. Later on I went for a walk with Neel and Honey to try and find an internet cafe. It was Sunday night, and not much was open. It was good to get out and breath is some of that pollution though!

The next day we left the rented house. After sitting outside, chatting and drinking chai, everyone went their separate ways. I went with Shilpa's mum, aunt and Honey to another aunty's house. From there, Honey and I went to Kovur and spent the day with Shilp's grandmother. It was nice to have a lazy day! Shilp's mum and aunt joined us there in the evening, and then Honey and I caught an overnight bus back to Hyderabad. I didn't see Shilp at all, so I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye. I spoke to her on the phone though. It was tough saying goodbye to her mum though. She had done so much for me! I'm sure I wouldn't have had half as good a time if it wasn't for all her hard work and organisational skills. A big お疲れ様ですto you Aunty!

Honey and I arrived in Hyderabad early on Tuesday morning. After a brief panic, in which he thought the keys were still in Nellore, we got back to the house. We both slept for a while and then Honey "went to school." I took an auto across to one of the shopping centres I knew from last time. I was absolutely convinced I was going to get kidnapped, but I got there in one piece. I'm pretty sure I got ripped off, but it was still only Rs70 (about Y200), so I can't really complain. I did some shopping (books and movies), then headed to another shopping centre, and back to the house. Successful Indian adventure on my own!

That night Honey and I went to one of his mother's friends for dinner. I insisted I could cook something and there was no need to go to any trouble, but it was all arranged. Imagine my suprise when we arrived at the aunty's house and there was another foreigner there! The aunty's niece was visiting from America, along with her American husband. They invited me to go shopping with them the next day, which is what I did.

The driver came and picked me up in the morning, and imagine my delight when the car was an Ambassador (best car ever!). I tagged along with them for the day. It was nice to have someone to hang out with for the day.

After shopping it was back to the house, final packing, a little dinner, and then off to the airport.

I was thankful I had been through Indian airports before with others, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have coped with the disaster that is Hyderabad airport otherwise. It is so confusing! I did laugh when going through immigration - the officer asked me where I was going, why I was going to Tokyo, and how much I earned.

I can't be too critical of Hyderabad airport. It was in it's last week or two of operation before the new airport opened. Luckily for me I flew into the old one - it only took half an hour to get to. The new airport is apparently 2 hours away from Shilpa's aunt's.

I left Hyderabad at 11.50 on Wednesday night, and arrived back in Aomori (via Bangkok and Tokyo) at midnight on Thursday night. My house was freezing, and everything was very, very quiet. I had to stay up until about 2 am for the place to warm up enough to sleep and even then I couldn't sleep because it was too quiet!

Alright, I could go on about India for hours, but I'm sure by now you are sick of the subject!
It is past my bed time. Have to get my beauty sleep.

Wedding Day

Here are the last of my pictures from India - the wedding!

Unfortunately, the night before the wedding Prathima and I both had a dose of Delhi Belly. It was a rough night. I slept very little, and was absolutely exhausted the next day. I dragged myself out of bed, had a wash, and was one of the last people to leave the house.

But I made it.

I was able to just sit in the audience and observe. I couldn't stand up for more than two minutes anyway. I have the utmost admiration for Prathima. As the bride's sister she had to run around and be useful, and look after Dave and make sure he knew what was happening. I don't know how she did it!

Here is Shilpa arriving:The lady on her right (in the light coloured sari) is Neel's mother. The lady behind her (in the green and purple sari) is Shilpa's uncle's mother-in-law. We stayed at the uncle's house, and she looked after me. I think she felt bad because I had no idea what was going on. She kept talking to me in Telugu. Somehow, between my three words of Telugu and her three words of English, we had some communication.

Here is Dave arriving in his Maharajah suit:
Dave and Shilpa:

This is after the ceremony. The bride and groom go outside and they point to a star. It is a south Indian thing. They do it for the photos, even though it is day time and there are no stars.
And I lied. There will be one more lot of photos because this won't let me put up any more than five for some reason.

How was India?

How was India? I'll tell you how India was. I got up this morning and shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How an elephant got in my pyjamas I shall never know.

Sorry. I've wanted to use that quote from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for such a long time!

On to the photos.

This is the start of the wedding stuff. Early on Saturday morning there was a blessing sort of thing for Shilp.

After that Shilp went off to the temple in Kovur, and everyone else had time to kill until lunchtime. Shilp's cousin Honey and I escaped the house for a while, and went to visit Dave's family and friends at their hotel. Being on the Indian side of things, and having been to Prathima's wedding, I was considered the expert in all matters relating to the wedding. I didn't know much more than they did, but having gotten used to "Indian Time", as well as too long in Japan with no idea what is going on, I was better prepared. If it is important, someone will tell you what to do...

Lunch was about 2 o'clock. We ate outside at rented house. These are Dave's friends, Sam and Tamaki. They are eating a collection of things wrapped up in a betel leaf. It is supposed to be good for your digestion. Maybe... it is pretty gross.
I hung out with the foreigners for a while, before I realised there were no Indians still outside. I figured there must be a reason for this, and moved inside. Sure enough it was much cooler!

I hung out with Honey and Neel for a while. Luckily, Neel wasn't trying to charge me a million dollars to take his photo this time:
Later in the afternoon Shilp was sent back to the beauty salon to get made even more beautiful. Prathima went with her, while I got ready for the evening function. When I was ready we swapped shifts. The beauty salon was about five minutes walk from the rented house. Everyone at the house was busy, so I walked over by myself. Such a funny sight you have never seen - the whitest thing ever to hit Nellore, dressed up in a black dress, high heels, walking across to the beauty salon. I didn't dare look left or right. I KNEW everyone was staring at me, I just didn't need to see them...

Anyway, I made it, kidneys intact.

Shilp got made pretty:

And then we went to the wedding hall. And here are a series of photos in which Shilp looks gorgeous:

These are two of Shilp's cousins - Naviya and Honey.This is Shilp and her uncle. I had trouble getting him to smile for the photo...

The whitest thing ever to hit Nellore:

When I arrived in Hyderabad and met Shilpa's aunt, who I had met last time I was in India, she apparently said "she's whiter than last time." That is what an Aomori winter will do to you!

Shilp and her mum:

Shilp, her mum and her mum's siblings:

Shilp's sister, Prathima; Shilpa; Shilp's brother-in-law Neel:
Sunday was the wedding proper. I'll put those pictures up soon.

Today is Friday! TGIF! Unfortunately I have to go to work tomorrow - it is the graduation ceremony. Today and yesterday we have had practices - bowing practice, singing practice, entering the hall practice, exiting the hall practice... today it wasn't so bad, but yesterday was awful. The hall is FREEZING! They have two big heaters but they are noisy, so they turn them off while the actual practice is going on. So bloody cold! Today they had the other smaller heaters out as well. Hardly makes a difference if you are the students, but I am not and carefully chose a place to sit near the heater. AND I was prepared and wore a polypro...

Tuesday was the entrance exam for the junior high kids who want to come to Nishiko next year, and Wednesday was the marking day. It is quite fun - all the teachers sit around a table and mark one section each. Unlike most ALTs, I am allowed to help. I even had sentences to mark, not just the multiguess questions. My other job was "advisor" - when the teachers weren't sure about the answer the student had written I had the final say.

There were some real gems in the exams. The best was a finish the sentence - "In Canada schools start in September, but in Japan..." and the student had written "everybody angry." The model answer was "schools start in April."

OK, that is enough for today. I'll go and dust off my suit and make sure I have a shirt ironed for tomorrow.

Hi Mum!

I've been back in Aomori for more than a week, so it is high time I got my A into G and put up some photos.

Shilpa and I spent one day in Hyderabad. We visited Charminar and the old part of Hyderabad. We went bangle shopping and I had my arse grabbed by a dodgy north Indian man. It was an eventful day.

This is Charminar:
And this is the view:
We had some lunch, and the first of many Thums Ups:
That night Shilp and I took the train (11 hours or so) to Tirupati, where we indulged in some coconuts:
And some vegetable shopping:
While shopping for veges, my camera and I caught the attention of these two:
Or as Shilp described it "what is this black magic the white witch has?"

In our travels we took many auto rides. Here, we are waiting while the driver fills the auto with petrol, while the engine was still running. Saftey first!

The two days we had in Tirupati involved lots of visiting Shilpa's friends and relatives (and another marathon gossip session...). Early on Wednesday morning Shilpa, her mum and I caught a bus to Chennai (formerly known as Madras).

Tamil Nadu is very pretty. This is the rest stop halfway between Tirupati and Chennai:
I think the bus ride was about 4 hours. I we had Indian junk food to keep us fed.

I told Shilpa she was trying to make me fat. She said "You won't get fat. Only people who don't eat anything get fat in India." I swear, this girl has a sixth sense!

In Chennai we took a 45 minute bus ride across town. It was a local bus. It wasn't fun. We went and visited one of Shilp's mum's cousins, had lunch there, and then took a 45 minute auto ride back across town. We had all sorts of adventures trying to find Shilp's uncle's house. We visited them, then headed back to the bus terminal.

There, we took a 5 hour bus to Nellore, Shilp's mum's hometown. We stayed with another uncle. By this stage I was exhausted, overwhelmed by too many Indians, and over fed (again!). I had my wee culture shock/breakdown and had an early night.

After a couple of hours sleep I was all genki again, and ready to visit the temple with Shilp, her mum and Pratima (who had arrived early that morning).
After visiting the temple we headed out to Kovur, the village where Shilpa's grandmother lives. We hung out for the afternoon, and played with the little cousins.

This is Shilpa and Pratima:

And Pratima with her cousins:
That night we moved from Shilp's uncle's to the house the family had rented for the wedding. It was HUGE! I made Shilp's aunt crack up laughing when I walked in - I couldn't believe the size of it. I am used to Japanese houses, and this could fit at least 4 of my apartment in it!

Here is a random photo of some buffalo. There are lots of buffalo in Nellore. There are also lots of mozzies. They seem to like me a lot. Not so spicy I guess. A little bit of ethnic food in the diet.

The next day I went with Shilp and her mum to talk about the wedding photos, then we went to see Dave and his friends and sister. They had arrived early that morning and were staying in a hotel. We went and had lunch with them, then rescued Dave's sister (she'd spent two weeks travelling with boys...) and went to the beauty salon to get Shilp all beautiful. We all got mehindi (henna) on our hands as well.

The next day the wedding events started and I have lots of photos of Shilp looking gorgeous. You are going to have to wait for another day though!