Baseball in Japan

I feel like I say this every time that I blog, but I can't believe how much time has gone by. I can't believe it is the middle of September. There have been so many times that something happened that I though, "oh, I need to blog about that" but never really had the time.

The past few weeks were crazy busy getting ready for field day. To get ready for field day was pretty stressful at times. We had to teach our kids a pom-pom dance. It was so cute, we danced to The Circle of Life from the Lion King. But, teaching it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. We also had to teach our kids how to do the maypole dance. This one was even harder to do. The kids pretty much have to weave over and under each other with two different colored ribbons to make the maypole look good. Kind of a hard concept for some 5 year olds, I would think. Also, the kids had to march and stay in straight lines which is quite hard to get them to do sometimes! Anyway, all of the stress and practice really paid off because the actual field day was great! It was so much fun. The kids did an awesome job, the parents and grandparents seemed to really enjoy the day as well. We had games for the moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, and then did all of our dances and such. We also had a relay race that the kids had practiced. My class came in 2nd (out of 3 classes, ha). But, I honestly was so proud of them for how well they did that day!

A few weekends ago I went to the Rakuten Eagles baseball game. It was an incredible experience. I thought St. Louis fans were the best fans. And, maybe that is true for America..but, wow..Japanese baseball games are so different! The crowd cheers the entire time. I mean the ENTIRE time. They are organized cheers and the whole stadium takes part in them. There is kind of an official cheering section, and the people in that section tend to start the cheers, but the whole stadium quickly joins in. It's just people too, not something started by music over the speakers. They also all have these two plastic bats that are tied together with a string that they beat together to go along with their cheers which makes it sound so cool! Honestly, even if you weren't a baseball fan, I think you would enjoy these games.

Another thing about the baseball game that made me laugh a little bit, is that they have girls going around selling snacks, drinks, and beer. However, the beer is not from a can. These girls pretty much have a small keg strapped to their backs and they serve beer on tap right then and there in the stands. They also all wear knee pads and quickly kneel down to serve you whatever it is you may be buying so as not to block the view of others. Only in Japan.

We also went to Disny on Ice. It was interesting since it was all in Japanese. They did say some things occasionally in English so we could get the main idea of what was going on. Some of the songs they sang parts in English as well. I honestly only stayed interested for maybe the first hour at most, but after that, it was hard to really not be bored. I am glad that I went, but I think I'd like it better in English!!

I feel like there were so many other things that I have been wanting to blog about, but..it escapes my memory at the moment. Surprise, surprise. We are taking our classes to the ocean on Thursday. I'm pretty excited, it should be a lot of fun! A friend of ours from college, Chris, is coming to visit on Saturday. I am so excited to see him. My mom will also be here in a few weeks and I really can't wait. I have been pretty homesick since I was in Australia. A lot has happened back at home to contribute to me feeling that way.

I have about a month and a half to decide if I want to sign on for another year. I honestly can say I have absolutely no idea what I will do. There are some major points pulling me in both directions and I am not looking forward to having to really make the decision. I am just going to really try to pray about it, weigh my options, and choose what I think is the best choice for me. At this time, I have no clue what that is. There is a song that has really kind of hit home with me lately called "The Motions" by Matthew West. It talks about not just going through the motions of life, but actually living it. I feel like the majority of my life has been me going through the motions rather than really feeling or experiencing the things around me. It's hard to break that pattern, but I am really trying. There's a lot more I could say about that, but I feel like this post has gotten a bit long, so..maybe another day.

If anyone actually still reads this, some prayers for wisdom and guidance would be greatly appreciated in the next month and a half leading up to decison making time. In the meantime, I will be doing my best to enjoy my kids and love on them as much as possible. Sometimes, I forget why I am here and need to remind myself once again. I absolutely love the 16 kids that I have been blessed with for the past 6 months.

Australia!

Well, Australia was amazing. It exceeded my expectations as far as vacations go for sure! Here's a rough overview of what we did:

Saturday- Shopped at Target (yay!) walked around the town, went down to the Esplanade
Sunday- Went to the beach, shopped a bit, ate Mexican food (yummy!)
Monday-Went sea kayaking (saw a sea turtle, stingrays, random fish, barracudas, among others) Snorkeled a bit, licked a citrus ants butt (it tasted like lime!), fell asleep on the beach. Went to the theater and saw My Sisters Keeper and bawled through the whole movie pretty much, haha. :)
Tuesday- Shopped
Wednesday- Were supposed to go horseback riding/ATV riding through the bush but they forgot to pick us up. So, spur of the moment we decided to go bungee jumping. Jumped twice!! Pretty much the most amazing thing ever! Ate Mexican, again. :)
Thursday- Horseback riding and rode ATVs. Shopped in the Kuranda
Friday- Rented a car (we named her Tawanda!) she was a manual- it was interesting to say the least! Drove up the coast to a different(nicer) beach. Drove up the coast even further to Cape Tribulation and stayed in a hostel there. Saw the most amazing starry night imaginable. It was incredible. If you ever want to see an awesome display of stars, the middle of the rain forest is the place to do it!
Saturday- drove to a private beach - it was beautiful! We were the only people on the beach, which was both peaceful and a bit scary! (There were crocodile warning signs posted all over!) We went on a night walk through the rainforest- saw some really cool trees, a dragon, and some other stuff. Then we went out for the night to the "happening" spot in Cape Trib.
Sunday- Went to the ice cream factory- disappointing! It was not what you would envison an ice cream factory being by any means! We stopped at the WWII bomb site to get our cultural/historical experience in for the trip. Then we hung out on the beach for a while, then drove back down to Cairns.
Monday- Shopped around town
Tuesday- Went snorkeling and scuba diving. We saw a shark, sea turtle, Nemo, and a lot of other really cool looking fish! I went scuba diving and snorkeling twice each- it was amazing!!
Wednesday- Went to the beach and it started to rain. Went to the theater and watched another movie- The Ugly Truth.
Thursday- We rented scooters. It was so much fun! They were both bright yellow. I have decided, should I decide to stay in Japan another year, I am going to buy a scooter! In America, it might be a bit dorky..but here in Japan it's pretty much the norm. We drove our scooters up to the Crystal Cascades. That night we hung out at our hostel and played Trivia with everyone. Our team actually did pretty good!
Friday- We took a train up to the Kuranda. Held a koala, rode on an Army Duck, saw an Aboriginal show, threw a boomerang, watched a guy play the didgeridoo and throw spears, saw kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, cassowaries, dingos and a couple other cool animals. Then we took the skyrail back down- an awesome view!
Saturday- Went to the beach. A festival was beginning in Cairns, so we went to the parade and watched fireworks at night. We also had a mini didgeridoo lesson and got to play them! It's harder than it looks for sure!
Sunday- went to a Baptist church. It was the most awkward church service I have ever been in. There was a guest speaker, and when he went to take an offering at the end, one of the ladies in the back of the church started asking questions and arguing with him! I mean, arguing! Talk about hurting the guys offering! After church we went to the beach to get our last little bit of sun in. We got some Pizza Hut for dinner and packed up all of our stuff.
Monday- Left the hostel, got on a plane, flew to Tokyo, got on a bus, drove through the night, got on the subway, got in a taxi, finally arrived home! Had to work just a couple of hours later.

It was an amazing trip!! That was a very long summary, but..I didn't know how to shorten it. I mean, it is two weeks worth of activities! It was a much needed vacation, but it has been very hard getting back into the swing of things here in Japan. I miss America. I miss English. I miss having a social life outside of work! But, I know that I am here for a reason, and there are 16 beautiful children to remind me of that! These next two weeks are going to be crazy. My kids have to learn two dances for Field Day- dancing is not my expertise! Neither is teaching it, I am sure. But, the kids love it..and I know they will eventually get it. I am looking forward to my friend from college coming in September, and even more so to my mom coming in October! Can't believe it has almost been 7 months since I got here. Time is flying! I miss everyone back home though, that's for sure!!

Vacation!

I am leaving in about 5 hours to start the journey to Australia! I can't believe it is actually here. It still doesn't even seem real. We will take a bus to Tokyo (about 5-6 hours), find our way to the subway, head to the airport, get on a plane (about 8 hours) and we will be in Cairns! I am so excited and need a vacation so much right now.

Summer camp and summer school both went pretty well. It was a little overwhelming since I was the only new teacher that didn't really know what was going on. Camp was a blast. I didn't realize how much I actually missed my kids until I saw them all again. I had really missed them! At camp we made three crafts- bottle art, fans, and t-shirts. It was so cute, the kids loved it. Then we made these hats that looked like a campfire. We stuck sticks in the middle of the "flames" and put marshmallows on the ends of the sticks. So the hats looked like we were roasting marshmallows, cute. We wore these hats at night for our real campfire when we sang songs.

We had water play which was so much fun. The kids (okay, I did a little too) got to use finger paint to paint their bodies. I may have started a few "paint your friends" fights. :) For snacks afer water play we made ice cream sundaes. Yummy! Then we had challenges for all of the kids to do (ring toss, walk on stilts, those kinds of games) all over the campus. The kids were in groups and were given maps to follow. It was so cute to see them all stop and look at the map together to figure out where to go next. At the end of the challenges we went on a treasure hunt. The kids had previously made treasure boxes, so we used those to fill up with candy and toys and put them all inside of a big treasure box that we hid.

At night we had the campfire and s'mores, and then we went across the street to watch fireworks. This school goes all out on fireworks for camps. They were awesome! After that the teachers did a skit (Bear Hunt) and then we put all the kids to bed in tents inside of the gym. My kids loved playing in the tents, they thought it was so cool. I ended up sleeping with my girls. I started out in one spot but one of my girls kept rolling over and kicking me, so..I moved. Haha. She thought it was hilarious the next day when I told her that. I definitely didn't sleep very well though. Every little sound was keeping me awake. Some of these kids, this was the first time they had spent the night away from their parents so I was a little worried. They all did so great though. Two of my girls were up at 5:30 so I had to convince them to lay quietly until we were supposed to wake the kids (6:45).

That next morning we had breakfast, watched a video, then played some games in the gym. All in all I think it was a very successful camp and the kids really had fun. So did I, really. I was exhausted at the end, but it really was worth it.

Summer school went well. Just longer days and some special things everyday. It was hard saying goodbye to my kids this time. It will be 21 days until I see them all again. But, at least this time I will be thinking about them while laying on a beach. :)

All of the craziness lately has thrown my back out of whack. I've gone to the chiropractor off and on since I've been in Japan, but lately it was just been really bad. I ended up going two times this week and really should have gone again. I actually went by myself this week, without a translator. My chiropractor actually knew English, who knew! I mean, not a ton, but enough to tell me what to do and to ask me simple questions. I've decided the difference between chiropractors in America and ones here. In America (as is everything else) it's all about speed. You are in, cracked, rubbed a little maybe, and then you are done. It is all so fast and so forceful. Here, however, they are all about slowly moving things back into place. At first, I thought it was weird and unnecessary. I am there for at least a half hour sometimes more, and the entire time he is working on me. I think I am starting to prefer the chiropractor here..less shock to my body, I think.

Anyway, this was a very choppy blog. It is 2:35am and I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I thought I would get stuff about summer camp down before I go to Australia and forget everything around me. I can not wait to relax on the beach. This will probably be the last post until I am back from Cairns and back in the swing of things. Thank the Lord for vacations!!

Busy, busy, busy

I don't even know where to start to catch you up since the last time I blogged. I can't even remember everything to be honest. I know one weekend I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. Except when they say it in Japanese it sounds like "Harry Potato" haha.

Let's see, I had parent interviews (basically parent-teacher conferences) a few weeks ago. Overall they went pretty well. I was nervous about a couple. I don't like telling parents the bad things about their kids. Sometimes I still feel like, "who am I to tell them about their kids." But, then I have to remember that I am their teacher, that's who I am. I may not know as much as I'd like to know, but I do spend the time with them and I do see what's going on. Two moms inparticular were really hard for me. I mean, they are really nice moms, it was just hard to say the things that I needed to say. One because of behavior issues both at school and at home, and the other because her kid is pretty far behind where he should be. But, on the flip side, I loved telling parents how great their kids are doing. I loved telling those same two moms all of the amazing things about their kids. The kids in my class are so awesome!

Last week was a work week, no kids. It was filled with meetings and making up a pom pom and parachute dance. If I ever wanted to be a cheerleader (I didn't) I am definitely getting my fill of it now. K-4 does a parachute dance while K-5 uses pom poms and dances around them. We are doing it to The Circle of Life from the Lion King. It's going to be really stinking cute when the kids do it. We do this for Field Day which is sometime in September. The parents and families come and we do our dance, and some other outdoor activities which I have yet to learn.

This weekend starts our camp and summer school. K-5 has camp Friday and Saturday. The kids come at 9am Friday and we do three different crafts, 7 different fun activities around the campus, and then have water play. Then we have a campfire and stuff at night and the kids all sleep over in tents that are set up in the gym. Then we get up bright and early, eat breakfast, play some more games, and send the kids home right before lunch. That will be a long two days for sure! But, it will be so much fun. Then we have Sunday off and come back and have summer school Monday through Wednesday. Summer school is kinda just a longer more fun version of regular school. The kids are there a few hours longer and we do special snacks and stuff everyday. Then, one work day to get things ready for the next level and then I am off to Australia! I can't believe it, it hasn't sunk in at all yet!

This past weekend was an amazing weekend. I actually felt like a real person for the first time in a long time to be honest. It seems like my entire life is my job. I live at my job, hang out with people from my job- it's like a bubble really. Well, Friday night Sarah and I went out to dinner and then borrowed DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) from a friend and played that for quite a while. Then Saturday night we met up with Aki (one of the girls we work with) and one of her friends. We went with them to a park and watched this incredible band play. Aki was friends with some of the people in the band. I had so much fun. We met a bunch of people and even though they didn't speak much English it was so nice to be out and be social. The band was kind of a jazz-type band. Kind of a little bit like ska music, really. But, they played some songs that I actually knew, and they really were just quite good. The concert was outside, and it was pouring down rain before the band went on. We were soaked, and it rained off and on througout their set, but nobody really seemed to mind. I haven't had that much fun in a while.

On Sunday, I went to the beach. One of my little girls, Mary, does hula dancing and she had a show on the beach. She was so cute in her little outfit and she did such a great job! After her dance we just hung out with her family. They are the cutest family ever. She has a younger brother and a baby sister. Her mom is young and hip and so sweet. Her grandmother was so nice and kept offering us food and drinks and places to sit. We went out and played in the ocean with the kids and sat and talked to the family as much as we could. Luckily, Aki was with us so we could talk a little bit more since they don't know much English. I loved hanging out with that family though.

10 days until Australia. It will be much needed after the next 10 days! I can't wait.

I know this wasn't the most interesting blog ever, and it was pretty jumbled, but I just wanted to get down some of what's been going on with me. Partly for you, if anyone even reads this anymore, and partly for me. I want to remember this stuff, and if I don't write it down I am going to forget so much. So, I really am going to try to be better at being a bit more consistent in my blogging habits. Until next time..

Thankful for the weekend

I am so thankful for weekends. Without them, I would go crazy! Ha. It's like the week is just long enough to put you on the edge of crazy and then the weekend just swoops in and brings you back a few feet. Today was mix and match day for us. It was also special snack day, which was kind of disastrous. The original plan was for each kid to make a word using cookie cutters out of sugar cookie dough. But, the dough was way too sticky and the letters were too small that it was not working. We quickly switched gears (thanks to my co-teacher Anne) and decided to use a round cookie cutter and then have the kids write words with toothpicks on the top. Not as exciting, but I think the kids still enjoyed it.
Mix and match day was so cute. I wore two different shoes, two different socks, one pant leg rolled up, a skirt over my jeans, a polo shirt, a polka dot shirt over that, and then a Cards jersey unbuttoned over that. My hair was in a high pig tail and a low one. I was looking pretty amazing if I do say so myself. :) Some of my kids went all out as well. It's awesome how much parents get into this stuff. My kids always look so great for all of our special days.

Speaking of parents, sometimes they are a bit too involved. We have had more drama and issues because of the parents than the kids. They get into the kids problems, they don't let things go, and they gossip. So bad. There are nights I leave work at 5:30, sometimes even 6 and I still have moms standing outside talking. The kids go home at 2:15! It really makes an impact on the kids, they start treating certain kids differently. Yesterday we got both of the classes together and my boss came in and talked to them all in Japanese about how they should treat each other, and about forgiveness and what it really means. I hope it sunk in with them, because things have gone a little too far.

We only have two more weeks of class. Then almost two weeks of work days, then summer camp and summer school and then we are finished with the first trimester! Crazy. Australia is only a little over a month away! I was just talking to Sarah tonight about all of the tickets I have bought since I have been here. Airplane ticket to South Korea, bus tickets to Tokyo, airline ticket to Australia, airline ticket home for Christmas. That's a lot of tickets for only being here 5 months. I'm thankful that I am able to though, that's for sure!

When you're a celebrity...

I am so thankful for this weekend. I went to the cabin on the ocean and it was wonderful! Sarah and I drove down Friday night after work. We cooked dinner and ate out on the deck under the stars overlooking the ocean. It was so nice! The next day we cooked breakfast and then went and hung out on the beach all day. The water was a little cold, but not so cold we couldn't get in. It was so nice out! We definitely got some sun!

The beach in Japan is a completely different experience than a beach in America. First of all, everyone is wearing clothes. Longer pants, at least a short sleeved shirt, hats, and lots of umbrellas. I'm pretty sure Sarah and I had on the most revealing outfits and our suits are pretty non-revealing compared to most back home! Guys were pretty much the same I guess, some of them anyway. They just wore shorts or swimming trunks. Oh, there were naked little kids running around too. I just mean, the girls/women dressed very modestly at the beach. They believe the whiter you are, the more beautiful, so they avoid the sun getting to their skin. Weird, American girls think exactly opposite that usually!

Sarah and I got videotaped walking down the beach. We were probably on the news or something. I saw the dudes with the camera and made a joke about them taping the American girls, and sure enough the next thing we know they whip the camera up and point it right at us as we walked down the beach. We just laughed. The way people are to us here is a little ridiculous. People act like they've never seen a non-Asian before. They stare at us and talk about us all of the time. It's a little weird. I guess it's a small glimpse into the life of a celebrity! Haha!

Speaking of celebrities, can I just say how sad I think this whole thing is with John and Kate Plus 8. I mean, I'm not some crazy obsessed person, but it truly breaks my heart. They are real people, real kids, and that was a real family. They truly seem like good people that got lost in the wrong things and they forgot about the important things. Watching the episodes truly makes me want to cry. My heart breaks for those kids more than anything.

On another note, I miss going to church. I miss church so much. I never realized how much I took it for granted. I haven't been to church in almost 5 months. There aren't any English speaking churches anywhere around. We do have a little gathering/fellowship thing on Sunday nights with the American staff from school. They play songs, give testimonies, have a little message and such. It's not the same though. Nowhere near the same. It's a totally different experience not having God (or at least the word and an opportunity to worship) spoon-fed to you at least once a week. You don't realize how lucky you are to have that opportunity until, well, you don't. At the same time, it's definitely a way to develop your relationship with him in a completely different way.

I miss my family, I miss my friends, and I miss church. Those are the things I miss the most these days.

Teacher or mother?

I am so bad at keeping up with a blog. I'm trying though. Lets see..two weekends ago was Kids and Parents Day. This was an extremely stressful time. I worked way way way too many hours getting ready for this day and then was exhausted when it finally came. I think everything went pretty well though, but I am very glad it's over. This was an extremely intimidating day. Not only are you judged on your teaching you are also judged on your room- it had to be perfect. Japanese people are all about presentation, so..I tried my best to make everything look perfect. The day started out with greeting the kids and their parents. Then the kids went and did pony rides. After that, everyone came inside and I taught a 40 minute circle. Doesn't sound so bad, but.. I had close to 40 people in my room just watching me. Overall the teaching part went well. I had one little boy who was kinda making noises and stuff, and then a lot of my dry erase markers stopped working when the kids were writing their words. But, if that's the worst that happened, I was happy.
After that we went down to the play hall and played relay games. The kids loved this and it was fun to watch! The kids did relays with their moms and then their dads. Then we did the Hokey Pokey. Then we went outside and had a bbq. It rained a little, but over all was a pretty nice day.

We had the day off on Monday the 15th. Sarah and I went to the waterfalls. We packed a lunch and ate down by the water. Since it was semi-hot, we decided to be daring and try to get in the water. It was so so so cold. I mean, it hurt my feet to stand in it for even just a couple of seconds. We got in it a little bit, but it was just entirely too cold. We had fun though. It was a nice relaxing day, and nice to get away.

This past weekend, I went and saw the new Transformers movie. It actually came out in Japan before America. We usually get movies a couple months after America, but for some reason this one was early. Saturday I got another massage. It was pretty good. The girl I had this time had some crazy strong hands. She was itty bitty too! I have bruises on my back from her working out my knots! Saturday night there was a potluck dinner where everyone just kind of came to hang out.

I can not believe it is the last full week of June. We started level 13 today in my class. We started at 11 and go to 20. In less than a month the first trimester will be over. Crazy! We have parent interviews (like parent-teacher conferences) in a couple of weeks, then summer school, then..Australia!!! Let me tell you, as much as I am looking forward to Australia, I am not looking forward to parent interviews. Those alone honestly make me not want to be a teacher. Ugh..I hate talking to parents about how their kids are in the classroom, it intimidates me!

Today was an interesting day. I felt way more like a mommy than a teacher. I had six kids cry today. Two kids needed a change of clothes. Sorted out at least four arguments/problems through some broken English and tears. Cleaned cuts and put on several band-aids. All that on top of the normal everyday mom-type stuff that I have to do. I love my kids, but today was a bit draining!!

This weekend I am going to the cabin on the ocean. I am so excited. It will be so nice to get away and just relax with a few people by the water. I am hoping it is hot and sunny!! It has been raining so much, I just want a little bit of summer this weekend.