Good Evening to you,

Peter is napping, the neighborhood is quiet outside and I have a steaming cup of green tea to keep me company as I write. It’s hard to believe I have been in Japan now two weeks. It’s even harder to imagine the the flight to Toyama from Tokyo just one week ago. It all just seems an abstract dream...

I must say that in these past two weeks, any lack of confidence in my ability to thrive here has been readily restored by the love and support sent by all of you. I apologize if I haven’t been quick to respond, though please know how meaningful your messages are to me. :)

Well, the first thing to note is the amazing day Peter and I spent in Kanazawa last Saturday for my 23rd birthday. After 3 days of freezing rain (and freezing our buns off) in Toyama, we were ecstatic to find clear skies and a warm breeze as we set off for our first trip outside of the prefecture. We caught the train at Toyama station after decoding the schedule (thank goodness for Peter’s ability to read Kanji!) and arrived in Kanazawa an hour later. Instantly we agreed, “Kanazawa has a lot more money than Toyama.” The station was spacious and luxurious with a heated hall filled with restaurants and boutiques. The entrance to the station is a glass dome 3 stories high, an impressive wooden structure reminiscent of shinto shrine entrances and a beautiful fountain that welcomes you to Kanazawa in water writing! It became instantly clear that this small city has many attractions for tourists, foreign and domestic alike.

Walking along in the calm of morning, we stopped briefly to buy a hot coffee out of one of the many vending machines that line almost every street in Japan. Tanzanian, Turkish or Italian roast? Milk? Sugar? Hot green tea? Or do you prefer iced? You decide! It’s all there in one vending machine just beckoning for 100 yen and for you to push a button! These hot drinks also make for excellent hand warmers on colder days! : )

Our first stop was Kenroku-en garden - rated 3rd best in Japan! The guide book recommends you visit the garden early morning or late afternoon because it can get pretty congested otherwise. Arriving about 10 a.m. there was already a fair crowd, although to our delight, they were almost all Japanese tourists. We meandered along the gravel pathways, across stone bridges, up and down bamboo staircases and finally rested our feet in the garden’s very own tea house. This was a special treat! Removing our shoes at the entrance, we proceeded into on open room containing nothing but cloth mats on the floor where we knelt, as directed by a woman wearing a violet kimono. We were presented with bowls of matcha - a powdered green tea that when whisked with hot water in a large bowl, creates a frothy and energizing beverage. Set beside the tea was what looked like a delicately wrapped present and small piece of wood on a blue ceramic plate. The “present” was a dessert made of sweetened bean paste that we ate by slicing off small sections with the wooden stick. The woman bowed to each of us deeply, both hands on the floor and thanked us for coming. We, in return, bowed and thanked her. I enjoyed watching the Japanese visitors across the mat and took my cues from them. Obviously familiar with the tea ceremony, they turned their bowls counter-clockwise three times, drinking from the opposite side than was presented to them and then three turns back to the original position, before returning the bowls to the floor. It all went rather quickly as the women in kimonos rushed about to receive new guests and bowed to parting ones. Outside the tea house was another exquisite garden with a pond and adjacent to the tea-sipping room was a second room, sunny and void of people. In silence we sat kneeling at the window, gazing at the garden, engrossed in that moment.

Alas, the gardens are truly beautiful. Peter and I already have plans to stay a weekend in Kanazawa, in order to be the privileged and premier visitors of the garden that day!

Afterwards, we toured the castle grounds across from the garden and realized how hungry we were. Our energy dropping quickly and a threat of the grumps coming on, we headed back towards town to grab a bight to eat and check the train schedule. On our way, we walked through Kanazawa’s bustling market. Endless stalls selling fish and squid were treats for the eyes, if not a delight to the nose. However, we did cross paths with a vendor selling pancakes in the shape of fish, filled with goma (sweet bean paste) or vanilla custard. Watching the family in front of us purchase an armful of fish pancakes, we pointed towards what they had ordered and gestured “two.” Pretty meager communication skills, indeed, but it got us the snack we were hoping for! At the train station, we ordered a couple of noodle bowls because they are delicious and very easy to order. “Sansai soba, kudasai,” I say. Then the woman at the counter shouts back to the kitchen “Ichi sansai soba!”(Sansai soba = mountain vegetables over soba noodles in a hot, salty broth) I have come to love these little noodle shops. The meals are cheap and the atmosphere inside is warm and welcoming... and there are usually pictures of the meals, which helps me understand what I’ll be eating! Sansai soba normally costs about 600 yen ($6) but Peter and I have discovered that at the City Hall cafeteria, you can get lunch for 350 yen hot tea included!

We spent the afternoon walking along the side streets of Kanazawa, making our way to the samurai neighborhood. This tiny section of the city was once home to samurai worriers and has maintained a sense of “Old Japan.” The cobbled streets can barely accommodate one car, the walls on either side are made of compact, golden earth and the architecture of the houses is from a previous era. Walking back from this quarter, we “took the canal.” The water running through this stone canal is crystal clear and winds its way through the quaint neighborhoods of Kanazawa, which means there are tiny bridges at every turn. People even have mini bridges for their driveways!

Having bought groceries at a local super market for a birthday feast, we headed back to the station and awaited our train over coffee and a baguette at “The German Cafe” - a chain here. An hour later, we boarded. With the heaters under every seat, plus the steady rocking, it is extremely hard not to fall asleep on Japanese trains and everyone seems to do it! Fortunately, Japan is a VERY safe place so being robbed as you doze is the last thing on anyone’s mind.

Anyhow, by now Peter is well awake and has made a smashing dinner of egg sandwiches and home fries so I must be off! Another nice meal in our little “hamster box,” as we are so fondly calling it these days. : )

Konichiwa!

It’s been one week since my arrival in Japan. I am grinning as I write this since “one week” means nothing to me right now. I have very little concept of time and I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am in Japan. The only way possible is to imagine a world map. See the red dot on the west coast of Japan where Toyama City is located? Voila, me. Now zoom out and throw pins on familiar places. These locations - The North East, Oregon, California, even places that once seemed far away like Switzerland and Ecuador - are all VERY far from that red dot. Not to say that I am shaking in my booties over on this side of Earth. After all, I’m here with Peter while Lindsay & Sune live just an hour away!

It’s been a whirlwind first week! I spent 5 days at a hotel outside of Tokyo for my training with Interac Inc. An educational corporation, their philosophy is “fostering global communication,” as well as a “zest for living!” Their words, not mine. Basically, my role as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) is to create a fun atmosphere in the classroom. My goal is not to TEACH English, but rather, to inspire kids to learn it. I am there to ooze creativity, positive energy and to praise and encourage the students. From this, the hope is that Japanese students will feel less daunted by English and have at least one class during the day that’s FUN! I was surprised (and quite relieved) to learn the details of my position here. Grammar instructor? Nope. Disciplinarian? Not at all. The ALT gets to be the teacher that all the kids actually like! Overall, training was extremely thorough and informative. However, Peter and I were dying to leave behind the stale air of the hotel and see some REAL Japan! Sune, Lindsay, Peter and I did have a nice dinner in Narita Village on our last evening together. Laughing about all the memorable moments of training, we sipped gingerale and munched on rice, miso soup, radishes, carrots and greens covered in various sauces. I spied on an American ALT (fresh off the plane) attempting to have a dinner date with an attractive Japanese woman who looked absolutely confused by all his ramblings, although probably happy with her free meal. : )

The only disappointing thing Peter and I have faced is our housing arrangements.

Apparently, Interac did not get the message that we planned to live together so they assigned us separate places, even though we clearly stated “joint housing” several times before leaving the States. So we are living in what would have been my apartment if I had done this alone. It is small but cute and in a really peaceful neighborhood with rice paddies and mini daikon radish gardens scattered about randomly. We'll probably be moving to a place closer to downtown, which will put us in between Peter's schools (he is teaching at two) and my one. We will both be teaching Junior High school. I am at the largest one in the prefecture and my Vice President (here, the head of school) is also the head of Toyama’s Board of Education! So guess who's gonna be OOBER nervous her first day?!

Otherwise, things are funny here. Quirky in a good way. The doctor’s masks will take some getting used to. People where them driving, at the post office, riding their bike, everywhere! For me, white masks over the mouth signal “surgery, serious, ER” so it’s alarming to see someone stepping off an elevator at a hotel wearing one as to not spread their cold! I do enjoy removing my shoes whenever entering the apartment and the efficiency of the architecture here. I imagine making friends will be challenging since the people are extremely reserved. That said, I can't imagine doing this alone! Peter and I just keep thanking our lucky stars that we are in this together. The sum total of his Japanese skills and mine is so meager that any encounter is just painful. But I am excited to study and learn, proceeding one day at a time. Example? I walked into a grocery store today, greeted the clerk, paid for my snack and said in Japanese "hai hyaku go ju en des" (here is 150 yen) and then and then and then... she repeated what I had said and nodded yes!!! Then I thanked her and she mumbled a huge amount of thank you's and have a good day's in my direction and I left. Nothing groundbreaking but the simple exchange had me skipping out of the store! This transition is simply a humungous puzzle; daunting at first, I just have to keep adding to it piece by piece and maybe (4 months from now? 8 months? 12?) the image will take shape. Haha though in the meantime, I just wander around cluelessly.

Peter and I have now made two great dinners for ourselves after standing in awe among the grocery aisles at all the new products! It's funny not being able to read the labels of anything you buy. I feel like a tiny child just focusing on the colors and textures of things. This is the “soft” tofu (poke) and here is the “firm” tofu (poke poke). We just finished slurping down a miso soup with udon noodles, tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, onion & garlic. Delicious! This type of cooking is ultimately my favorite, plus the healthiest, so it's nice to walk into the supermarket and see nothing but rice, noodles, fish, veggies, fruits, bean pastes and soy sauces galore just beckoning to be whipped up into something simple and oishii (delicious).

Alright then, big meeting with the BOE (Board of Education) tomorrow. Sayoonara!

Preparing for departure... T-minus 7 days!

One week remains before I leave for Japan. If we have talked on the phone recently, then you know that I am ecstatic for this trip! Spending time in Maine with family and friends, and more recently 3 months in California, have granted me time to calm my rhythm a bit, to gain some perspective. This week, I feel more energized for Japan than any other trip I've prepared for.

My phone is soon being sent home to its rightful owner but if you get a chance to call during this last week, I'd love to hear from you. Otherwise, electronic messaging will have to do. Now... Packing!