June flew past so, so quickly! I don't even know where it went. This was a very strange June for me. Having been a student or teacher living in the US for every other June of my life, June is a point of change: the school year ends and I switch to summer mode, either working a second job or going to grad school. Last year was the exception, as I prepared for our move after my days at PV came to a close. However, the school year is different here in Japan. The school year starts during the first week of April, so by the time June rolls around, it's in full swing. So all of June I went to work. But two pieces of good news: "Work" is a loose term, as I only part-time, and Summer Break is just around the corner. I have off this week while the students take exams (Bonus to working in a school where you can't read or speak the language: you don't have to grade papers!) and next week is only morning classes. The following week is the beginning of Summer Break. And you know what happens that week?? We fly to Hawaii!!! And then after a week we fly to Ohio!!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. So here's what I did in June.
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| This is at the "Shrine Sale" at Machida, just a quick train ride away. I don't know what they're really called, but us Gaijin call them Shrine Sales. They're pretty much flea markets full of different vendors selling cool antiques. And of course they're extra cool to us because they're Japanese antiques. They usually start early, 5:00am, and I hear that's when you can really get the good deals. I, of course, go much later, when there aren't as many "deals". Turns out these antiques are expensive! There was a man who had lots of clocks to sell. Bryan found one that said US Navy and it was from an old ship. We asked him how much it was and he answered, "Very expensive!" and had a serious look on his face and then showed us the back of the clock that said 200,000 yen. That's $2,000! There is of course much, much more affordable items that we can afford, but wow! My favorites are vintage kimonos, yukatas, obis, and dishes. |
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| This is a picture I took right outside of base while I was stopped at a light. I just thought it was very Japanese--The car on the right is a Koban officer, the police. The local police drive little tiny Nissan Marches. I'm very used to it now, but at first it was really funny. I do not like the vans on the left. Note the speaker on the back of it. They drive around yelling things, either an actual person with a microphone or a recording. I think most of them are political advertisements, but I'm not sure what the rest are trying to convince me about. Sometimes they stop in front of my house for several minutes if traffic isn't bad, just because there are many huge apartment buildings around me. |
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| We had a little party at our house. Someone brought a bag of balloons (no idea why) and next thing I know, Bryan started making hats for everyone. I tried to assure Mariko and Naomi, our Japanese friends, that this was by no means normal for our age. Turns out Mariko has some pretty sweet balloon animal-making skills though! |
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| Two of my fabulous co-workers, Namie and Ayako, came to my house for dinner and baking. They were both so sweet and brought a present-- Namie brought bubbly Umeshu, plum wine, (oishii!) and Ayako brought flowers. We had dinner and then made banana bread. So glad they could come over! |
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| I went to lunch with Allie and her neighbor, Sonoka. Sonoka chose a place that serves all organic dishes. I had apple juice, hot tea, fresh bread, and then the tray in the picture. I forget what everything was, but it was very good. Then we also got a very nice piece of roasted beef. I think dessert was fresh fruit. So fun! |
Speaking of fun, Bryan organized a big group of us to to the Warrior Dash. I believe it's one of the first Warrior Dashes in Japan. It was held at a place called Sagamiko Pleasure Forest. I can't make this stuff up, guys! There was a prize for the best costume, which helped encourage some people to really bring their A-game. I didn't have a camera to document the actual run and obstacles, but besides the addition of some big hills, I think it was very similar to the ones back home. To see the awesome costumes, check out Warrior Dash Japan on Facebook.
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| Sweet outfits, huh? They may not be award-winning, but I thought we looked pretty good. |
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| After the run! One of Bryan's closest co-workers, Hiroko, ran with us too! |
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| Just a small example of some costumes--a school girl and a Geisha. |
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| After we we cleaned up from Warrior Dash, we had a joint birthday party for Bryan and Steve. I made the cake that Bryan had requested, a strawberry cake with Oreo cream icing. |
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| I don't think there is a season when Japan isn't decked out in beautiful flowers. Several of my neighbors have these vine-like plants with gorgeous orange blossoms on them. I now realize that this picture doesn't do the flowers any justice. |
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| There are gorgeous hydrangeas everywhere, in all shades of purple, pink and blue. We went to Kamakura, which is south of us a bit, because one of my co-workers told me that there was a whole shrine (park) completely full of them. They close at 5:00. We arrived at 5:30. This picture is taken on the walk to the shrine. Maybe next week will work out better. |
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| Do you remember the line in Despicable Me, "It's so fluffy I'm going to die!!!"?? When I look at my new flowers I want to scream, "It's so hot-pink I'm going to die!!!". The first flowers that Bryan ever got me were these, Stargazer Lilies. They have a very distinct smell, and while some people don't care for it, I love it. I guess I'm rather biased towards it since their smell reminds me of when we first started dating. I planted these back in the fall and they have finally bloomed. When they first sprouted, I over-watered them, which almost killed them. But one of the three bulbs lived to bloom! |
That's all for June. Hope you enjoyed it! I went to a local farmers market this morning with Jimena and I found some great deals. I sauteed a bunch of veggies and added in some canned tomatoes and spices to make a delicious sauce and then I'm going to make some eggplant Parmesan to go with it. It's not going to fix itself, so I better get on that!
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