PS I found the BEE!!!

PS! I found the BEE!! It was dead (SWEET VICTORY) and was caught in the strainer in my sink. Gross I know. Not the first animal to die in the evil, life draining sink!!! BEHOLD: The freaky scary SPIDER I found last week.


And, as bugs as my witness, it shall not be the last. I should post this picture on my door as a warning. Mess with the house and you get the sink!!! Bugs...the biggest drawback to spring.

A little light humor to end the night.

A Month and A Day; The time of Upheaval

“Light up, light up,
As if you have a choice,
Even if you can not hear my voice,
I'll be right beside you dear,
Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives,
I can hardly speak, I understand,
Why you can't raise your voice to say..." ~Snow Patrol, Run

Boy, this is going to be a hard one to blog about. On Friday, March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan.

Urged by my 'Units' I began a blog on my laptop about my feelings, what happened, how things were, and frankly, I had to stop. I passed a point were I could only take so much or write about so much. I wanted, and kept meaning to, update this, because getting what I had stopped up out was important and healthy. But for the longest time I couldn't. So many days this past month, I have done everything and anything to not think about the devastation a mere 200 miles south of me. Even after gentle prods from my family, I couldn't muster the energy needed for this update. Finally, I gave myself an ultimatum, I had to update when the last bit of snow in front of my house melted. I had the barest, most pathetic mound (mound might even be too grand a word) lingering on the ground last night. This morning, as I locked my door, I turned to the spot and saw it was now only a damp patch of crushed grass. The time had come.


Thursday (the 10th) night my cross broke. The four-way metal my grandma had given me before I left for Japan had separated from the chain and popped right off. I never take my metal off. Ever. It’s my worry-stone, my good-luck charm, my link to a person who loves me completely and without judgment. It's a powerful item to me, not because it was a cross, but because it was gift. The fact that it broke did not bode well for my superstitious nature and when it broke, I automatically thought of my grandma at home. She is very, very ill and for a heartbeat or two, I panicked. I called my mother and to my relief, all was well on the home front. Satisfied, I set the cross beside my bed, promised to hook it back onto the chain in the morning, and went to sleep.

I forgot to fix it in the morning. I wore an empty chain to work. I noticed it was missing during my second class. I even showed it to my students, although most of the girls had already noticed. I felt off, as I always do when I misplace any of my five stable jewelry items.
These are the five items, all of them mean something special to me, and I feel just plain weird not wearing any of them.

But as there was nothing I could do, I shrugged it off and continued my day. Last class was with my first years. Class 1-3.

I distinctly remember looking at the clock and thinking 'OH! Its 2:45! Only five more minutes.' Five long minutes before this lesson is over, my day is done, and my weekend begins. My Friday, last class, mental pep talk. No matter how much I love my job, when its Friday, baby, its Friday.

2:46. I was talking when it happened. The first year students of class three all had their English textbooks opened to page 95. It was the normal ‘read and repeat’ that I do in every junior high school classroom. Today I was ‘Ms. Green’ from the prepared conversation. I had just said the line, “Yes, I did. I had a nice time.” I was waiting for the students to repeat after, when the murmuring started.


I looked at my co-teacher in confusion, why weren’t they repeating? And that's when the screaming started, and finally, finally I began to register what everyone else was feeling. The ground was lurching; literally rolling and shaking beneath my feet. I managed to pick out the word the kids were screaming. Jishin. Earthquake. A word I don't think I will ever forget.

It lasted forever. I was near the windows, in hindsight, not the best place to be, but it was my first big earthquake—I am not trained nor used to emergency procedures involving moving ground. Give me a tornado to tangle with, and you got a prepared girl, but earthquakes- completely out of my jurisdiction. Not that I could have really run anyway.

There are vivid parts that stand out. I remember the windows clearly because the sun was shining. It was shining. I think a part of my brain didn’t, couldn't register that something bad was happening because the sunlight was sparkling through the glass. I suppose I thought all bad earthquakes called for dark, cloudy days. Mood appropriate weather. But it was sunny and rather beautiful. A day that promises spring is coming.

I also remember the fish tank. Class 1-3 is the only class in the school that has something like a pet in it. There were two large fish (don’t ask me as I couldn’t tell you what they are, that is E’s forte not mine) and the water was going all over the place. I reached out a hand to try and keep it from falling. I think I might have even cried out ‘Save the Fish’. It was intensely surreal.

Something I didn’t expect either was the light-headedness. I felt faint and distinctly….odd. Like my head wasn't quite attached to my body. I talked to other people and they also felt that sensation.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. It had lasted for two minutes, which doesn't sound long, but for earthquakes, thats an eternity. My poor friend up on higher ground felt it longer and more intensely than I did. We had a couple of moments of the kids chattering and laughing then the bell rang. Walking down the hall, I passed a room with a teacher and all the students surrounding it. I kept going. I went down the stairs to the teacher’s office. They had the TV on. A Tsunami was bearing down on the coast.
The office ladies were gasping. This is what I saw. It was live feed for me, and boy was it surreal. I will kept using that word over and over and over again, because that is how I felt that day. Even now, I look at the pictures and read the stories and its just beyond comphernsion, the devastation. This is my picture of the TV in the teachers office. Live feed.


All the teachers were riveted. In fact, the Vice Principal had to gently scold them. “All the teachers are here, who is with the students?” That was when we felt an aftershock. We all monitored the tall office plants to see when they would start swaying.

The teachers left the office to corral the kids into the gym. The office ladies and myself continued to watch the TV. We were shocked as cars were actually driving along side of the tsunami. They were driving so slow, just so slow, and they couldn't see it coming, or they didn't realize how bad it was. The office ladies and I were yelling at TV, telling the people to run. That is about when the sirens began in Mori. It was our tsunami sirens.

I watched the tsunami hit on TV and it really didn't register it would be coming to Mori. I will never forget looking out of the office and seeing the ocean. All of the boats along the bay were at sea. It was a sea of white. If sailors have warning, they get in their boats and they take them out to sea. Boats in a tsunami won't do this. This image is from Ponyo, a Studio Ghibli movie. I highly recommend watching it. I have been to the location where this was inspired, Tomo No Ura. This is Ponyo's version of boats in a tsunami.

In reality, boats in a tsunami become weapons, crashing into houses, buildings, and anything in their path. By taking them out to sea, the fisherman ride the wave, for the most part, and save both the boat and anything the boat would have destroyed. For the people on the coastal regions of Japan, fishing is more than a way to provide for their family, its apart of the Japanese culture and heritage. The boats that were saved also came in handy after the tsunami. Photo from MSN.

Now this, Ponyo nailed.


My hours are 8:15 to 4:00. That last hour passed in the blink of an eye. I called my friend to see if she was ok. I left messages on my mom's voicemail. At the time, I didn't think it was going to be the biggest disaster Japan has faced since WWII. I would have woken her up if I had known. Because of the warnings, all the buses were canceled and the children stayed in the gym. Our school was the evacuation location for tsunamis anyway, so the kids just stayed. And waited. We all waited. When the tsunami didn't come at 4:30 and the forecast for Mori was only two meters, I went home. It was going to peak during the night anyway, and my house was only two minutes from the school. The insidious nature of a tsunami beyond the horrific initial strike, is that recedes and then comes back, pushing farther and then lingering.



Ok. So this is a map of Northern Japan. It cuts off the rest of Hokkaido, but thats ok. The orange arrow points to Mori. That is where yours truly lives. The pink arrow points to the epicenter of the quake, the coastline beside the pink arrow and further south were the hardest hit. Iwate was one of the 'Big Three' prefectures that got the brunt of the disaster. Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. The red arrow points to why I didn't get the brunt of the tsunami, by the lay of the land and Uchiura Bay.

Now the yellow arrow points to Hakodate. Hakodate acted as a wave break, and took much more damage than Mori did. In fact, Hokkaido's only death was in Hakodate. Now, Hakodate is my hangout. Its where my Starbucks (see other posts) is, its where I go shopping, its got the closest McDonalds. I know Hakodate. So when I was at home, watching the TV, trying to understand what the hell was happening, when I saw this, it really seemed to bring it all home for me. It was when I knew that this was real.

My Starbucks. My hangout. WHAM. See all of it, the footage on TV, the sirens, even the quake didn't feel real. I mean, the images on TV? I just had watched The Hereafter, (which depicts the 2004 Tsunami) I thought Deep Impact, I thought 2012. It looked like a movie. I swear it did. When I saw the live video from Hakodate, it meant that it wasn't a dream. It became real and I woke up.

I called my dad and stepmom first, they were working on the east coast and would be up before the rest of the family. I talked to them for about 30 minutes. The English version of information on the web and on the news at home was contrasting the little I managed to understand from the news. I can not tell you how horrible was it was to not understand-- I have never felt the language barrier more acutely.

I then called my mom. My aunt, who, had been watching this unfold on PBS since 2 AM (she is a bit of an insomniac) had called my mom and they were having a full blown panic. Would I have called them sooner had I known. Whereas my dad and my stepmom are cool under pressure, I have never heard my mom more distraught. International lines were down and the internet, (bless skype) was only way to contact home, which is great if you have internet, but my mother doesn't. She had been trying and trying and trying to call me. I am sure she thought I was dead. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for my family and friends for the short amount of time they didn't know if I was ok or not.

Family, friends; I love you all very much. I want to say thank you to all the people who called, emailed, facebooked, or stopped by and asked after me and looked after my family. Thank you so very much for doing that, if I could hug you all I would.

What was so weird about the disaster was how normal everything seemed in Mori. Despite the heartrending images on TV, life continued here. No one talked about the radiation, instead we talked about graduation, which happened on the 15th. March, which is already a time of change (end of our school year), was full of upheaval. It was perhaps the most stressful time of my life. Besides the concerns about the disaster, which stressed me, I also came to deeply resent the media firestorm that erupted and fanned my loved ones into a panic.

I also got new English teachers, new principals, new co-workers in the office. There were retirement ceremonies, welcome ceremonies and I had four different welcome and good bye parties to attend. In fact I have one next week to go to! Graduation saw many of my beloved third years gone. Like one who wrote this:


My grandmother flew to New York and had surgery, which ended up failing. I threw my back out. I went on a vacation I had planed for months, there were no refunds. Turned out to be a good stress reliever though. I will upload more pictures tomorrow of the crazy stressful, ultra hectic, and completely heart-breaking month. I will wrap up this update as it has gotten late and bed time beckons. Take care, all of you wanderers. Love you family and friends!
Best Wishes always from me.

The All Seeing Light in my Kitchen

Good Evening everyone!

Hope that life is peachy king, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. As long as its not something bad. For then I must shuuuunnnnnn you! >.> *a crazy reference to a crazy youtube video made popular by Hot Topic, Millions of teens, and Poprocks---ok, ok, I just threw in pop rocks to mess with you head.....OR DID I????*

Anyhow, silly greetings aside, lets get this party started.

I am writing the next part of my ten favorite things of all time to Eat, Drink and Make Merry, from Hakodate’s one and only Starbucks.

Remember my disaster of the last tumbler? Well I am now on the hunt for a new one. Wading into the torturous waters of Japan’s yahoo auction is akin to swimming in shark infested waters. I kid you not, in a world without paypal, Japan makes internet auction purchases difficult. And then there is you know, the language thing. *must work harder to learn Japanese*

Oh and another thing I am hunting for is a new Nacho Libre pen as my old one bit the dust. My students love to look at Nacho in his mid-air leap of awesome. They totally get a kick when I make kissy faces at it—I make it my life’s work to baffle them.
Although tonight is a school night, I needed to pick up some things at animate. I am trying to get the love of Hetalia (Hetalia is a web comic sensation about WWII where the characters are the countries themselves. Its really quite hilarious!) out into the world, one figurine at a time. This is my set.

Anyway, lets resume the rambling, shall we?

6. Japanese McDonalds. Some things taste better with age. Some things taste better in the morning. Some things just plain taste better in Japan, and McDonalds is one of them. Oh luscious SanKaKu Choco Pie, savory Shaka-Shaka Chicken, or just a plain cheeseburger a divine slice of home, cooked better, healthier and wrapped in a smile—by someone who actually means it. Like this hearty little worker.

When I lived in Japan the last time I went to McDonalds all the time with my friends—our favorite haunt, our half-way home landmark, across the street from Yoshinoya, to the left of the bowling alley and neighbor to Momotaro Park. It was our happy place we went to flirt with the staff and make them laugh and even though that location was torn down (much to our sadness) the feelings of joy found only in Japanese McDonalds has remained every time I saunter in.

These are some of my favorite eats from Japan’s McAwesome. Sankaku Choco Pie, which literally means Triangle Chocolate Pie makes geometry delicious and full of chocolaty goodness, wrapped in a flakey crust that faintly crunches when you take a bite.

This is the almighty Shaka-Shaka Chicken. It is a bag containing one huge, thick, crispy chicken nugget. Which, come on, you have to be dead not to like Chicken nuggets (and I have a suspicion that if zombies would THINK to nom on some, it would totally turn them off humans) so its already a win. What makes it Shaka-Shaka (shake shake) is that you pour in a pouch of one of three flavors you feel like eating that day. Lemon, Pepper, or Cheese. Personally Lemon-Pepper does it for me, and why tamper with perfection? Once you pour it in, shake it up and the bag neatly opens to procure a succulent treat that even Zombies would envy.

Next is the most amazing, most life-changing dish you will ever sink your teeth into. It will alter the way you eat pancakes forever. Petite Pancakes are straight from the kid’s menu, but don’t let that deter you at all. Remember what I said about eating stuff for kids? Oh boy, this is the foundations of that ideology. Six piping hot pancakes roughly the size of a silver dollar are yummy enough, but Japanese McAwesome gives you this:

After some initial issues in how to use the little packet-→which you have to squeeze it together, folded in half with the point facing the food product—this is important, otherwise it will squirt at you) It's a combination of apple flavored syrup and icing.

O. M. G. I think it is what heaven tastes like.

Oh dear, I think I will have to now stop off on McDonalds on my way back to Mori. The battery is dying so I better be off. That and my coffee is all gone and I made myself hungry.

*drives to McDonalds gets food and returns home*

Tragedy has struck, my sweet friends, for they have stopped selling SANKAKU CHOCO PIE. *weeps inconsolably*
Who knew it was to be a limited edition item!!! IT DID NOT TELL ME!!!!! T.T I am angry at you Japan McDonald. You give us release dates on these:
These are the heart clogging "American" hamburger limited editions out now. Pfft. I would rather have my pie. M.Y.P.I.E

Speaking of pies though, I am trying to workout (see new year's resolution) and was crunching my abs away, jamming out to ICONIQ, Change Myself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfnyUmTWhws <---- A youtube link for you! and all of a sudden I notice that the light above me has a CREEPY eye in the middle of it. I don't know about you, but this freaked me out.


Memo to self: no more Ghost Hunters. But if that isn't weird enough, my computer puts itself on pause, TWICE, then...then THE SCARY part happens! Out of no where, I am mean no where, cause it looks like THIS outside:


(AKA WINTER---isnt my mountain the bomb though?!) A BEE starts BUZZING around my kitchen! Its big and slow moving, but I am at a utter loss at where it came from!!! I mean, REALLY?? A BEE?? This actually has me worried, besides the whole scared of bugs thing, as it very well most likely means that I have a nest somewhere in my house, probably in the roof or under the floors. Perhaps even under my kitchen cabinet. The chances that this bee is alone is rather unlikely. I ran to my entrence hall to grab my insecticide to do battle with my mighty foe. In one hand, a sauce pan and in the other hand, my rain-of-death-icide and I went forth to do combat. So in other words, I sprayed the S*%$ out of my kitchen.
And just like that, it disappeared, like magic. I'm slightly afraid that it didn't happen and I have lost my mind a bit.
I then retreated to my bed, all thoughts of exercise forgotten. In fact, I think this is the universe telling me not to exercise. What do you think?

Anyway, I will cower under my covers and pray nothing else comes out.
See you on the flip side.

Shocker: Part Two Cometh! And Spin It Right Round!

Today is not for children, so if any of my family reads this to K1 and K2 then gloss over the not kid friendly parts.

Oh look at me. I am actually updating! I promised I would and now I am. It was one of my many New Year resolutions, along with ‘get in shape’ ‘try snowboarding’ ‘finish your fanfiction story’ ‘take more pictures’ ‘collect as many starbucks mugs/tumblers as possible’ ‘travel, travel, travel’ ‘find a Nacho Libre pen’ ‘study more Japanese’ and ‘figure out how to do stuff’. Stuff can mean many things, like figuring out how to order swag online, using Japan’s yahoo auctions, setting up my wire transfers, or creating new lessons plans. I figure I would just use the umbrella term of ‘stuff’ and that should cover it.

Anyway. On to part 2! Things I adore to in order to Eat and Drink and Make Merry in Japan.

8. Rice. Oh sweet, sticky, warm rice. Many of the dishes I adore (on this list and other wise) have you as an essential ingredient. Many a night I trudge home and toss some rice in my rice cooker and just have rice and seasonings for dinner. The seasonings here are called furatake—and have a wide range of flavors, prices, textures and colors. I get most of mine at the dollar store. Cause I am boss like that.
This is my rice cooker. A bag like this will last about a month or so for me. I only get the rice bags with cute characters on them. That is generally a good rule of thumb for me; cute characters (or just pictures of babies) usually means its OK for kids and those with weak tummys. Here are some of the things I found with cute things on it. Like these dancing critters. These cute mascots to help you be ECO friendly. Cause I think disco bears when I think ECO.


Things made for kids means there is a good chance I will like it. Yeah, it sounds silly, but it means it will be mild and not insane like some things I have tried. Although this system works fairly well in the realm of the supermarket, this method is NOT foolproof and does not work well outside of a contained environment. (Not Kid Friendly) Japan is notorious for using cute mascots for everything. Including condoms. Would you think these as boxes of candy?


That is what two of my dear friends (J and Ally back in my Okayama days) convinced me of for a practical joke. I did eventually notice it was not candy. My friends were very very amused. But really, in my defense I had underestimated/not fully known the power of the cute mascot! I mean, the koalas??? The seal?? Thank goodness I figured it out before I tried tasting one. I got some smarts in there. Or at least smarts enough to know it wasn’t food. And then there are some mascots like the Tokyo
Tower twins who, well, just look and see- being mascot-ifed is not such a good thing. And sometimes goes terribly, terribly wrong.


I mean, come on, is anyone else seeing what I see? Or am I crazy? Wow. WAY off topic. But that is how this blog seems to go. ONWARD!!!!!!

7. 105 yen Kaiten Sushi. Oh delicious, sweet, cheap, sushi. I adore thee. Especially here in Hokkaido, when even cheap sushi is amazing. ‘Kaiten Sushi’ refers to the awesome sushi restaurants where the sushi is set on a rotating belt that is then paraded before the customer. I sometimes break out singing ‘you spin me right round, baby, right round, like a sushi bar, right round baby right rrrroooouuunnddd’ But singing is optional. Look how YUMMY it is!!!! *drool*


I love me some salmon- fry it, burn it, slap some mayo on it, whatever, its amazing. Each Kaiten sushi joint is a little different from the next; a special sauce at one, a special roll at another, slight changes makes it fun to try out new places. There is one place in Okayama which I ADORE. ADORE. Ebikatsumaki (fried shrimp roll) I miss you!!!! I love to go cause they got variety and price, as most dishes are only a buck and its fun to see all the bizarre stuff that floats around. It’s not odd to see French fries, fried chicken, cake, horse, roast beef and fruit make a round or two. And then the odd fish dishes, like this one.


(Not Kid Friendly) Its called Shiroko and its fish…erm..well, ‘shiro’ means white and ‘ko’ means child so what could that (white child)possibly mean? Oh you got it! Fish Jizz! *shudders* It happens to be a delicacy here. It was served at my bonenkai (year end party, the only one I went to this year, and cost me a whooping 100 bucks to attend) and I had to give it away. I mean, really. I am open to food but I draw a line at fish jizz. Urgh. Just look at the fancy version. It looks worse than the cheap one.
Really Japan. Sometimes I wonder. Jeez, my blog today was a little racy.

So besides Shirako, which is really really rare (like getting whale, blowfish and horse) and usually a requested item at kaiten sushi places, kaiten sushi is where its at. Riiiight roooouundd Baaaabbbbyyy!!!!

Ok and there she goes for today. Tomorrow I have my Mori Middle School and whooping 6 classes back to back all day. So early to bed tonight! I will update soon!

10 Things I Love to Eat in Japan Part One

So It has been a long, long, long, long while since I have updated.

Some stuff happened. Went to Okayama. Went back to Kansas.
Tried snow boarding the other day. Besides the pain in my inner thighs from a surprise spilt when going down hill, I rather enjoyed it. I know, I know, hell has frozen over. Also-- my toilet did too. Apparently I can't leave my house long in winter without it pitching a fit. Not as bad as some other JETs around, but still. Did you really have to freeze the toilet house? Really?

Anyway. My top ten favorite things to eat/drink/put on food in Japan.

10. Mayonnaise. Now don't freak, all you mayo haters out there. Japanese Mayo is a whole different beast. I mean, I like the American miracle whip ok, I guess, but nothing beats the weirdly addictive Japanese Mayo. I have two bottles currently in my house. The white top one is 1/3 of the calories. Look at me trying to be healthy yo. And notice it hasn't been touched. Its just because I have to finish one before I start on the other one. It would be wasteful. Riiight. Don't look at me like that!!! I see you rolling your eyes!!!

The Japanese are obessessed with their mayo. The mascot is this rather creepy naked baby called Kewpie. When you go on vacation you often purchase a little key charm of kewpie dressed up as the town's mascot.

And this is the normal verison on the packaging. *shudders* Some may find it darling, more power to you, but I find it, him?, her?, freaky.


9. Coffee Milk. In Japan, perhaps one of the things I miss most about America is my chocolate milk. Family, you know my lifetime love affair with Chocolate milk. (a shout out to Dad and G(not sure if you want me to put your name on here or not!) my step-mom who sent me a tub of chocolate mix that has lasted for the past 6 months!!) During my last time in Japan, I began drinking coffee milk--which is the Japanese substitute for Chocolate milk-- and became hooked. I love drinking all of the different flavors (honey and carmel coffee and custard pudding coffee are the two specials running now at 7/11). But most of all I love, love, love throwing a cold one back after a dip in the onsen. I happen to be located in cow-country and my town has really really really yummy local coffee milk.

This stuff is the bomb. The Bomb. And I can't talk coffee without tossing out my love with starbucks mugs. The big town nearby, Hakodate, finally FINALLY got its starbucks. OMG. Bliss. For a limited time they had this tumbler for sale:
I can barely look at this picture now, as my tumbler bottom became unscrewed and ruined my mug. I had to take a hammer to it to save the paper part. This tumbler is not for sale anymore and won't be brought back. Ever. T.T However, I have been buying other mugs to help heal the gapping hole the Hakodate mug has dealt to my heart. Like this gem.

There is a smaller version, which I also bought, that is red with black. It is the new 2011 New Year's version. It almost heals my soul. I think a few more oughta do her.

Ok so that is part one of five. It is way late, and I am tired~ all that snow boarding and jazz.