Earthquakes and Volcanos

We just experienced a minor earthquake. It was small enough that it just felt like there was a three second road construction going on outside, only without tons of noise. One of our friends from California was unimpressed and called us noobs.

Last week we were walking in town and happened to look up and see a dark puff of smoke coming from the top of Sakurajima, our volcano. It only lasted a very short time and was just that one puff, rather like the volcano burped at us. Apparently it does that often enough that one of our friends who lives in the northern part of the city occasionally gets gray streaks on her laundry when its hanging outside drying. We don't have that problem where we live because we live far enough away with several small mountains between us and the city.

Just wanted to share the excitement.

Just a Quick Post

Hello all,

I have a cold so I'm going to be brief. I figured out how to add links to this page. If you look to the right of this post you will now see a section titled "Other sites with info about Us in Japan." This title may change as it was just the first thing I could come up with. The links below the title will direct you to Eli's YouTube account, "videos," and our new picture gallery, "photos." As of right now there are only some pictures up, but we promise more will be posted shortly, along with captions and possibly categorization to give you better understanding of what the pictures are showing. Be patient with this process as we are just learning the Photo sharing site.

This weekend we went to a party at the apartment of our Scottish friend, Cara. She prepared some Scottish food (many guests also brought food) and had Scottish music playing, to celebrate St. Andrew's Day. St. Andrew is the patron Saint of Scotland. It was a pretty cool party, in one of her rooms a large group of guests ended up watching Braveheart, which we decided to skip in favor of good conversation in the adjoining room. I think that afterwords I felt much less upset at having missed Thanksgiving. I guess I just needed a fix of good food and company!

November Weather

First: We really appreciate the great comments we've been getting! HOWEVER, if you don't have a Google ID and therefore are commenting anonymously, but don't actually want to be anonymous, please make sure to put your name at the end. Otherwise, we won't know who you are.

Also, if you're not sure if Robin or I wrote what you are reading, check the very bottom of that post and it will say who is responsible, in case you want to notify the authorities

And now, for our feature presentation. Please remember to rewind the tape before you return it to your local video store. Thank you for your cooperation.

November in Japan fluctuates between mildly warm and fantastically freezing. Last night was the coolest we've seen yet. I don't know what the temperature was, but it must have been in the upper thirties. Winter in Kagoshima really starts in December and goes into February. I am comforted in the knowledge that the temperature will never go more than a few degrees below freezing. And once late February/early March roll around things apparently get much warmer in a very short amount of time. I like that I'll only have to worry about Winter for three months or so, whereas back in Cleveland Winter generally goes from early November through early April. I'm looking forward to not seeing snow and to it being guaranteeably warm on my birthday instead of the possibility of four feet of snow dropping in a single night.

Photo courtesy

of Ron

Japanese schools seem strange in Winter. There is no central heating, and so far I haven't seen any heaters in any of the classrooms. The doors to the school still stand wide open, as do most of the windows in the hallways, even though the wind is cold, and seeps mercilessly through the buildings. Teachers wear jackets all day long and the students wear warm clothes under their uniforms. They run around the halls during their breaks shouting "Ahhhhhh! Samui!" Samui means "cold." The teachers whisper it to each other in the offices. Nevertheless, nearly all the students seem to be in a perpetual good mood. I don't remember Memorial being like that.

The apartment at night gets really cold. Like most other buildings in Japan there is no central heating, or insulation for that matter. We have a few heaters, but I'm in the process of figuring out the heated table. That will be awesome when it's set up. Showering this morning was pretty bad. There's nothing like getting out of bed in a room where its 65 degrees Fahrenheit and going into a room that's 20 degrees cooler........ naked. It's like someone slapping you in the face to wake up. The shower room takes a little while to warm up too. So the only part of you that's comfortable is whatever the warm water is hitting at that moment.

I'm glad I'm down here and not in that snowball, Hokkaido.

The things I miss right now are as follows:

Valentino's Pizza

Taco Bell

Chicken Strips

Chick-Fil-A

Burger King

Arby's

Wendy's

The Winking Lizard

The Wild West Burger at the Winking Lizard

Amazing Week!!!

Wow this has been one hell of an awesome week! Monday was a national holiday so Eli didn't have work. It was also the Ohara festival here in Kagoshima, and we had an awesome time watching dancers and marching bands and Taiko drum troupes. We ate some of the festival food too. I tried BBQ squid on a stick and these cakes that were sort of like pancake batter cooked in a fish shaped mold and filled with Azuki bean paste (very yummy sweet treat).

I started teaching classes at Elementary schools this week and the kids are so cute and many of them really want to learn. Today's school was especially enthusiastic, and their English was very good. Yesterday was an especially good day. I got up extra early to check to see if any election results were in before I went in to the city to teach. Unfortunately, the polls had only closed in around 6 states and there weren't many precincts reporting yet. School was pretty good, the students were a bit low on energy though.

One of the other AEA English teachers who was there was asking me about myself when we were getting ready to leave. I told her that I had been interested in Japan since I was very young partly because of the wonderful Japanese art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. This made her very excited because she works also at an art gallery. She invited me to come and see the gallery and have lunch with her. Her name, Sanae, means something like "new green rice field." She bought me lunch at the gallery she works at, which also serves good food, and introduced me to some of her artsy friends who were there. I told Sanae that my mom and grandparents were artists and that I would like to show her some prints of my mom's art that I have with me. Sanae was really interested in seeing them and said that I should bring them in to the gallery some day. One of them who is a poet or maybe the brother of a poet, lives on Yakushima, a very nice island south of Kagoshima, and gave me his phone number saying "if you come to Yakushima with your husband call and you can stay with me." Many Japanese people are really warm and welcoming.

Then a book publisher (small press, I think) who mostly does poetry books came in and we talked for a long time, partly using a translation dictionary I had with me. He showed me a book co-written by an American Poet and a Japanese Poet (which I couldn't read because it was all in Japanese), but he told me a bit about the book which seemed to be about the friendship of the poets and the similarities/differences of the natural world where each of them lived. I also talked with the publisher and a friend of his who came in a little later about the wars going on today and how much we all disliked them and hoped that they would end soon. During this time Eli messaged me that victory had been declared for Obama, and I shared the good news with my new Japanese friends. From what I've seen most of the Japanese (and many of the other JETs not from America) believe Obama was better then McCain and that he will be able to create some positive change.

Ecstatic from the good new, good company, and good food I walked to the Kagoshima Board of Education, which was close to the art gallery. I turned in my time card from October and told my supervisor how much I am enjoying teaching. Then I went into the lobby to study some Japanese in order to kill the time until Japanese class started that evening (its at the BOE building). After studying for a little Sanae called my cell phone, she had met a Japanese American who was so happy about Obama winning that he really wanted to speak to another American about it. He told me that he had been in the USA shortly after World War II and remembered the racism that was so strong against Japanese people then. He said it was so amazing to see a person of Color elected to be president.

There was still about 2 hours until the Japanese class and I was feeling restless so I walked to Tenmonkan, the central shopping district of Kagoshima (and the most happening part of the city - also only a few minutes walk away). I went to the dollar store and bought a notebook so that I could take notes in class, and found a really cool wallet (my old one wasn't quite tall enough for Japanese Yen, which are just a bit bigger then American dollars). Then I was walking to meet Eli and passed a sidewalk sale at a clothing store. I found a really nice skirt for only about $3.15! Eli and I met up and he got a quick bite to eat before class because his school lunch wasn't very good yesterday. We went back to the BOE only to find out class was canceled. I was a bit disappointed but not enough to upset me.

Eli and I decided that since we still had a little over an hour before we were supposed to meet Cara we would walk back to Chuo Station. On the way we stopped in a bookstore that also sold video games, Cd's and DVDs. At least some of what they carried was used! Unfortunately we didn't see any English books, but they did have used video game systems (we may end up going back to get one, if we find out that they can play English games). When we got to Chuo we were still early so we ran into Amu Plaza, the mall attached to the train station (its sorta like a Japanese Beachwood place for readers familiar with Cleveland, only its a bit cooler). At one of the stores, where we have been looking recently for a birthday present for one of our friends back home, we were disappointed that the item in question was still not available. Then I spotted said item misplaced near where it was supposed to be! Very Lucky!

We waited for Cara and her boyfriend, Jack, outside Amu where a giant cone (of Styrofoam?) was being decorated like a Christmas tree. Christmas in Japan is strange. They don't really exchange gifts from what I understand. Instead they order really elaborate cakes to eat with their families. Also there is absolutely no religious significance, except for the very small group of the population that has converted to Christianity. Cara and Jack showed up after a few minutes and we all headed to a nearby, very small, artsy restaurant run by a British guy. On the way Eli and I made Cara and Jack honorary Americans for the day because they are both Obama fans. At the restaurant we ran into one of the JETs, Chris from England, who lives in Kagoshima but works for the regional office, instead of Eli's office. Eli and I had met Chris last week when all of the JETs from the prefecture were having a seminar. Chris joined us and another of the regional office JETs, from California, who was a friend of Cara's came a little later. The restaurant has really eclectic foods, from tacos to British style Indian curry. We were all really impressed with the food we got. I'm excited because we're going back there tomorrow for a birthday party for Kym, a 5th year ALT from Eli's office.

After dinner and good conversation Eli and I caught a train home. When we got here we managed to catch Eli's parents on Skype for a quick conversation. We also watch Obama's victory speech on the Internet. I actually had a few tears during part of the speech because I was so happy and impressed with what he was saying. For anyone who hasn't seen the speech I recommend finding it. I was actually reminded a bit of Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you..." speech. I went to bed afterwords feeling like I had just lived one of those rare days where everything just falls into place and you can't help but feel great.

That's all for now, but stay tuned, the week isn't over and tomorrow I am going to one of Eli's schools for their Cultural Festival. :)

On his way to the ring...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my distinct honor to have now been added as a contributor to Phoenix's Aerie. Since I seem to be so much better at keeping up with other people's projects rather than my own, I hope to post here somewhat frequently.

Soon this place will be as hopping as my YouTube channel, "MessagesFromEarth" where 54 souls regularly tune in to watch as I appear drunk and insane. Which I'm not. Well, not drunk at least...

Anyway, in the near future I'll be writing about what a typical week looks like for me which includes going to school, the BOE, train rides, lunch with kids, and the weekends. Keep a lookout as Robin and I will both be keeping up here now that we've settled in to life in Japan.

Just Checking

Hey I was wondering if anyone was actually checking up on me through this blog. If you are please comment to this post so that I will know that I should get my act together and post more often.

I miss home some still, but this is beginning to feel more like home now. I started a Japanese class last night at the board of ed here in Kagoshima. Some of what I had learned in college began to come back to me. I think it will be a really good class and the teacher seems like she's going to make her explanations pretty easy to follow. Well that's all for now because its time to make dinner!

Updates

Well I figure its about time I post some more updates. I found out that I should be going into the elementary schools to help teach sometimes starting in November. Its similar to what Eli's doing but I should have more control of the lesson while I'm there. I'm looking forward to it. I need to get a bank account set up before I can start though. I am hoping to do that tomorrow with the help of one of the JET's who's been here longer.

Eli and I have been hunting a 2-3 inch flat spider since last night when I first noticed it. Its REALLY fast, so we keep just missing squashing it. Last I saw of it was it running into the track of the door to our balcony. I'm hoping it found its way out...but not counting on it. The spiders here can get freeky large, this one is actually rather small right now. It seems like most things here in Kagoshima come very large (except fast food portions). Our prefecture is also known for the worlds largest freshwater eels (they are apparently protected). The ocean just off the coast has the largest arthropod in the world, the Japanese Spider Crab, which can grow to have a leg span of almost 13 FEET! We saw some of the Eels and Crabs at the Kagoshima Aquarium a couple of weekends ago. It was a really cool place because it had animals which can be seen in the oceans and lakes around this area. We even saw some of the same type of dolphin that we had seen in the wild the week earlier.

Well I guess thats all for now. If you post comments I'll do my best to respond so check back and feel free to ask questions!

Sailing Adventure

Ok once again I'm posting this a bit late. On Sunday (its now Friday) we went on a sailing trip/race/lunch trip. It was arranged for participants in the JET program who are in Kagoshima prefecture, so I got to meet other JETS who I hadn't met yet (Eli had met many of them at orientation events already). We were sorted onto around 12 sailboats based on country of origin. Eli and I had been placed on different boats (there were 4 USA boats) and we spent the time before boarding trying to sort things out so that we could be on the same boat. Well we did manage it, but because of the confusion (most of the event managers and boatmen knew very little English) we didn't have time to find someone with sunscreen. We ended up on USA D boat and the other American on the boat also had forgotten sunscreen. (More on the consequences later).

The sailing was a race around these three small islands in the bay north of Kagoshima city. We hitched a ride up about an hour or 45 minutes north of the city with Charlie (from Great Britain) and Nadine (Canada). (Nadine's a first year in Eli's office and Charlie is a third year, I think, who lives a little further out of the city then we do. Charlie has a car and she was very nice to take us on as passengers.) Anyway the race took us around the islands, around a buoy, back around the Islands the other way, etc. We went around 2 times I believe. It was HOT and I was wearing my bathing suit under my clothes, so I took off my shirt and just wore the suit and my shorts.

As we were nearing the buoy for the last time we heard excited squeals from one of the nearby boats we were passing (they had already finished the course). We looked to see what they were so excited about and there was a school of DOLPHINS!!!! We counted at least 6 of them. We didn't see them up close since they were pretty curious about the boat they were by, which happened to be Nadine's boat. It was SOOO cool. On the way home we found out that Nadine's hat had fallen into the water and she was afraid the dolphins would take it with them because they were curious about it. They left it behind though so she was able to retrieve it. Nadine's boat was the first one to finish the race. Canada beat the USA..... our boat came in 4th place. The second and third places went to a Chinese boat and one of the other USA boats (not sure in which order).

After the dolphins we ended up docking at the middle of the three islands. Here I was able to finally get some sunscreen, a bit late. Then we walked up a steep hill to a shady spot where we set up grills with tables around them and tatami mats around that to sit on. Each table got packets of meet (chicken, pork, maybe beef, and little sausages of some sort) and veggies (cabbage, green peppers, and onions). We grilled the stuff and put it on plates which we put sauce on, it was SOOO yummy. Then there was a free raffle in which we won a little statue of a Japanese demon. Once that was done we got to go swimming for a little while. The beach and the way shallows were covered in sharp little rocks so it was somewhat painful to feet to get in. Once we managed to get into deeper water it felt really great and was well worth the sore feet. The water was cool, not really cold, and was VERY salty. After the short swim we had to head back to the boats and sail back.

Charlie told us that Matsumoto was sort of on her way home so after we dropped Nadine off in the City she drove us home (which was hard because driving in the city is confusing, especially when you can't really read the road signs). But once we got here Charlie was able to show us where the local Family Mart is. Family mart is a convenience store, sort of like United Dairy Farmers is back home. She was friends with our predecessor so she knew a bit more about our town then anyone else seemed to. (Our predecessor left about a month and a half before her contract was up, for personal reasons, so no one in Eli's office could tell us about the area we're living in). Charlie also told us that the Joyful restaurant (its a chain see my comment on the previous post for more info) is a ways past the Family Mart. We were very excited to learn that there are more culinary options available with taking the train. They may not be wonderful options but they are also open 24 hours.

Once home Eli and I took cool showers to wash the salt from the water out of our very bad sunburns. That's right we were both very red, me mostly on my back where there is a very nice outline of my swimsuit and the bar on the boat that I was leaning against. Eli's worst burn was his knees though he also was burned on the tops of his feet and on his lower arms. We both had burnt faces too, although not quite as bad, especially on Eli who had been smart and worn a hat.

Since that day we have tried Joyful, its decent and the food is really cheap compared to other places in the city (our ramen shop is cheap too). Our burns have started clearing up in the lighter burnt places and pealing where we were burnt more heavily. And life goes on. (But I can now say that I've seen wild dolphins!!!)

Safely In Japan

Ok so this post is a bit late. I've been in Japan for 3 1/2 weeks now. But to be fair to me, we've only had the internet for about a week and a half. I've been really busy trying to adjust to life here. The biggest difference is not being able to understand the language, both spoken and written, which is all around me. I've been trying to study but when you just want to understand things it feels like the learning takes forever. I'll have to make this post short because I'm getting hungry for lunch, but I promise there will be more soon. I have been trying to keep a hand written diary and am planning to go back through that so I can share pieces of it on here. So the next few posts may have an earlier date included in them to tell you when I was writing them originally. Ok time for lunch, more later.

Getting ready to Move...to JAPAN!

Hello everyone. Time for the update on the lead up to the BIG MOVE!!!

Well I've spent most of the last week trying to clean up my stuff at my mom's house so I don't leave a big mess when I move out. I've also been trying to hang out with my friends and family who I probably won't see for a while, usually over meals or while doing errands.

At this point I've given up on finishing the cleaning, but I've gotten enough of it done that I don't think my mom will be upset with the state of things.

Now I've begun to gather the stuff I plan on bringing with me. And let me tell you its not easy to figure out what to put into two suitcases to last for an entire year, or more. I know I can buy most of the same or similar things once I get there, but I really don't want to end up spending all of my money on buying things I forgot to bring. The other problem with this is that I could end up with two wardrobes and not enough space when I come back. I guess the real problem with packing is that it makes the move seem so much more real and imminent (which I guess it is since I leave on Monday). The whole prospect of traveling for 24 hours by myself is kind of daunting too.

Oh well back to work figuring out the packing. More from me later.

First Post

Hello everyone. Welcome to my new blog. For those who don't know an Aerie is the nest of a bird in a high place (usually a bird of prey). From my new nest I'll be posting about whats going on in my life. I got married to Eli on the 6th of July and he's already heading to Japan where we are going to live for at least a year (he's actually on a plane as we speak). I'm headed out to join him on August 11th. I'll try to keep everyone updated as to how I'm doing and what life in Japan is like. If you have any questions feel free to post a comment and ask, also you can let me know how you are doing. Well more posts will follow, this was just letting everyone know whats up and that i'm pearched in a new Aerie.