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spicketmek
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Name: Mel
Birthday: 4/30/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: Red Sox, writing, reading, pictures, scrapbooking, music, dancing, and being ridiculously long winded in explanations that are often summed up by my much more concise friends.
Expertise: Laughing
Message: message me
Member Since:
8/14/2004
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| Apparently I only write in this thing once a year or something?
I do have a livejournal but I've even neglected that as well since I
moved to Japan. It's not a lack of technology or anything,
perhaps a lack of attention only. I send weekly updates by email
to 60+ people so I feel that my "journals" are hardly necessary anyway.
I updated my written journal last night because it had been since July
that I hadn't written in that one as well. I usually forget about
this entirely until I decide to click on Aaron's link and read whatever
amusing rant on public idiocy he has in store for his "readers."
I have big plans for 2007.
The move to Japan was definitely a big change in 2006 and I won't count
any of these days wasted but I've decided not to extend my stay much to
the city and schools' dismay. It has little to do with them, in
the end it's personal reasons and isolation that made me decide that
the best thing for me was not to sit home alone on Friday and Saturday
nights because I can't find people to hang out with. Mind you,
this situation has increasingly improved but the language barrier keeps
me from really making friends that aren't practically given to me by
people I already know and no one who lives on base is actually sincere
in their invitations to hang out "sometime." I'd also like to be a
little closer than 8,000 miles from home when major family emergencies
occur - such as the passing of my grandfather (longest day of travel in
my life). The year hasn't been bad at all. Don't get me
wrong. It's been some sort of amazing. I just don't think I
have the patience to last the whole year again.
Before I head home the plan is for me to travel for 25 days before I meet up with Momma at Narita Airport on April 24.
I wanted to go to Vietnam and visit Uyen-my but I'm convinced it's
probably cheaper to fly from home! It's more expensive because I
would do it as part of my multi-city flight pattern that includes New
Zealand, Australia and China right now... anything is game for amending
and I WISH I could go to Vietnam AND New Caledonia as well
(sigh). I can travel after this too... it's so hard to skip out
on things this time around though. Maybe I can honeymoon in New
Caledonia. Oh right, there's a glitch of a marriage in
there. (I am becoming more convinced everyday that I'll just grow
old alone.)
I don't know what traveling I will actually end up doing. Nothing
is purchased yet and it will be soon and I've done a lot of
investigating but I want to do so many things and I hate to pass up the
opportunity to do any of them. Sigh. It's tough. I'll
let you know how it all goes. Honestly, you'll probably hear it
from my in person as I'm glowing while showing off all my pictures
before you actually read it here.
This weekend was quiet and I didn't make much of an effort to fill it
up because on Friday morning I'm leaving for Hokkaido to go to the Snow
Festival in Sapporo which I hope to be incredible. Last weekend I
went in the other direction to visit friends of friends outside of
Nagoya.
I know I'm not the same person I was when I embarked on this journey
but I have no idea how I've really changed. It's kinda
funny. You never consciously realize how things change you and
what you do to adapt but you do and then you look back and you don't
recognize yourself. It's a beautiful thing. I think at the
core I am the same person; I always have been. If you met me in
kindergarten or yesterday my person is the same being - headstrong,
smart, up for a challenge, and sincere - it's the details that are
different.
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| I live in Japan. About an hour (by train) will get you to Tokyo
proper - Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shibuya and the like. I hardly am ever
at my apartment which is the way I prefer it. It's only 200sqft
total so when home my time is almost entirely spent sleeping, eating or
on my computer.
I teach 1-6th graders English conversation and basic language skills -
no grammar, it's too difficult. I love my students and they almost
always love me. I'm a break in their week and I try to make my
class interactive and fun. I wish I could learn all their names
but it's hard because I've never see them written, they're Japanese names
which are already unfamiliar to me, and I see most of my students once
every other week - there are 677 of them total.
I take Japanese lessons twice a week to improve my own language
skills. My ear is really good most of the time - if I'm paying
attention - speaking, is a different story. I try but it usually
comes out in a jumble with only a few words that make sense. Hey,
at least I try.
It's been raining here since mid-May. The rainy season is June
and July and I saw blue skies for the first time in almost 2 months
last week. Don't worry it's raining again today. August is
supposed to be blistering hot and the air is always saturated here so I
can't imagine comfort outside of air conditioning will really be
possible. Thank goodness the teacher's room at both schools is
air conditioned. At least the weather at home changes.
I have visited a few places and I'm making plans to continue to do
so. I've seen many parts of Tokyo, visited Kyoto (I'm going back
in October), Kamakura (twice, now), and Mt. Fuji. There's a
decent-size city 20min from here so I don't have to go to Tokyo to do
cool things, which is nice. It's like going to Worcester instead
of Boston (time wise) - or really it's like going to Boston instead of
New York because of the scale fo the cities here. Tokyo is
freaking huge. (And that's probably an understatement.)
I love being here and being on my own. I love visitors. My
parents are coming in a few weeks, I think. They haven't bought
tickets. J, my roommate is supposed to come but hasn't told me
any definite plans yet. I got word from Hamy that she might come
crash here at the end of her volunteer work. And I did have my
friend Melissa here for a week. We did Tokyo Disneyland,
Kamakura, Tokyo- Asakusa/Ueno, Tachikawa, school and dinner outtings
with friends, and I handed her off to Keiko for a fun day for Lissa
while I worked. So come visit!
I have a good group of friends but it's not an impressive number
considering my language barrier. I just want to learn Japanese
quickly so I can communicate and eventually make people laugh (not at
me either).
I think when I leave I will be sad but I can't imagine myself extending
my term here for much longer. As Donna said to me the other day,
"it's hard to never feel like you're at home. And it's hard to create
that feeling just anywhere."
I have a million photos which I'm sure I will annoy everyone with upon
my return for Christmas and when I trek back in April. So be
warned.
That's all I have for you for now.
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| I'm too lazy to fix the chatter box. Sorry.
Japan was amazing. I was insanely busy the whole time I was
there. I toured the city with officials and saw some of the
schools that I'll potentially be woring in and met people I'll be
working for and with. I made pottery, went cavern crawling, sang
kareoke, I dressed up in a yukata and went to a fireworks
festival. I went to Keiko's volunteer program that she runs, went
out to traditional Japanese lunch (had a lot of sushi while there of
course), went to the beach and even Japanese Sea World. Now I'm
obligated to learn Japanese before I go. Some, anyway.
Geez. This really is going to be an insane adventure. I
can't wait!
I start being a free lance stringer for the Community News Corporation
(Metrowest Daily, Marlborough Enterprise, and half a dozen local weekly
papers in that office) after Labor Day. That basically
means I work for them part time sort of on my own time, taking the
assignments they give me and writing stories regularly without being a
full-time staffer. It's perfect for the time frame I'm looking at
before I leave for Japan and is better experience than just interning
(which wasn't really an option at this office apparently.) So,
things are starting to come together as planned.
Yes, I still work at Firefly's and though I don't log that many hours,
I apparently log all the hours that the rest of the working world
spends hanging out. It's entirely not cool. I did get to
see some of the 'boro boys recently and that was amazing - fire eating
contests and all at Chin's ;). I have to miss out on Plymouth
with Shaun et al. which essentially blows but there's not much I can do
about it now.
Sox game on Friday because Mark's thoughtful and Ken's amazing.
Mark invited me to use one of his dad's season tickets and Ken is
covering my shift.
For everything between now and my previous post, see livejournal. Same name. ;) haha I'm too lazy to maintain 2.
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| I'm going to Japan for a week. I'm leaving July 25th and coming
back on the 4th. It's the weirdest thing to see the itinerary in
which it takes over a day to get there and I return two hours after I
take off from Tokyo.
This shall be amazing. I need to start learning some Japanese
though. At least Keiko and Emi speak English so that I can
survive my short stay.
Wake up call!!!
Is this really real???
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| whoa senior week.
whoa graduation.
whoa work... but not before the jersey shore! | | |
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