Marla’s Week: According to Me

So this was Marla’s first week in Japan, but I had to work during the days, so she spent those times alone doing various things. Since I wasn’t with her I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can interpret her stories. So this has been her week so far:

Monday: This was her first day in Japan, and it was a pretty good one. She spent the morning unpacking some of the stuff she brought for me, and then went for a walk around Asago. Somehow she was unable to find the grocery store, even though its the only one in town and is about as central as possible. Then I got home and we went to Jusco, then met Meghan, Kenji and Mark at Gu for Okonomiyaki.

Tuesday: This was Marla’s second, and worst day, in Japan. I dropped her off at Nii Station so she could take the train to Wadayama to spend part of the day at Jusco. As I drew her a map of most of the town, she was able to find Jusco with no trouble, but couldn’t make it back on her own. She asked some students for help and they walked her all the way to the station. When I got home we drove to Toyooka for Japanese class, and stopped at Joyfull for dinner on the way. The first half of the class was really tough, so Marla got discouraged. The second part was possibly the most appropriate class for her, as we learned words like “(train) station”, “art gallery”, “girlfriend”, and “coming from/going to”. Since she was discouraged she didn’t learn any of it though.

Wednesday: This was another good day for Marla. I dropped her off at Nii Station on the way to work again, and she took the train to Himeji. While in Himeji she saw the castle, which was as good as always, even though the weather wasn’t great. She was a little embarassed to have to take pictures of herself by the castle, as it looked ridiculous to everyone else who wasn’t alone. After that she walked around the shopping areas, and realized that she loves Japanese vending machines. I picked her up at the station after work, and then we stayed at my apartment for the rest of the night. I made Gyoza for dinner, but Marla didn’t like it.

 

Thursday: Today I dropped Marla off at Nii Station again, this time so she could go to Toyooka to do some shopping. I don’t know how that went yet, because I won’t see her until after work, but my expectations are so-so. There is a UniQLO in Toyooka, which is alright but not very big, and an Aity Department Store, which is huge but is somewhere I have never been.

So that’s been her week so far. Tomorrow will probably be the best day, because she is coming with my to Okuganaya. On Saturday we are going to Kobe to see the Luminarae (a big memorial to the earthquake in 1996).

マッラー has arrived

Yesterday I went to Kansai Airport to pick Marla up, and now she is adjusting to life in Asago. I don’t actually know what she’s doing right now, because I’m at work and she is at my house. She said she was going to walk around the town, so hopefully she doesn’t get lost. I think by the end of the week she’s going to be pretty bored, but on Friday she is coming to Okuganaya with me, so hopefully that will make up for things. I’ll start taking pictures soon.

Fireman for a Day Pictures

The Asago Fire Dept. sent me a CD of pictures someone took during our Fireman day. I just remembered I had it, so here are some of the pictures:

See the Whole Album

Takeda Elementary

Today Veronica and I went with Johanna to her elementary school for a visit. I don’t really know why we were allowed to do that, but it was a lot more fun than sitting at my desk all day so I was happy I got invited. Unlike my elementary school, Takeda has a normal number of students, so I got to see full classes of every age. The kids were really excited, and seemed to have a lot of fun in Johanna’s classes. One teacher asked me to cook a turkey, because they had one for some reason, so I did that (or most of it because it was still cooking when I left). You’d think with all the gross stuff they eat here a turkey would be pretty boring, but seeing me prepare got a pretty good reaction out of the kids. While I don’t know exactly what they were saying, I gather they thought the neck was something else. Anyway, it was pretty fun, and I’m jealous of Johanna because she has her own classroom.

My New Camera (almost)

Today I ordered a camera from Yodobashi Camera, and it was quite the process. I had looked at the camera in the store a couple times already, so I decided it would be ok to order it from their website rather than going to Osaka and actually buying it there. As it turns out, the site is only in Japanese, and lots of pages can’t be translated because they are dynamically generated. So I spent a lot of time copying and pasting ordering instructions into Babelfish. The actual order form required me to write my name in katakana (which takes awhile with a western keyboard), and my address in kanji. So when I finally got that all filled out I had to go pay for it at the convenience store. It sounds a lot more convenient than it actually was, because not speaking Japanese meant I had to ask a clerk for help. Eventually I got it paid for though, so now I just have to wait for my camera to be delivered. Anyway, this is what I bought:

In Japan it’s called the EOS Kiss X, but I think in Canada it is just like the 400D or something like that. It’s an entry level digital SLR with a pretty basic lens included. It’s a 10MP, which is double what I have now, and it uses CF cards so I can use what I already have. Meghan is a decent photographer, so she said she would teach me how to use it, so hopefully my photos will start looking better soon. Anyway I’m excited, especially since the site said it would be “from the store to my hand very fast days, sometimes 24 hours”.