lol that one is cute. And is Chris Duff...the Duffman!:O
boutux wrote: some more pics


That's me trying to be cute at hanami.


this is some us trainees at an after training drinking party or enkai. that was a lot of fun after all that stress. i'm probably the easiest to spot in this pic.


this is me before dinner one evening after a long day of training.


this pic is one of my faves and probably holds my fave memory of training.

on the last and most stressful day of training everyone had to present 15 minute demo of their lesson. They were really hard on us and wanted us to critique each other really harshly. it was a emotionally draining experience but when it was over the 1st thing we saw when we left the conference room was these little elementary boys who were at our hotel for soccer camp. They were the cutest kids i have ever seen and they were so bubbly and excited to see this big group of foreigners. they immediately tried saying whatever english they knew to us and gave us high fives and fist bumps. later that evening they ran up to us while we were chilling out in the rest rooms with note books. they wanted our autographs. how could we say no? i took pics with the kids but i can't put them online. i was the only one in the group to take a pic of the autographs from one of the note books. it was the perfect ending to the week of training and every time i see this pic i smile.


I did that last week to get my 60 hour TESOL certificate. But I have to say my presentation didn't last 15 minutes :P
Skye-N-Rain wrote: lol that one is cute. And is Chris Duff...the Duffman!:O


the way he was throwing back beers he might as well be.
What are you teaching there? English? How big are the classes? How is the pay, any benefits? free lodging?
boutux wrote:
this pic is one of my faves and probably holds my fave memory of training.

on the last and most stressful day of training everyone had to present 15 minute demo of their lesson. They were really hard on us and wanted us to critique each other really harshly. it was a emotionally draining experience but when it was over the 1st thing we saw when we left the conference room was these little elementary boys who were at our hotel for soccer camp. They were the cutest kids i have ever seen and they were so bubbly and excited to see this big group of foreigners. they immediately tried saying whatever english they knew to us and gave us high fives and fist bumps. later that evening they ran up to us while we were chilling out in the rest rooms with note books. they wanted our autographs. how could we say no? i took pics with the kids but i can't put them online. i was the only one in the group to take a pic of the autographs from one of the note books. it was the perfect ending to the week of training and every time i see this pic i smile.


I love this story how cute!!
ahhh the sakura, how pretty ^_^ my brother in law just posted pics on facebook at ueno park, it's a shame we won't see them when we go. maybe someday :) nice photos . and really cute story about the kids hahaha you're famous already :P check your inbox by the way
ladyfaile wrote: ahhh the sakura, how pretty ^_^ my brother in law just posted pics on facebook at ueno park, it's a shame we won't see them when we go. maybe someday :)

nice photos . and really cute story about the kids hahaha you're famous already :P

check your inbox by the way

Been their! :P
We actually went to Ueno Park during one of their festival things in April (2-3 years ago.) It was amazing.
Skye-N-Rain wrote: Been their! :P
We actually went to Ueno Park during one of their festival things in April (2-3 years ago.) It was amazing.


I've been there too =P
But no sakura when I went, it was already July?
okay update time:

I've been great so far. i'm used to my apartment now actually i made a video of it for my family... i'll post the link to it below.
i've been exploring Saga City. at 1st i was afraid to be riding my bike on roads (it's kinda dangerous in my home country) but it's pretty cool in japan. i pretty much ride my bike everywhere and i've lost a couple pounds in the process. yay!! food is awesome in japan. it's cheap for the most part, except if u're in the mood for melons-ridiculously expensive. my favorite thing is yakitori, or as i like to call it "the best beer food ever!"

i've had a few bad days here too tho. i went to fukuoka to go clubbing with other ALTs and got drunk off jagermeister (they do not water down drinks in japan). dancing with japanese boys was both fun and funny but in the morning when we were leaving the club i realised my bag was open and my purse was missing. that purse had everything in it--ids from home, my japanese id, bank cards from both home and japan, my hanko(japanese sign stamp) and the extra card key to my apartment. needless to say i was hung over and miserable. and it was a pain to go thru the process of cancelling and reapplying for everything. losing my wallet taught me alot. like dealing with western union is a Pain in butt in Japan and i hope to never have to deal with them again. i've promised myself to stay away from jager, not ever get drunk like that again and i'm extra careful with stuff when i go out. see i did say i learned alot. lol.

last thing i'm gonna add in this post is there is so much eye candy around me. lol. japanese men are hot! but for some reason i get a lot of *hint hint* looks from ojiisans. it's funny i'm walking with other girls both foreigners and japanese and i'm the one they chose to wink and smile at. japanese girls keep telling me i'm cute or pretty and they ask me if my hair is weave or a wig, if my boobs are real and if i'm popular with boys both home and in japan...um no, yes and no! lol. it's weird but flattering at the same time. and even in japan no one believes i'm 30. thank u mom and dad for good genes!

and now for the tiny japanese apartment vid.

Everything is very compact lol Where would I put all my books? :eek:
boutux wrote: okay update time:

I've been great so far. i'm used to my apartment now actually i made a video of it for my family... i'll post the link to it below.
i've been exploring Saga City. at 1st i was afraid to be riding my bike on roads (it's kinda dangerous in my home country) but it's pretty cool in japan. i pretty much ride my bike everywhere and i've lost a couple pounds in the process. yay!! food is awesome in japan. it's cheap for the most part, except if u're in the mood for melons-ridiculously expensive. my favorite thing is yakitori, or as i like to call it "the best beer food ever!"


me, riding bike in Japan was my very fist experience riding a bike..LOL..
never rode once before, in my country...but in Japan, I had to..because the transportation fees was very expensive.. (need about $14 a day commuting from apartment to uni..)
my friend took me to a cheap store to buy a bike, which was about 8 km away from my apartment..so I had to back to my apartment by riding the bike, and that was when I first rode it..lol...SCARY! a lot! :D
but I absolutely won't do that if it was in my country...riding on the street is not safety here.. >_<


and btw, that garbage thing in calendar (from your video)..was it hard for you??It's really hard, right???divide garbages into too many types..even colors are counted..>_<
haha thanks for the tour. wow such a tiny apartment >.< I tend to collect way too much stuff, it would be so messy and cluttered in no time lol that sucks about your wallet getting stolen. and here we are all assuming that people are so honest in Japan lol. I guess there are still jerks anywhere who would take advantage of someone in that situation. i rarely carry a purse when i go out because i'm so afraid of something like that happening, i'll take just my phone, i.d. and cash and bank card in my pocket and leave the rest at home. harsh lesson learned eh? :( for counterspace, you should get a sturdy wooden cutting board that will fit across the width of the sink, you can use it for prep space and when you're done just stash it in the cupboard/shelf. also a small rice maker would probably be handy, you can cook rice and still have your hotplates free for cooking your meats and veggies etc at the same time
@soracantabile riding was scary. the main roads are fine cuz there are bike lanes. the tiny roads without names are the one i'm scared of most times. i've most been run over a few times cuz some corners have no mirrors. riding in the rain is a pain in the butt now that it's raining every other day. the gabage rules were tough in the beginning. but i'm used to it now. the colour system is easy to understand and really it's the burnable gabage that piles up faster than anything else. it takes me weeks to fill up my recyclable cans and bottles bags. @lady i made a newbie mistake for the very reason i thought japan was safe too. the club i was at had a good mixture of foreigners and japanese so who knows who took my wallet. but in it had the means for that person to steal my identity. i didn't have much cash in it. no yen only about 50usd. i wouldn't have cared if they took the cash and left the wallet around with my stuff in. the only good thing that came from the situation is when i went to the bank to report cancel and reapply for an ATM card they realised they opened the wrong kind of account for me and i had to close that account and open a new one. i do all my prep work 1st. half on the left over space on top the fridge and half in the sink. i want to buy a rice cooker but they are ridiculously expensive. i need to find a 2nd hand shop selling a rice cooker for about 5000-6000 yen. i'm not spending more than 60 bucks just to cook rice. i also want to get a small couch to put near the window but i'm worried since it's such a small space, i don't want it to get cluttered.
@boutux haha..indeed, rain is bothersome..i don't ride if it's rain.. but i was amazed by japanese that ride in the rain while holding up their umbrella.. >.<
wow rice cookers are cheap here, the one i have usually goes on sale for about $20 (it's not an especially good one but still) you'd think since they're such an essential item in Japan that they would be cheaper