Tough decision ahead....

So I have to decide whether or not I am going to stay in Tottori in like a week. I originally thought I had until mid July to decide, but apparently I must decide by the 30th. I haven't given it much thought and now I have to make an important decision. I like it here, but I don't know if I like it so much that I want to spend another year here. I want to come home because I miss everyone, but I don't know what exactly I would do when I get back. So I have an important decision to make and I want everyone's advice. Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Recently I have been really enjoying my time here. The weather is nice and hot and that means swimming in the ocean, bbqs, and some awesome hiking. I went to Yonago last weekend to meet some friends and watch soccer. It was awesome, we stayed up until 3am watching soccer, then the next day we bbqed all afternoon. The people in Yonago really know how to have a good time. I bought my tickets to the beach party that is on the 4th of July. It is going to be nuts, partying all night on the beach with DJs and fun people.

I have been having a good time at work, I am really connecting with some of more shy students. I have this one student, her name is Mayo, not like mayonaisse, but like MA YO. We still call her Mayonaisse though. Anyways we were playing a guessing game with famous people. She had Michael Jackson, and I knew it after like three questions, so I asked her, "Is he black or white?" Her answer exactly, "He used to be black, but he became white." I started laughing and pretty soon the whole class erupted in laughter. It was a good moment for one of my shyer classes.

So it has pretty been the same ol same ol around here, hiking, chillin, speaking Japanese on Saturday nights.

I have a tough decision ahead, but I am confident I'll make the correct choice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Sorry for the Absence..I didn't have internet for 2 weeks!

So it is funny that this day and age one cannot live without Internet. I don't know how we used to live. I couldn't check sports scores, facebook or call anybody using Skype. Anyways, I am back, and I have some fun stories and good news.

So first, I have a new Foreign Coworker, she is from Toronto and her name is Jeannie. She is really cool and she is interested in the outdoors as much as I am. The first weekend she was here, we climbed the local mountain together. It is more fun to share nature with someone who gets excited about the ocean and mountains like me.
This past weekend, we woke up on Sunday, and we went to the local store so I could buy a bike. I gave her my old bike because it was really small and my knees kept hitting the handle bars. So I bought this sweet new ride that is much bigger and it has gears, so I can cruise super fast! After we got my new bike, we headed for the sand dunes. I also realized that after biking around for 4 months I am in excellent cycling shape. Jeannie could not keep up, so I had to bike at about 2/10s the pace. We got to the trail and hiked to the sand dunes, the non tourist area. The sand was so warm and nice and the ocean view was spectacular as usual. We chilled for a bit then jumped into the ocean and swam for about 30 minutes. I forgot how much I love swimming in the ocean, the waves were pretty big and the temperature was nice. The view was also breath taking, you have the dunes, the mountains, and the ocean, the trifecta! Overall a great weekend of chillin, swimming, and cycling.

For the past month I have been volunteering at the Sakura Day Care Center for special needs kids. It is a lot of fun, only two of the kids attempt to speak any English, so I speak in Japanese most of the time. It is still fun because they are all super excited to see me each week and when I leave they all gather around the door and say, "bai-bai" for like 5 minutes. The kids are great, they all seem really happy and enjoy life. This one girl named Mana, has never said one word to me, but she always smiles and laughs when I make jokes in Japanese or if I make my father's patented water drop noise with my mouth. It is a nice change from the structure arena of teaching that I do every day, I can relax and not worry about anything.

At school I have had less classes lately, so it has been nice to be able to think about my classes. My manager thinks I am god right now because I got the school a new student by speaking Japanese on the phone to a prospective student. It was weird being placed into that situation where I had to be on top of my Japanese game on a seconds notice. My students are all pretty good, I have a new class on Wednesday full of hell raisers, but other than that, I have a good time teaching because I have some really smart students.
Masayoshi, is awesome, he is the kid I have been calling Yoshi in my previous posts. His full name is Masayoshi. He is so smart and witty. The other day I asked what does he always do? His answer (with a smirk on his face) "I ALWAYS breath air!" So smart and so funny every week. He comes up with the funniest little comments and questions, for example, we read about a woman named Virginia, he looks at me and asks, "John Sensei, are you a Virgin?" I just look at him and laugh, he begs for me to tell him, but all I say is that I am waiting till marriage. The kid is too funny.

Mikiko is another smart student, she is Masayoshi's older cousin. She is 17 and is close to being fluent. We don't even use the textbook half the time, we just sit and chat. She wants to be a doctor like her father, but she wants to work in Africa and help children dying of AIDS. After getting to know her, she will definitely succeed. She is one of the smartest and most interesting students/people I have ever met. She is the captain of the Kendo team and gets straight A's. Another great student.

I have a student who is 8 years old named Koki. I call him Koki Cola and everyone laughs, including him. He is so bright and fun, every class he comes with a new word that he learned and he uses it in a sentence. I asked him, How are you? Koki responds with, "I am doing well, although I jammed my finger playing baseball." I mean the kid is 8 years old! It is kids like this that keep me sane at work.

Teaching little kids is not really teaching, it is more like baby sitting, that is why when my older students come, ages 8-18 I get really excited because I actually teach.

So other than that, I have been doing the usual, work, teach, eat, sleep, climb a mountain, take a train there, go to Mitsue's for a Japanese lesson, and then volunteer at Sakura. So now that I have internet once again I will post once a week.
Miss you all and send me a facebook message or something!

Mt. Daisen

This pic is of a house on top of the mountain adjacent to the Daisen peak.
I climbed Mt. Daisen on Monday. It was quite the experience. I can't find the words to do it justice, so I will let the pictures do the talking. Check out my facebook page to see all 43 photos of the beautiful mountain. They are great.

Tokyo Trip

For Golden Week Jeremy and I hopped a train to Tokyo. We took a bus to Okayama and then hopped on a Bullet Train. I usually hate traveling, but seeing all of Japan from the window of a bullet train was fun. I saw Mt. Fuji in all its greatness and many of the famous rice fields. When we arrived in Tokyo I was amazed at the size and crowded subway.
We got to our hotel and then headed to Ikebukuro for dinner with my friends from Fukushima. They are also teachers, we had some trouble finding the place, but once we did we were in for a treat. This restaurant was vampire themed and the waiter and waitresses were all dressed up like vampires. It was a lot of fun, the waiter hit on Jeremy and we took some funny pictures.
The night life in Tokyo was insane, the clubs are open all night and every body dances here. Compared to Tottori where nobody dances at the clubs it was a lot of fun. I can tell you more detailed accounts in person.
During the day, we went to Harajuku, the famous fashion/crazy shopping market. The streets were so crowded in some parts that we were just standing still. It was some of the best people watching I have ever experienced. Some of the people looked like they came straight out of a Japanese comic book/cartoon.
We also went to Tokyo Tower, I had been there before, but we again because it offers the best view of Tokyo. You can see the whole city. The size of the city really left me in awe. If you take downtown MPLS and multiply it by like 50, you get Tokyo. The city is quite impressive, but I can't imagine living there. Rush hour in Tokyo is a good experience. I was pushed by a man with white gloves into a crowded subway, I thought there was no way I could fit, but he pushed me in no problem.
We also went to Nikko the following Monday. It was about a two hour train ride up there, very scenic and peaceful. Once we got there it was so crowded that the peaceful place that I visited when I was thirteen had turned into a circus. Nikko Shrines became a World Heritage Site in 2005, so since then it is one of the most visited tourist spots in Japan. It was still fun seeing all of the cool shrines, but the peaceful place I remembered was taken over by seas of people.

Below is my favorite picture of my trip. The Nikko Bridge, the best picture I have taken so far in Japan.


That is the gist of my trip. A lot of wandering and subway riding coupled with some visits to temples and shrines.

Today I had my first lesson with the Special Needs kids across the street from Mitsue. It was fun, I spoke in Japanese most of the time because they have never studied English before. I taught them introductions, weather and feelings. It was a lot of fun being the first foreign person they have ever seen. They were all so interested in my hair and my eyes. I am looking forward to teaching them every week. It is going to be fun.
Until next time. JB

Day with Mitsue

The pic above is of me at Yonago Train Station at 5am, Jeremy and I decided to take some funny pics...
I had a great lesson with Mitsue today, we took a hike outside at a nearby trail up a mountain. It was quite beautiful, and at the top we could see the surrounding mountain range and the Sea of Japan on the other side. It was a lot of fun hiking with her because we spoke in Japanese most of the time, except when I had a story I couldn't tell in Japanese. We talked a lot about family and I learned a lot more about her. She is going to Paris in a few months and wants to get into walking shape for her adventure. She goes abroad once a year with her husband and has been lucky enough to see most of the world. After the hike we went back to her house and I showed her pictures of the family. I forgot my camera at my apartment so I couldn't take any pics....shoot. I'll get a picture of my Sensei up soon though.

Mitsue also told me of an opportunity to volunteer once a week at a day care for kids with disabilities. I would be teaching them English after my lesson with Mitsue and it will be very convenient because the day care is right across the street from her house. I am excited to volunteer and help out these kids who otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn English.
After that I went home and packed for Tokyo!
I am off to Tokyo on Thursday, so get ready to see some amazing pictures soon!
JB

Teaching and More Teaching

I have been pretty busy over the last two weeks at work and haven't really been able or willing to do my usual exploring. I am excited because in ten days I will be on a Bullet Train headed for Tokyo. I don't know exactly what Jeremy and I will do once we get there, but I do know that it is going to be awesome. We are going to visit the famous Nikko Shrine where Ieyasu Tokugawa is buried, of the Tokugawa Shogunate. I love learning about Japanese history because it is so long and interesting. Samurais, Shoguns, Ninjas, Geishas, Temples and Shrines. The list goes on and to be able to go to such an interesting place is going to be awesome. In Tokyo we are going to do the tourist thing, go to Tokyo Tower (Japan's Eiffel Tower) and Asakusa Temple, and the famous Electronic District where robots walk around...not really but the most amazing technology in the world can be found there. I am also looking forward to seeing the busy streets and subways. We are also going to meet some of my friends from Fukushima there, I am so excited because these people are so much fun. Jeremy and I got hotel rooms in the middle of Shibuya which is like the Times Square of Tokyo. It should be a good time. Until then, I am not doing much, just working like usual and hanging out.
This weekend Jeremy DJed at the local club that we go to, it was a good time because our friends from Yonago came and this other Foreign band played. I also met some really nice Japanese girls and talked to them for like an hour in Japanese.
I had a nice lesson with Mitsue today, as usual it was a lot of fun and she made me some pancakes. Except they don't use Maple Syrup here, they use honey or jam. The honey was good, but it made me think of my mom's delicious pancakes and how I could really go for a stack. As usual I miss everyone and have to give a shout out to my guy Dahm for sending a nice birthday package filled with Candy.
I might not post again until Tokyo, so until then.
JB

Cherry Blossoms are awesome.

So this past week was a little hectic at work, but I was rewarded this weekend with the amazingly beautiful Cherry Blossoms (Sakura). They come out for about one week each year and they are spectacular. I have never appreciated trees so much until I saw the amazing Cherry Blossoms in full bloom this weekend. I am a person who loves trees, just ask my family about my favorite boy time hobby, climbing trees.
Jeremy and I went to Mt. Kyusho on Sunday at about 3 pm. They have a festival all weekend to celebrate the Cherry Blossoms. We found a spot to hang and we chilled for about 3 hours. After that we moved to this giant wall on the Mountain and watched the sunset, a little gay, but it was beautiful. I listened to relaxing music as I took the Cherry Blossoms in. It was probably the most relaxing thing I've ever done.
The next day we went and had a picnic under the Cherry Blossoms. This is called "Hanami" and it is a lot of fun. We went to this local river that is lined with Cherry Blossoms and sat under a tree and ate dinner. We drank sake, listened to music and exchanged stories. Jeremy and his friend Todd are hilarious, they are big time video game nerds. I have a hard time relating because the only video games I play are COD and sports games. Jeremy enjoys listening to Video Game soundtracks, it is too funny. Anyways the Cherry Blossoms are beautiful and it was a true pleasure to experience them this weekend.
Tottori is a beautiful place, but the Cherry Blossoms made it a wonderland this weekend. They are literally everywhere you go, they turn a normal street into heaven. Staring down at the Cherry Blossoms from Mt. Kyusho made me feel like I was looking down at clouds, that is how beautiful and fluffy they look.
Another things that I did this weekend was to purchase a Bullet Train ticket to TOKYO! Jeremy and I will be heading there at the end of the month and I am so excited. We are going to visit Nikko (my favorite Japanese Temple), climb Mt. Fuji and party it up in Tokyo. I can't wait!
Enjoy the photos, for the complete album go to facebook, and until next time....PEACE!

John Kelly Kennedy Budge (my older students laugh at my long name)