Elle's Adventures

kiji no mama de hito to tsukiau - he associates with people just as he is Another entry in my electronic dictionary. This reminded me of Dede :) And then it got me thinking, like always, the differences between Japanese and English. Often, I understand what people are saying, but translating it into English directly is near impossible. It's a really strange sensation. But it then got me thinking about how much the phrases that I say in English with Japanese people (who understand English) are different when compared to talking with native English speakers. I can't think of any examples at the moment, but I'll be sure to add some in when I do!

Just had a nice conversation via Facebook chat with one of my best friends :) Even though we lived with 15 minutes drive from one another back home, we didn't get to see each other very often. Every couple of weeks we would get together and have a dinner and movie night. I really miss that! So right now I'm feeling pretty happy, but today was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. It's hard being far away from home. But today, we were finally able to explore my town, Fukushima. So I have some lovely pictures for you all! Yet another surprise on my desk :) Continuing with my exploration of Japanese wines...I only had two glasses, instead of the whole bottom. That should tell you something :) Seven Eleven has so many yummy looking treats! But they don't taste half as good as they look, unfortunately. Main road The leaves are quickly changing Side street I've been meaning to go down for a while. We discovered an Izakaya and a ryokan ...

Not to start off on a negative note once again, but sometimes the ridiculous of Japan confuses me.  I do love this country, and like all places it has its pros and cons. In 2009 when I came to Japan on exchange I remember hearing a song on TV over and over.  The lyrics were 'aitakatta, aitakatta, aitakatta, yes!' For those of you familiar with current pop culture, you should already know who I am talking about! Although I've been a big Japan enthusiast for a while, I did not know who this particular group was; their pop image was too garish and girly for me (being a lover of heavier styles). Hence, I passed them off as another J-Pop sensation that would be unheard of within a week. Fast forward to 2011, I'm here in Japan again, and all over TV I hear songs like 'Heavy Rotation' and 'Everyday Katsusha'. Eventually I see AKB48 on screen, realise that's the name of the pop group, then start hearing everyone, everywhere, talking about them.  The kids...

...of my previous post about overcoming loneliness. Tonight I am feeling pretty lonely. It's cold, I have Elementary to *look forward to* tomorrow, and that's basically it. I actually did have a nice day at Junior High though. My supervisor came to watch one of my classes, and that went pretty well. The kids that I eat lunch with got the courage to ask if I had a boyfriend. When I said yes, one girl broke into a chorus of 　いいな、いいな、いいな　(ii na, ii na, ii na - sort of like how cool!) for about two minutes, but it was genuine, so I was happy. One of the boys called her stupid for saying it so many times, but she wasn't offended, just replied back that it was pretty nice to have a boyfriend. They asked for his name, how old, etc, and I promised to show them a picture next time we had class together. As it turns out, I saw one of the girls after school and showed her a picture of Dede and I on my mobile. But yes, there are some days when you just can't get over this feeli...

It's a given. Moving to an entirely new country, with a different language, different set of customs and very different people, you're bound to get lonely. For me, it's a lot more difficult because before coming here, I pretty much lived with my boyfriend for nearly three years. It's tough getting used to only hearing your own voice; I have always talked to myself and I think it helps me from going absolutely insane! TV has also been a big part of my life. I refuse to call myself a couch potato, but sometimes... maybe I am.  As much as I want to be able to sit through a Japanese TV show and look up the words I don't know...I can't be bothered. After a big day at work I just can't do that. Not to mention the TV shows here in Nagano are so boring! The thing that has helped me get through the past few weeks or so is the TV show Community (I downloaded it).  I think I love it even more than The Big Bang Theory! Every single episode has me laughing so hard. Unf...

Just a quick little update to let some of you know I'm finally back in contact with Fumi! I sent an email to the email address for her phone that she had last time I was here, with my fingers crossed that she hadn't changed it. I was in luck, and she replied straight away! I'm so happy, she's the first real Japanese friend that I made, back when I was living in Launceston. I wrote to her in Japanese, and she was really surprised; in the past we've only ever spoken in English, with a tiny bit of Japanese thrown in there. I suppose now I'm a little more confident, and I'm sure I've improved a lot since then. Just this second I remembered being back in my first year of University and I had an assignment for Japanese. I had to record a five minute conversation with Fumi, and all we could do was laugh throughout the whole thing! My teacher Go-Sensei was very kind, but politely told me that we laughed just a little too much. Fun times :) I'm hoping ove...

The importance of foreign language teaching in Junior High Schools I wish I could say that I constructed the title of this entry, but it's just an example sentence from my dictionary! I realised that I haven't really said much about the actual details of my job. I hope that those of you reading back home, and others who may have stumbled here looking for information about actually teaching in Japan, may find this interesting. I work for a company who hires, trains and dispatches ALT's to locations mainly around southern Japan.  I'm currently on a six month contract in Fukushima, Kiso-machi, Nagano-ken. I work at five different schools: Fukushima Junior High School 福島中学校 5 minute walk Fukushima Elementary School 福島小学校 5 minute drive Kaida Elementary School 開田小学校 30 minute drive Ueda Elementary School 上田小学校 15 minute drive Kiso Kindergarten 木曽幼稚園 10 minute drive Originally Kaida was not part of my contract, but it was given to me to spare the work load of the...

I had a big day today.  First, I took the Shinano (limited express) train to Nagoya for a days training, nothing too exciting to add. I did get to go to my favourite department store, Passe! (where I got my bright pink high heels during exchange) I saw the Baby the Stars Shine Bright store...I wish I was rich, I would buy the entire store out and wear sweet lolita style clothes until I get too old for it. The photos below are a little out of order, but this time around I'll put some descriptions in!   Chips from a department store in Ina; Japanese potatoes are awful! They don't really have a lot of flavour, and there is no variety. Just the same potatoes everyday. As Kiso is quite a rural area I know that a lot of people grow their own vegetables. I wonder whether theirs taste nicer.  The chips above could've been cooked longer too. Very yummy gyouza (I love gyouza!), with an interesting sauce. It was sweeter than normal. I still don't know if I liked it ...