Mystery Trip & News of The Day

I have so much to do today, which includes semi-cleaning my apartment and packing. Yes, you read right - PACKING. I'm going on a trip. YAY!  It was all last minute. I took a couple of days off,  bought train & flight tickets and booked a hostel. Where am I going? Well, I'm going..... It's a secret. lol  Yes, I will be mysterious today (^_-) . ::Does BEAST's head move dance  to "Mystery, Mystery"::

Check in again to find out where I went.  Dun, Dun, Dun...


Anyway, I will give you some details. I'm going on the over night train from Miyazaki to Fukuoka. I'm in an "Only Female" carriage on the train. Cool, right? Then, I will catch the plane tomorrow in Fukuoka. I'm a bit nervous. I'm always a bit stressed when I travel alone.


Anyway, back to present. Today it's been so humid. The humidity hit out of nowhere. Everything is so wet. Even the floors and walls of the school are wet. The floor is a bit slippery to walk on and when I leaned against a wall, my bum got wet. Not a pretty sight.

I've also been giving interview tests today. I've had 2 this morning and I have 1 more this afternoon. Poor kids have been so nervous. I try to make them more at ease by giving them a smile and a cheerful "Hello!", but a test is a test, so they are freakin out on me. 

Generally, they have been doing well, so I'm happy.


Oh and today a local tv channel is going to film my English Debate Club doing a mock practice/ debate because they did so well this year. They got 2nd place in the Kyushu/ Okinawa Finals, which is a pretty big deal. I'm so proud of them. However, that means I have to stay later after school. I also kind of look like a mess. I really should wake up when my alarm clock tells me to wake up, so that I have more time to prepare myself calmly. Oh, I do like my sleep.


Last but not least, I just want to express my love for the group 2 AM. I'm so happy that they won a Mutizen. They totally deserve it. Their new single "I Can't  Let You Go Even If I Die" is so beautiful and well song. Watching them win was "WOW".  Keep on being amazing boys.

Anyway, hopefully my next post will be about my vacation.

Home and Back

Published on Tuesday, January 19, 2010.

I went home to America for the holidays and I have to admit that I had a lot of fun. I had missed spending time with my family and friends. In the 2 weeks I was there, I ate tons of food, watched a lot of late night reruns of shows, such as Bridezillas , & received and gave a lot of hugs. I also took pictures, so that I could show my students when I came back to Japan.

 The students loved seeing the pictures of Christmas decorations, my Christmas tree, snow (it doesn't really snow in this area) and a couple of pictures that I took in NYC when I went there with my mom to do some shopping. 

However, the picture that seemed the most popular was the one I took of our main dish on Christmas day. It was a picture of leitão (suckling pig), which is a popular dish in the region that my parents are from in Portugal,  which is known as Bairrada. Both teachers and students were amazed by this picture. There were all different reactions to it. Some were disgusted. Others were confused, amused and even interested in knowing more about it. I even heard some girls say "Kawaii" (cute). When I said that it was delicious, a lot of them looked at me incredulously and others giggled. lol. Yes, the picture was a hit among my students.



I've realized that a lot of people here take pictures of their food when the food looks really good, cute, or just different from the norm. I should have taken more pictures of the different foods I ate back home, both the American and Portuguese stuff. I think they would have liked that.

For more pictures, you can go to my Flickr Account

Song Listening to At the Moment: "Yours Only"by Nishino Kana

Tons of Coffee + TV = Weird Media Connections

Post first published on January 7, 2010.

As many of you know, I went home to the US  for the holidays recently. I was with my family on New Years watching New Years Rockin Eve on tv. On the show, Selena Gomez sang two songs. That's when it hit me, Disney Channel is basically following the same procedure with their artists like Asian companies do, such as Johnny's in Japan or  SM Entertainment in Korea.

Entertainment companies here (Asia) will take in artists, train them in different things, such as singing, acting, modeling and so on. Then, they get them jobs in all of these different fields. That's why usually pop singers also appear in dramas, like Matsumoto Jun in Japan or Uee in Korea. It's also why they call them "talent" (meaning artists) and not simply "Singers" or "Models". It's like making the most out of one artist and they know their capabilities because usually they are training under the company since they are very young.

I feel like Disney lately has been doing that with their artists. I mean, just think about what they have done with Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and many others. I mean, they even make good singers do acting jobs when they can't act that well & they make good actors do singing jobs when they can't really sing. In the end, they make these teen stars successful in many fields and they hold on to them as long as they can while trying to make the most money out of them. It's ridiculously smart of Disney to do it, especially since they are involved in all fields of the entertainment business.

Actually, Disney takes it above and beyond. Not only are their artists in various fields of the entertainment business, but they are working within the Disney company in these various fields, so Disney is bringing in all of the money. For example, take Miley Cyrus. She became famous because of Hannah Montana, which is a Disney show. Through the show, she began her singing career. She is now an extremely famous singer. What's her record label? She is under Hollywood Records, which is owned by the Disney Company. Miley is also in movies. Her latest movie, which is coming out this year, is called The Last Song. Although Offspring Entertainment produced the film, it is being distributed by Touchstone Pictures, which is part of the Walt Disney Company as well. Even Miley's book, Miles to Go, was published under Disney-Hyperion Books. Wow!

I think that Disney is probably the closest thing that America has to Asian entertainment companies like SM or YG, since they do take young adults and place them in various media fields instead of only labeling them as "singers" or "actors".
Yet, there are still differences because of the great amount of power Disney has in all of the media outlets.


Anyway, if I wrote anything that is wrong, I'm sorry. This was just a connection I made while I was watching tv.

Snow Storm hits = Crazy Flight Home

Post first published on January 6, 2010.

So I went home in December and I have already returned back to Japan. First, I would like to post about my flight home.

I left Miyazaki on the 19th of December and because of the time difference, I was supposed to arrive on the same day (the 19th of December) at night in Jersey. It didn't quite work out that way because of the snow storm that hit the East Coast of the US.

Let me start from the beginning. I went from Miyazaki to Osaka Itami. From there, I caught an airport bus to Osaka Kansai airport, which took about 70 minutes. Then, I went from Osaka Kansai Airport to San Fransico airport. Once, I reached San Francisco, I was tired and couldn't wait to catch my last plane, which would take me to Jersey (home sweet home). However, it didn't quite work out that way.

In San Francisco, they basically told me that all of the flights going to Jersey and New York were canceled because of a snow storm. WHAT??? Then, I was told that the next available flight for me would be on the 21st. Remember, this was on the 19th. Oh dear! I was then given a list of times and gates for flights that I could wait on stand by for and I was told to take some clothes that I might need for the 2 days out of my luggage and then check in the bags. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my family for the 2 weeks we had together before I had to return back to Miyazaki and I was already being cut by 2 days. On top of that, I had just arrived from Japan, so I was already so tired.

I decided to wait for the stand-by flights, which of course is what most people were doing. The first one was at like 10 something at night. I ate, walked around the airport and tried to entertain myself. The flight was of course full and I had no chance to get on. Crap!

I ended up going to one of the gates that was empty and sleeping there. Truthfully, I could only sleep for a couple of hours. I was using my backpack as a pillow, but I was still afraid that someone would steal my things.

The next morning (December 20th) , I waited for the next stand-by flight. I was tired, sleepy, running on coffee, but I still had a bit of hope that I would make it home before the 21st. When I looked up on the stand-by list, my name wasn't there. Your name is supposed to automatically go into the next flight, but what I didn't know (and apparently many others didn't know) was that it refreshes the next day, so you have to put your name back on every day. I went to customer service where I saw many familiar faces from the day before. Each one was asking to put their names back on the list and asking if there were any flights to Jersey or New York. Of course, the answer was always "No".

I was lucky enough to get a man working there that instead of saying "No", like everyone else, he tried hard to find me a flight. He couldn't find anything, and then he told me, " I found one that leaves today". I was so happy. I felt like crying. I walked away with a smile on my face, but when I looked back down on my ticket, the name on it wasn't mine.

When I went back to him, he was helping out a boy with a ticket he had. He saw me and asked me what was wrong. When I told him, he realized that he had booked me for the day before's flight at 1 PM, which is what I originally was supposed to go on. As this was going on, he unlocked the kid's ticket and was able to help him out. He also realized that the kid was going to NY Laguardia Airport and there was another seat for me.

He told me if I was ok with NY. When I said YES, he told me that I was taking the same route as the kid before me. He gave me a bunch of tickets and an itinerary. He said you are going to Bozeman, then Chicago and then NY. I also had to run to the gate because they were boarding. I was so happy. I didn't even care that I had no idea where Bozeman was.

The plane I went on was tiny. We had to get on by going on the runway and getting up stairs. My backpack didn't even fit the upper compartment. I starting wondering "Where the heck is Bozeman?". I was too embarrassed to ask anyone, so I just kept quiet.

Once we arrived, I was surprised to see just snow and mountains. It was literally a tiny airport, snow, mountains and that's it. It was beautiful. Stunning! I just didn't know where I was. The airport has a small gift shop, so I decided to go there for clues to where I was. That's when I saw all of the Montana souvenirs. I thought, "Wow, I'm in Montana!". lol.

This is a picture I took from the airport in Bozeman.



Next, I went to Chicago. In Chicago, it was also chaos because of the snow storm. There were tons of people waiting on stand by. I felt bad for all of the people who were waiting for seats, but I also felt relieved that I finally had a ticket home. The flight from Chicago to NY Laguardia was super full and there were 120 people on stand- by. Wow! I was hoping that those people could get home somehow before Christmas Eve. It's a really sad sight to see people and families praying for a way to arrive home for the holidays. It broke my heart.

When I finally arrived at NY Laguardia, I was so happy to be in my mom and dad's arms. I hadn't seen them in a year and the trip home to see them felt like it took forever. I was really thankful that I was able to arrive home when so many people were still stuck in airports.
We drove from NY Laguardia to Newark Airport in Jersey because my luggage went there. Then, we finally went home.

It was a long trip, but I'm so happy that I was able to make it home & see my family.

Song I'm Listening to At the Moment: "Sign" by Brown Eyed Girls

Getting Ready for Christmas Vacation

Post first published on December 16, 2009.

I'm going to go home this Saturday. Well, kind of. I'm going back to Jersey for Christmas, but I will be going to a completely different house. Since I have been in Japan, my parents have moved from a small apartment in an urban area, where I was born and raised, to a bigger place in a suburban area. Truthfully, I think that this move was great for them. Their landlord is a friend of theirs and their neighbors are also good friends. The house looks nice and the area is much, much better from where we use to live. I'm actually really excited to see the new house and to put my imprint in my new room.

This will also be the first time I go back home since I have been here, so about a year and a half. I can't wait to see my family and friends and hang out in all of the places I have missed. I have a list of things to see, people to hang out with and things to buy, but I'm not sure if I can do half of what I want.

Although I'm super excited, I'm also a bit nervous. A lot has happened with people back home since I've left. Friends have gotten new jobs, become engaged and so on. I just wonder how people will interact with me and how they will react to my own changes. I think it should all be fine though.

My flight is also super crazy. I'm going from Miyazaki to Osaka. Then, in Osaka, I have to change airports (domestic to international). Then, I leave Osaka and go to San Francisco. From San Francisco, I finally go to Jersey. It's going to be a long flight.

Last year, I did a similar crazy flight, except I was going to see my family in Portugal. I went from Miyazaki to Tokyo Haneda (domestic). Then, I had to switch airports to fly out of the international airport, Narita. From Narita, I went to Germany. Finally, from Germany, I went to Lisbon. Whoah, tiring!

I have so many things that I want to take back home, but I don't want to make my bags heavy because of all of the airport changes.


Before even going, I have to buy gifts, clean, pack and see some of my friends here before I go.

For example, today I have a Japanese lesson at my house. We are going to play the Japanese version of Life (the board game). We began it last time, but we didn't finish. Yes, I am losing. lol. Most of the time, I have no idea what is going on. I really must improve my Japanese.

Then, I will try to end the lesson 10 minutes early, so that I can catch a bus to go downtown. I need to buy a Christmas cake to take to Lauren's house and some other things for tomorrow's class.

I also have to meet up with my friend Minjin. She is also part of the Jet program, except she is a CIR not ALT. When we can, we do conversation practice to help her improve her English. In return, she teaches me a bit of Korean. To get ready for today, I have been trying to memorize as much hangul, Korean alphabet, as I can. My memory is horrible by the way, but I really want to learn.

We are also meeting up because we have omiyage (souvenirs) that we still haven't exchanged with each other from places we went to in November. We wanted to do that before I left for America.

Edit- Minjin is not feeling well, so we are not meeting up. :( I hope she gets better soon. ::Drink Tea, Rest & Stay Warm Minjin::

Wow Japanese and then Korean in one day. My head will be super confused. I guess it usually is on most days. lol.

Anyway, after that, I will go to Lauren's house because 4 of my friends who live in the west side of the city are having a Christmas gathering. They are bringing the KFC and I will bring the Christmas cake - Oh yeah, Japanese Christmas (lol). However, they will start at 6:30 PM, but I will only be able to get there at 8 something. Ahhh...they might be kind of mad at me for that. Hopefully, not too mad. (-_^)

It sounds a bit chaotic, but I think it will be fun.

Otaku ALT & Music on Repeat

Post first published on December 10, 2009

JTE (Japanese English Teacher) told the class that I was an otaku (nerd). I don't think the students were surprised. They've known me for over a year. I think they already knew about my nerd status. However, it was weird when he made them repeat "Stephanie is a nerd" to practice the "Ner" sound. It brought back flashbacks from when I was younger. lol. It was strange, but funny. Can you imagine an entire class of Japanese students saying all together "Stephanie is a nerd". lol


Anyway, do you guys ever check your i-tunes list of Top 25 Most Played songs. At the moment, this is mine.

i-pod Top 25 Most Played Songs ( December 11)

1. This One (Crying Like A Child) by Utada
2. Love Like This by SS501
3. She's Gone (feat. Kush) by G-Dragon
4. The Leaders (feat. Teddy & CL) by G-Dragon
5. Haru Haru by Big Bang
6. Ring Ding Dong by SHINee
7. Sober by Kelly Clarkson
8. Que Deus Me Perdoe by Mariza
9. Apple and Cinnamon by Utada
10. Stay by Big Bang
11. Out From Under by Britney Spears
12. Shattered Glass by Britney Spears
13. In the Club by 2ne1
14. Eat You Up by BoA (I have no idea how this is here.Did I really listen to it that much? lol)
15. Circus by Britney Spears
16. Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
17. Unusual You by Britney Spears
18. Te Busque by Nelly Furtado & Juanes
19. Love Game by Lady Gaga
20. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Utada
21. I Can't Stay Away by The Veronicas
22. Bad Girl by Beast
23. Hometown Glory by Adele
24. Scared of Lonely by Beyonce
25. Kill The Lights by Britney Spears


Oh wow, Britney appears 5 times in my list. lol. I think that I went listening crazy when her Circus album came out and nothing has been able to top the amount of times I listened to it. lol. Another album I listened to a lot when it came out was Utada's "This is The One" album, so I'm not surprised that she shows up 3 times.

Song I'm Listening to At the Moment: "Cry" by Kelly Clarkson

A Present For Me? Socks! It's My Favorite!

First Published on December 8, 2009

I'm so happy. My debate students bought me a cute pen and a pair of striped socks. I guess my love of socks is widely known throughout the city of Miyazaki. lol.


I should just use this intro when I meet people:

Hi, my name is Stephanie. I'm a BIG LOVER of soups, sandwiches, coffee, trains, planes, boats, traveling, TV & socks. Yes, socks are awesome. It's nice to meet you. Yoroshiku Onigashimasu!


Song I'm Listening to At the Moment: "Raining" by FT Island

English Camp, Debate Finals & JLPT All Back to Back. Whoah!

First published on December 7, 2009


What a crazy 4 days I've had. It seemed like everything I was worried or worked hard for came together in one weekend.

First, let me start with the English Camp I went to.

On Thursday and Friday, I went to an English Camp hosted by one of the top academic schools in Miyazaki. My friend works there as an ALT, so he invited me and 9 other ALTs/ CIRs to work there on both days. The students are high level students in the humanities department of the high school. These are some of the best of the best from the prefecture.

The theme of this year's camp was living in an eco-friendly & sustainable country. The students did activities related to this theme. They even listened to a lecture in English done by a college professor from Miyazaki International College about the topic. It all came together on Friday with their final project, which was to present information on a country they were assigned to in school & give proposals on how to improve that country's sustainability. (Something like that. I have no idea how they did what they did). This was a project that they had been working on in school with the help of their English teachers, ALT, and some college students, so it was probably a relief for them that they were finally able to present their information and get it over with.

Each ALT was assigned to a group, which was divided up by the country presentations that they were working on. My group was the Ghana team. Although we were able to interact with all of the students, we mostly stayed within our group during the activities & meals. For example, on Thursday night, we helped our group create and put on an English Christmas skit revolving around a prop that was given to us. On Friday morning, we helped our group with last minute preparations for their presentation, which meant fixing grammar and pronunciation.

Although it was tiring, since we had to be with the students all the time from morning until night time, it was a really great experience. The students have to always speak English during camp and I was really surprised that most students always spoke English to each other the entire time. When they were finally able to speak Japanese at the end of camp, I still heard one student talk in English to his friend. My mouth dropped. It was really AMAZING!!!

The students were really excited about being there and it created a great mood for the camp.

All of the ALTs and CIRs that worked in the camp were super impressed by all of the students.

JLPT in Kagoshima & Debate Tournament Results

On Saturday, I had to take a train down to Kagoshima to take my JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). However, it was the same day as the Kyushu/Okinawa debate finals in Kumamoto. I wish I could have been in 2 places at once, but I decided that I should just go to Kagoshima early on Saturday, so that I wouldn't be super tired for the test on Sunday. Of course, I forgot to get the other coaches phone numbers, so I couldn't call them to know what was happening.

I had my thoughts on the debate competition, but I also knew that I had to get focused on the test. However, I knew that whatever I studied that day wouldn't make too much of a difference now. I would be cramming stuff, but it wouldn't be enough time to cram enough information in order to pass. I started regretting not taking more time to study, but since I was in Kagoshima already, I decided to make the best out of the experience.

Kim and I tried to study at night at a Joyful (IHOP type of restaurant), but we were already tired and we called it a night.

The next morning, we went really early to Kagoshima University, which is where we took the test. From there, we split up into our levels.

The test itself had many long breaks, which just made me lazier and sleepier. I would have liked shorter breaks, so that I could just get it done and be finished earlier. I don't think I did that well. However, at least now that I have been through it once, I know better what to expect and what I should focus on when I study for the next time I take it.

During the test's lunch break, I received a great call. One of my JTEs, who is also a debate coach, called me to tell me that my debate team had won 2nd place in the Kyushu/Okinawa debate finals. I was so excited. I almost started crying because I was so happy. I wish I had been in Kumamoto to see the reaction on my debate team's faces when they got 2nd place. It's so amazing. I don't think any of us expected it, but it was so wonderful to know that they had done so well after working so hard.

After the call, I got ready for the 3rd & final part of the test, grammar and reading comprehension. Yes, it's the scariest part of them all. lol

Once the test was finished, Kim and I got on a train back home. I was so happy to be home and relax after those crazy 4 days.

Song I'm Listening To At the Moment: "Man Man Ha Ni" by U-Kiss

Fukuoka Sumo Weekend

First published on November 26, 2009.

This past weekend, I went to watch a sumo match in the biggest city in Kyushu, Fukuoka.

My adventure started Saturday morning. A group of ALTs, including Kim, Asha, Lauren and myself, took a 7:45 AM bus from Miyazaki to Fukuoka. It takes about 4 hours to get to Fukuoka, so we couldn't wait to get up, stretch our legs and explore the city once we got there.

We first went to look for our hostel. After putting our stuff down, we went searching for Hard Rock Cafe. OK, I know how strange that sounds. Just remember that we have been in Japan for a long time, so we were craving things like huge hamburgers, steaks & mashed potatoes. Asha also really loves the Hard Rock, so that's why we went there. It was actually next to the Yahoo Dome and a mall. After lunch, we went shopping. A big part of our trip, besides sumo, was to go shopping in the big city. Living in Miyazaki, we rarely have the opportunity to go all out in super shopping sprees. Maybe that's a good thing. lol.

Anyway, after the mall, we went to look around the Tenjin area. I ended up buying cute gloves and a couple of things from Muji. When things started closing, we began walking around. There were Christmas decorations everywhere already. While we were crossing a random street, we saw this cool looking place. It was like the 3rd floor of a building, but the windows had writing on them and it just looked interesting. We went to see what it was. We were happily surprised when we found out that it was a Sri Lankan restaurant. None of us had ever had food from Sri Lanka, but the restaurant smelled really good. Actually, because of the spices in the air, everyone was coughing and sneezing. A couple of people put a napkin to their nose and mouth, so that they wouldn't cough as much. After awhile, I got use to it though.

We ordered curry noodles and a spicy rice thing with chicken (not exactly sure what it was). The food was really spicy and DELICIOUS. We enjoyed every bite.

When we finished, we had a bunch of bags, a full tummy and a decision to make. How were we going to meet up with the ALTs at a club called "Happy Cock"? Yes, "Happy Cock". I'm not kidding. It's an international club in the city where many foreigners go to party. We decided to just take the bags and then figure out where to put them when we got there. We knew that the club at lockers, but we didn't know how big they were.

It took us a long time to find the club. We basically walked in circles. The funny thing is that the club was only a couple of minutes walk from the Sri Lankan restaurant. We had to wait in line to get on the elevator that would take us to the club. The girls in front of us were stupid drunk. I was not happy. I was tired and I was not enjoying the behavior of the people, who were also waiting to get to the club. Kim and I wanted to go back to the hostel, but we decided to just go with Lauren and Asha. When we got up there, I was even more hesitant. The club was packed.

Anyway, we ended up going in. We could barely move in there. At one time, I was stuck for like 10 minutes. I couldn't walk forward, backwards or to the side. The people in back of me were trying to get to the bathroom, while the people in front of me were trying to get to the bar. NO ONE COULD MOVE. It was impossible. I got really, really scared. I started panicking. I kept thinking "What if a fight breaks out?" or "What if there is a fire?". There was a big guy to the side of me. Once he was able to move, I just followed the path he was making.

When I made it to the other side, I stayed next to a table that they had there. It was the area that I had the most room. I basically stayed there all night with Kim and Asha. Once in awhile, someone I knew would come and I would talk to them. The night wasn't completely horrible because I was able to talk to my friends, but I HATED that club so much. I even got groped by this random guy. He touched my chest while he asked where I was from. I was not amused.

By the time we got back to the hostel, it was almost 3 AM. We had decided on checking out at 8:30 AM, which didn't give us much time to sleep.

On Sunday morning, we checked out of the hostel, put our stuff in lockers at Hakata Station and waited for some of our ALT friends at Starbucks. We then went all together to the sumo match. We were there really early, so we got to see most of the matches, even the ones that were not considered that important. At 4 PM, the place suddenly filled up. All of the big matches occurred after 4 PM. It was really interesting to watch the matches. There are a lot of rituals involved. The matches themselves are really quick, but there are different rituals done in the beginning, such as throwing salt to purify the area in which they fight. It was definitely interesting. I'm really happy that I got to go.

At almost 6 PM, we went back to the station. Kim and I ate some udon. It was so different from the udon we were used to because instead of thick noodles, the noodles that they used were thin. We were really surprised. By 7 PM, we were on a bus back to Miyazaki.

All in all, Sumo Weekend in Fukuoka was a good experience.

To see pictures, you can go to my Flickr account.

Song I'm Listening to At the Moment: "Hearbreaker" by G-Dragon

Remaining Positive!

First published on November 17, 2009.

Catching up on my life.

On Saturday we had a play meeting. Every year, the JET community puts on a bilingual play in the city's International Center. Last year, we did Jack and the Beanstalk in English, but Monica played the Japanese narrator. This year we are mixing a lot of different languages, English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and some Portuguese. It's basically about a group of people who work at the International Center and they have to put on a talent show. However, the language barrier causes a lot of misunderstandings and funny scenarios. It's supposed to be mostly physical comedy . Kim and Matt were inspired by the play we watched in Korea, Nanta, and that's how they came up with this idea. I hope we can pull it off.

Anyway during the meeting, we found out that it was the birthday of one of the new ALTs. We all celebrated it at the Mexican restaurant. We were also surprised to learn that the restaurant was hosting a salsa night, so after dinner, we danced some salsa. It was so much fun. Wow Miyazaki has salsa nights. We might not be a well known prefecture and our city might be small, but we still have a lot of cool things happening here. lol.

I've also reduced my stress a bit this week.

The mid-year seminar is on Friday, but I think that Valerie, my presentation partner, and I will do fine. Valerie is awesome and made the worksheet. After seeing it written down, it doesn't look as scary as I first thought it was. I think we can pull it off. At least I remain positive.

I've been studying for the JLPT. That test is still worrying me because the more I study, the more I realize how much I don't know. Whenever I do practice tests, my high percentage of errors brings me down. However, I know that the only way to solve this is to just study harder. Can I pull this off? Probably not, but I will try. Time is ticking away and I still have to cram my brain with lots of vocabulary, kanji & grammar points. I usually have Japanese lessons on Mondays (1 hour a week) but next Monday is a holiday here, so I'm paying for an extra lesson, which will be held tomorrow. I NEED IT! lol.

Tomorrow is also the annual teacher's volleyball game at our school. Last year my team came in last, but it was a lot of fun. (^_^)

Today is Matt's birthday. We surprised him by sending him balloons to his school and the biggest one even played the birthday song when he tapped it. He seemed to enjoy his present. Yay!

This weekend, we are celebrating Matt and Yoshi's birthday on Friday, after the mid-year seminar. Then, Saturday morning, Kim, Asha, and I have to take a 7 AM bus to Fukuoka, which is the biggest city in the island of Kyushu. We are going there to watch a Sumo Tournament. I haven't seen sumo live, so I'm really excited. We also have really good seats. I think it will be a really interesting experience. I hope everything goes well. (^_-)

Music Listening to at the Moment: "Wedding Dress" by Taeyang

Tokyo Tower Video

I put a video up on Youtube that I took when I was in Tokyo Tower. If you are interested to see the view from the observation deck, you can check out the video here:

Tokyo/Saitama Adventures: Concert, Shopping & Hanging Out

Today I will be posting about my Tokyo/ Saitama trip that I took last week.

First, let me rewind a bit. On Friday (the 9th), my friends and I went out to dinner and then we went to a karaoke bar. It was me, Asha, Matt, Kim, Alex and Sarah. We had a great time. First, we ate super delicious food. Then, we sang our lungs out in a smokey karaoke bar. What else could we have asked for?

Anyway, by Sunday, 4 of us were really sick. I was having problems with my asthma and I felt feverish. Asha, Alex and Sarah were throwing up and having flu symptoms. I went to the doctor on Monday with Paul and found out that I had bronchitis. My other 3 friends had swine flu. Whoah!

I felt really sick on Monday, but I had tickets for a Mariza concert in Tokyo on Wednesday. I was really worried that I wouldn't feel better on time. However, I did feel better on Wednesday morning (the 14th), although not fully recovered. I rushed to the airport to catch my plane from Miyazaki to Tokyo. I arrived there right when they were boarding. Close Call!

Once I got to Haneda Airport, I had to take a bus and a train to Saitama, where my friends, Monica and Eric, live. It is also the place that I stayed at while I was there. Monica and Eric used to be my neighbors last year. They were Miyazaki ALTs, but now Eric is studying in Tokyo. Basically, Saitama is to Tokyo what New Jersey is to NYC. It's where many families live although a lot of its residents travel daily for jobs, shopping, entertainment, etc to Tokyo.

Anyway, by the time I arrived in Saitama, it was midday. Eric, Monica and I hung out a bit in their house and ate lunch. Then, Monica and I got ready to go to the Mariza concert. Mariza is a Portuguese fado singer. We were in the third row, so we were super close to her. The concert was AMAZING!!! The audience was mostly older Japanese people, but there were also people from all over the world. At one point, she asked where people were from. There were Portuguese people, of course, but there were also people from Russia, China, Italy, Iran, Mozambique, Angola, Sweden, etc. At one point, I grabbed Monica's hand and raised it and said "America". She came to us and asked us where we were from in the States. I said Jersey and Monica said California. Then, she talked about how she was going to Jersey for a concert next month. I was just super excited that she talked to me during her concert. SOOOO COOOOL!!!

I think that I used up too much of my energy on Wednesday night. On Thursday, Monica and I were tired and I still wasn't fully recovered from my bronchitis. We just ended up hanging out in her house, watching Nana (both the movie & anime) and just catching up on what had been going on in our lives lately.

On Friday, we met up with Eric at school. Eric is in grad school at Keio University, so he showed me around the university. It's beautiful. Then, we went to Tokyo Tower, which is nearby. When we got up to the observation deck, we were able to see great views of Tokyo from all sides.

Tokyo Tower

View from the Tower

There were also lookout windows on the floor. Scary! I was the one on the bottom that barely had her feet on the window. It was too scary for me. lol. Monica was rocking her moon boots though (^_-)
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On Saturday, Monica and I went to Harajuku to do some shopping. I went to Harajuku the last time I was in Saitama when I was helping Eric and Monica move and I really like it there. Our goal was to go to H&M & Forever 21 (I haven't been to a Forever 21 since I left the States and I haven't been to an H&M since I went to Hong Kong last May) , but somehow, we kept getting distracting by all of the cute stores on our way there. I bought tons of things. I bought a black hat for the winter. It was my second one that I bought that day because I bought a pink one in Saitama before getting on the train. I also bought hair accessories, 2 skirts (1 skirt was kind of tutu like), scarf, boots, and cute socks. My goal was to buy a winter coat, but I didn't find any that I really liked. I wish I could have bought a super cute lolita outfit, but they are really expensive. Monica had to leave to go to a farewell party for a friend, so poor Eric, who had met up with us, had to follow me around while I went from store to store. lol.
Anther highlight, I ate Wendys. Why is Wendys a highlight? Well, Miyazaki doesn't have any, so I hadn't had Wendys since I left the States, which was over a year ago. It was mighty delicious, but they had no baked potatoes. I really wanted one.


On Sunday, I decided to do some more shopping/ sightseeing before catching a train to the airport. Monica and I went to Akihabara because I wanted some cute headphones. Akihabara is like a men's world. It's full of electronics stores & stores that have anime products. Because of this, there are tons of guys all over the place. At one point, we were crossing a busy intersection and it was like a sea of men walking our way from the opposite side. Do I exaggerate? I don't think so.

Akihabara also has a lot of maid cafes, so there are girls in cute maid costumes passing out flyers for the cafes that they work at. I would have loved to go to one just to check it out. It must be really cute, but we didn't really have that much time. In Akihabara, I did find cute, pink headphones for cheap and a nice keyboard for my laptop. Woohoo!!!

Since we had a little bit of time left, I decided to go to Ginza to buy some shoes that I saw at the Muji store on the first day I arrived in Tokyo. ( We were window shopping before the concert. )

Shopping in Harajuku

Akihabara
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I had fun on my trip and I bought a lot of goodies.
It was hard to leave Eric and Monica again. They are such cool people. I miss them being my neighbors. Although I think I was at their apartment way too often when they lived in Miyazaki. lol.

I want to go to Tokyo again in the future. Actually, I wouldn't mind just living there for a year. How cool would that be? (^_^)

Silver Week 2009 Trip - Kansai Region- "for the culture & the boys"

Last month during Silver Week, September 19th to the 23rd, Asha and I took a trip to the Kansai region of Japan. We stayed in a hostel, J-Hoppers, in Osaka the whole time, but we took trains to visit Kyoto and Nara as well. The trip was a lot of fun.

We took a plane from Miyazaki to Osaka on Saturday evening. When we arrived at Osaka, we had to figure out a way to get to the hostel. Of course we ended up getting a little bit lost. One of the directions that the hostel gave us was to turn and walk down the colorful street. By the time we arrived in Osaka, it was already dark, so the street wasn't really all that colorful. lol. We had no idea why the hostel had written that on their website until we walked down the street in the morning and realized that it indeed was colorful. lol.

Since we arrived late, we had to look for a restaurant that was still open. This was a challenge because a lot of them were closed or were closing. Then, we happened to find a Brazilian lounge with food. This made me super happy because I hadn't had any Brazilian food in so long. It was also really cool to hear a mixture of Portuguese and Japanese. Most of the people there were either Brazilian immigrants or children of immigrants, so they would mix both languages when they were talking. It was really cool. It was also nice to finally understand what people were saying around me. lol. (^_^)

The rest of the time we were there, we mostly tried to go to different temples in Kyoto. For example, we went to Fushimi Inari Shrine, Sanjusangen-do Temple and Kiyomizu-dera Temple. We also went to Gion where we ran into a Maiko (apprentice geisha) and we went to a flee market in To-Ji Temple. Kyoto is really an amazing place. I recommend it to anyone who is traveling to Japan.

On the last day we were in Kansai, we went to Nara. We went to Todai-ji Temple. The temple is known for having a huge bronze statue of Buddha. It was an amazing site. SInce it was our last day, we still tried to make it to Kyoto for one last temple, Kinkaku-Ji, but it was already closed when we got there. Oopppss! I guess if we ever have a chance to go back to Kyoto in the future, that temple has to be on the top of our list of things to see.

Throughout the trip we had certain quotes that both of us said a lot. For example, Asha would usually say "I'm here for the culture and the boys" and she was right. lol. We saw a lot of cute boys. I fell in love with a waiter in Osaka. He was GORGEOUS, but if you ask Asha about him, she will say "Uhhh...no I don't think so. He was not cute". lol. I thought he was soooo cute!
I also had a crush on the "Information Desk" worker at the Osaka train station. Yes, we took the trip "for the culture and the boys".

Then, there were the boys that we didn't want around us. In one of the trains from Tokyo to Osaka, there were a group of young guys sitting across from us, who were super obnoxious. They were trying to figure out what to say to us in English. Of course, the only thing they seemed to know and thought was appropriate to say to us was "Sex Friend? I like sex" and "I have penis", except they pronounced it as "penes". We ended up leaving the train and catching another one.

The quote that I kept saying on our trip was "Let's see what happens". A lot of times, we didn't exactly know how to get to certain places and we weren't sure what people were telling us, but I would just say "Let's see what happens" and hope that the train and/or bus would get us to the right destination. It worked, for the most part. We did get lost a couple of times, but it was mostly OK.

We did have other weird moments in Kyoto that had nothing to do with the opposite sex or our bad sense of direction. Once, we were on a train from Osaka to Kyoto. Half way there, everyone was told to get off of the train. All of us had to then wait on the track for another train. We have no idea what happened.

This happened to us again, but on a bus. We were on a bus going to Kyoto Station. The bus was full. At one stop, this guy, who seemed to have special needs, put his hands to his head and ran to the front of the bus and got off. Two older people followed after him. When this happened, the bus driver decided to kick all of us off the bus. Asha and I had already commented on how stressed the bus driver looked, so it was both a surprise and yet not shocking when he told all of us to get off. lol.

All in all, it was a great trip. Osaka is a typical busy city & Kyoto and Nara are beautiful. There are so many more things that I would like to see, but I didn't have the chance to, so I would definitely like to go back.

This is me at Fushimi Inari Shrine

This is the Maiko (apprentice Geisha) we saw in Gion. Asha took this picture.

This is me at Kyoto Station.



For more pictures of my trip to Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara you can go to my Flickr Silver Week Album:
www.flickr.com/photos/stefy29/sets/72157622438285894/

Nagasaki/ Obon Weekend

I know that this entry should have been written a month ago. Oooppps! Sorry!

On August 13th to the 16th for the Obon weekend, I took a trip to Nagasaki by myself. I caught a bus from Miyazaki to Nagasaki. It took about 5 1/2 hours, but the bus was comfortable and it stopped twice at rest stops, so that we could stretch our legs.

Once we arrived, I took the tram to get to the hostel. Of course I ended up taking the wrong tram and had to back track. Once I got out of the tram, I started looking around at my surroundings and trying to figure out which way to go next. Two girls got off the tram with luggage at the same time as me and asked if I was going to Akari hostel. We ended up walking together to the hostel and later we found out that we were placed as roommates at the hostel. Funny Coincidence! They were only there for 1 night though. The rest of the time I was there, my roommates were Interac ALTs from up north.

Overall, my trip was great. Nagasaki is a wonderful city. It reminded me a bit of Macau because it is clearly influenced by a variety of cultures from both the West and East.

One of the most important, but most emotionally difficult places to visit is the Atomic Bomb Museum. Certain images are just so painful to even witness. However it's important for people to learn about the horrors caused by the bomb, so that we do not repeat the past.

Another great place to visit in Nagasaki is Glover Garden. It has many European resident houses from the Meiji period. There are also good views of Nagasaki city. I was surprised to see a statue of Giacomo Puccini and a statue of his opera Madame Butterfly in the garden. I did not know that Madame Butterfly was based on events that occurred in Nagasaki in the 1890s until I got there.

My hostel, Akari hostel, was great. We had an event every night. On the first night, many of the guests from the hostel got together and did fireworks together. On my second night, we took a cable car to the top of Mt. Inasa to see the Nagasaki night view.

However, the highlight of my trip was probably the Obon festival in the street. Obon or "Day of the Dead" is a custom of honoring the deceased spirit's of one's ancestors. In Nagasaki, families create floats with lanterns and pictures of their deceased family members. I even saw a float for deceased pets. They would walk around the streets with these floats while fire crackers were going out everywhere. It was really noisy because of all the firecrackers. Once I got there, I realized why the conbini had ear plugs at the front of the register to purchase. lol. However, it was a really interesting festival to observe. I was glad that I got to see it.

I really enjoyed my time in Nagasaki. If you are in Kyushu, you should stop by. That's after you visit Miyazaki, of course. (^_^)

You can go to my Flickr account for pictures of Nagasaki- www.flickr.com/photos/stefy29/sets/72157621938467771/

Donuts Time: Chocolate, Glazed, or Green Tea?

I'm starting to believe that Japanese people can take any food or drink and create a green tea version of that product. Since I've been here, I've had many different green tea flavored products, such as coke, ice cream and now donuts.

Mister Donut , which is similar to Dunkin Donuts back home, is now selling matcha (green tea) flavored donuts. They have a variety of green tea donuts, which are just a spin off of their staple donuts. I have to admit that I was curious, so one day I walked in and ordered one.





The donut was ok. If you like green tea ice cream, than I think that you would definitely like these donuts. Although I do like green tea, I never really love green tea flavored products. I have to admit, I like my donuts much more sugary, glazed or filled with creamy goodness. Yes, I go for the donuts that are definitely high on the "Super Unhealthy: Get Away" meter. If I go back to Mister Donut, I'll most likely go for a regular glazed donut instead of a green tea donut.



Music Listening to At the Moment: "Irvine" by Kelly Clarkson

Biking Around Miyazaki: The Beauty, The Thrill, The Soreness Afterwards

Kim and I like to take random bike trips once in awhile. That's why back in June we decided to do a bike trip from Miyazaki city to Aya town, which is about 26 km. Basically, there is a bike route with signs to tell us where to go and how far we are to our destination.






It starts in downtown Miyazaki and goes along the Oyodo river. The path was mostly flat, with only a couple of hills here and there. Although it was far, the scenery and beauty of Miyazaki is well worth it. Yes, you do mostly see rice fields, the river and a whole lot of countryside, but for a city girl like me, the view on our way to Aya and then back to Miyazaki was breathtaking.









The bike ride also seemed to go faster because Kim and I took it easy, instead of speeding through the bike route. We also chatted, laughed, took in the scenery and  enjoyed ourselves.


Miyazaki prefecture is so underrated and unappreciated. I'm constantly left speechless by my surroundings and experiences here.

To see more pictures of our trip, you can go to my flickr album.

Green Tea Coke Review

Ok so I wrote this like a month ago, but I never got around to post it. Without further adieu:


I found out from my friend Eric that the green tea flavored Coca Cola had already hit the shelves. Of course I had to try it. Eric had given me a bad review of the soda, although somehow he loves it now. Anyway, I had to taste it for myself. On Sunday, I walked into a 7-11 and bought the cola. I opened the bottle (swish) and swallowed a big gulp down, hoping that it would be delicious. I immediately regretted that deep gulp of blahness. The Coke is advertised as green tea flavored, but it tastes nothing like green tea. Actually, the Coke tastes just like Diet Coke, which I'm also not a fan of. Supposedly this new coke has antioxidants and it's 0 calories. However, if I want something healthy, I would rather drink water, iced green tea, or 100% fruit juice. This new drink was a complete FAIL for me.




In other news, Shiso Coke has also hit the shelves. I don't think that I will be trying that any time soon. I don't like the flavor of shiso, so I can't imagine that I would enjoy drinking Shiso flavored Coke.

Work & Books

Lately, my confidence as an ALT has not been very high. I feel like I can't read the students and their abilities properly. I'm also not that creative with lesson plans. I'm not the type of ALT who is able to create endless games and activites when given a theme or goal for a lesson. I really wish I was. However, I do love the students and the school. They are all good kids. I wish I could be a better teacher for them. I guess I just have to try harder. Yes, I will keep a smile on my face and try to do my best even when the kids look at me in silence with a "WTF -is-she-saying face". Sigh!

In other Stephanie news, I can't believe how little I've been reading. I need to step up my game. In six months, I've only read 7 books. Geez, I would have liked to have read more. I blame it on all of the tv series that I have been watching lately. lol.
Anyway, here is my recent list of books that I have read this year:

1. PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
2. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
3. At the Bride Hunt Ball by Olivia Parker
4. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
5. The Girl Most Likely To... by Susan Donovan
6. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
7. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Lunch Time: Where's My Bento?

Let me take some time to talk about bentos. Bentos are lunch boxes. Usually, they are home made. However, you can buy take out bentos from places like convenience stores or Hotto Motto, which is a takeout bento chain restaurant.

In the States, when I think of lunch boxes, I think of sandwiches or last night's dinner in tuberware. This is not true here in Japan.

Bentos here tend to be actual meals, not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They are also thought through carefully before they are made. Housewives will have strategies about where they should put food and how the food should look, so that the overall bento not only tastes good but it looks mighty appetizing and pretty.  This is why many times little kids might have little sausages that  look like cute octopus.

At school, most of the kids bring bentos made by their mothers. I remember once I went with one of the clubs to a special competition. All of the kids had nice bentos. However, one girl had food from the convenience store like me. Before this day, I always felt bad for the housewives and working mothers who had to labor away every day and make these bentos for their kids and husbands. However, that day, I felt bad for the kid because she was the only one without one. It was strange to see it from the other side. Instead of thinking about the bento through the woman's perspective, I was realizing how important it was through my student's perspective.

Students of course are not the only ones with bentos. Many married people who work with me also bring their bento to work. Men have the bento that their wives made for them. Women have the bento that they made for themselves, probably after they had made their children's and then husband's bento.
Most of the single crowd, including myself, just end up buying a bento from school or we get lunch from somewhere else. Sad! I need to find a guy that would make a cute bento for me. lol. That would probably be very difficult to find. lol.

Anyway, here is a link that has really cute bentos. These are all works of art. The kitty one is super adorable. Take a look here.

Lady Gaga is a Hop, Skip & Expensive Plane Ride Away From Me! Wow!

For some Lady Gaga news. Yes, Lady Gaga. Don't make fun of me. lol.

I do like Lady Gaga. She has some catchy tunes and her craziness keeps people interested in her.

However, I have no idea why she decided to arrive in Tokyo with this outfit.

I don't even feel comfortable enough in Miyazaki to walk around in a tank top and she is wearing ripped leggings.

Ok, so maybe girls here wear the shortest skirts I have ever seen, but for some reason, their top part is always fully covered. Maybe Lady Gaga is taking notes and covering up her top part, but showing off everything in the bottom half of her body. However, she really could have done a better job at perfected the semi-nakedness fashion technique. I'm horrible at fashion, but even I know that can't be good.

I know that this post was pretty pointless, but it keeps my mind off of the next class that I have to teach. Ahhhh!!!



Music currently Listening to: Lady Gaga "Love Game"