Pretty much over...

My time has pretty much come to an end. I leave for the airport in less than 6 hours. I'm sad at the moment.

Had a small gathering with just a few close friends for goodbye drinks at "Lion's Head". I think I've realized I'm actually leaving now. I don't think I know what to expect or how I will feel being back in Canada, but I know my time in Japan is over.

Today was spent last minute packing, organizing shipping for my kotatsu (heated table) and getting my hair done.

The kotatsu was a whole big hassle (as most things in Japan are). Jason meet me at 9am to help me carry it to the post office. He left me there because he was on his way to a language exchange. The post office lady told me that it was too big and they couldn't send it. So I carried it home on my own...now have a blister and sore muscles...anyway, long story short...I had called some shipping companies, but they quoted me prices over $500, there's no way I was going to pay that much. I ended up having the post office come and pick it up and they did take it afterall. I don't know, don't ask that's just the way it works in Japan. So I ended up paying just under a hundred dollars.

After that I went to the hairdressers, met Ked for lunch, bought some pet supplies and then Erick, Brazilian friend, came over to say goodbye, as did Emily and then I went to the Lion's Head to meet Gavin, Sara, Miwa and Steve.

Had too many vodkas, went out for a rice bowl after and am now at home thinking I really should be sleeping since I have to wake up in oh...3 hours and 40 minutes. But my time in Japan is limited.

Next time I post, the goodbyes will be over, and all this will be but a memory. Sad, but true. Here I come Canada....yippee.

I'll post pictures from tonight soon...not sure where the cable is for my camera, so it'll have to wait. In fact it might already be at the airport!

Goodbyes and Packing Woes

Well, I'll give a quick account of my last few days.

Monday - I slept in somewhat, but woke up with a terrible headache, so just laid around most of the day and attempted to do some packing and cleaning.

Tuesday - I met Kaori and Rie for lunch. We went to this great gyoza shop near the station and this was actually my first time to have proper Utsunomiya gyoza. It was so good! Then we had a coffee at Starbucks and went to see Rie's new house that is just being built now! So nice and a great location!!! Then after we said our goodbyes and parted I went shopping because my suitcase wasn't quite full enough yet! (yeah right!!!) Spent the rest of the evening RE-packing as to try to fit everything in the case!

Wednesday, that's today, Aya came over to the apartment at 11am and we took Neko-Chan to the vet to get her rabies shot and certificate. She behaved herself well. The vet gave me the certificate in Japanese only and said that they will translate it to English at the airport when I have her inspected before leaving Japan. I called to double check this, but they said they would. Aya and I did some more shopping (I only picked up a few additional things this time) and went out for lunch.

Then I went out to the shopping mall to meet Yui and Akiko, two highschool students and NOVA students, to take some palicula (Japanese photo booths, a popular past-time with girls here). After, since I was at a shopping mall and all, I did some (hopefully) final shopping and came home.

Once Kedist comes home we'll go to Gusto's for dinner and then its packing time for me!!! The delivery company will pick up my suitcases between 9am and 1pm tomorrow and take them to the airport for me. This is certainly worth the $40 I'm paying. As it really would be too hard to transport everything to the airport by myself. This means I only have Neko and my laptop bag to take on the bus. Fantastic!

Tomorrow, my final full day in Japan, will be spent cleaning and final packing (let's see how much I can possibly fit into a laptop bag). After the delivery guy comes I will go to my 2pm hair appointment. After which I am supposed to meet Erick, a Brazilian friend, whose birthday is on Friday and then at night I will go out for some drinks with a few close friends.

I have to say the goodbyes are starting to get to me. I was doing so well, but they are starting to really depress me. Everyday I say goodbye to someone else. And I realized how much you really do leave to the last minute. Like going to that gyoza shop. I really could have done that any given day. Why do we do that? We always expect there to be another day. But at some point there isn't. I'd like to say that I will improve and not put things off like that, but I know I will...I guess that's a part of life.

Anyway, I have to play a quick game of Diner Dash before heading out... wish my luck fitting everything in my already not-able-to-be-closed suitcase!

Fantastic Day Out!!!

Had a full day out today. But it was great.

I was picked up by Harue, Masayo and Reika at around 10am to be taken to Reiko's house. She had invited me to her house more than a month ago. When we got there Hisako was also there (she was one of the ladies in my last voice lesson) and Reiko's sister.

They have a lovely Japanese style house, with tatami mats and sliding doors with beautiful pictures on them and everything is made of a light wood. Reiko had set up her doll display which is set up only for a few weeks around Girls’ Festival for me to see. It was lovely, so big and so many dolls! There’s a picture of the group of us in front of it.

First we had traditional Japanese sweets made of red beans. Hisako made us green tea as they would for tea ceremonies. It was fantastic!

They had planned that we would make gyoza, sushi rolls and tempura. So I got quite the impressive Japanese cooking lesson. It was great! I hope to be able to recreate some of the items! The food was all so delicious and we were all so full! After we had coffee and cake. Reiko’s sister, who goes to a cooking school, made this fantastic cake!

Then we played Uno followed by another round of traditional tea ceremony green tea. But this time Hisako taught us each how to make our own. And then she gave me the tea ceremony whisk, serving spoon and tea to take home with me, so that I can make it for my family and friends. So any one who is interested let me know, though it really is an acquired taste, it took me over a year to start liking it!

I then had to go to a goodbye dinner with some other students. Masayo and Hisako came to that as well (though we weren’t really all that hungry!!). We went to an Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza) restaurant which is one of my favourites. Six students came to that, as well as Kedist and Billy. After most of us went out to a karaoke place for 3 hours. It was great fun!

I busy day, but I learned so many things and had a chance to say good bye to some more great students!!

Yoshiki, Kaori, me and Yuki at the Okonomiyaki restaurant. 

In front of Reiko's traditional doll display. From L to R: Masayo, Reiko, Me, Hisako, Harue and Reika. 

Hisako making tea ceremony style green tea to go with our traditional Japanese sweets. 

Here Harue is teaching me how to roll sushi. It's more difficult than it sounds! 

After having prepared everything we are ready to eat! L to R: Masayo, Reika, Harue, Hisako, Me and Reiko. 

Return from South Korea

Well that also completes my last trip while over here!

It started with a train journey down to Shinjuku, Tokyo on Tuesday night. Kedist and I were looking for a specific Love Hotel (something you have to try when you are in Japan). But we couldn't find it. But we did find a little street lined with about 4 different hotels. We picked one, ran in, quickly selected the room and ran upstairs. The room was actually really nice. It looked a bit like a log cabin, but it had a tatami mat room with a low table and floor chairs. The bedroom had red lanterns above the bed. This love hotel, called Hotel New L Sky, was actually pretty plain from what we've heard. Others have saunas, karaoke machines and video games, but ours had none of that. In the room however there was a dildo vending machine. I think that's a standard for any love hotel.

Anyway, we started the next morning with breakfast, after running out of the love hotel to avoid being spotted, then we made our way to the airport. We got to Korea without problems, we were picked up at the airport by a really nice tour guide who spoke fluent English and she gave us loads of great advice. After being dropped off at the hotel we took the subway to find a Pizza Hut (don't have them in Japan), had dinner and then went to the 24hr market area. It was great! Unfortunately our night was cut short at around 1am because it was starting to rain.

The next day we went on a tour of about 3 palaces. They were all so beautiful! Bright colours, some surrounded by mountains, it was great. It wasn't raining but it wasn't really sunny either. Not too hot or too cold though. At a smaller palace, a woman gave us a tour in English, but she pretty much made us run from place to place, we had to go back around to take photos, but she was nice! We went to Burger King (another place we don't have in Japan), and then went to the main night market. We took a cab back to our hotel.

The next morning we went out to a prehistoric village where they had original sites of pit houses from the Stone Ages. The man in the exhibition hall gave us a free tour in English and was super nice. He kept wanting us to take photos everywhere. After we went to another palace we didn't get to see the day before and we met Kedist's friend there who is living in S. Korea. We toured that palace and the National Museum of History, ate lunch and then went to the 63 building. This is Seoul's tallest building, at 63 floors. It took 1min 20sec to get to the observation deck by elevator. The view was quite nice. This was followed by one more trip to the markets!

Then today, we basically just woke up, were picked up by the tour guide again and taken back to the airport. We had a pretty stop at a Kimuchi shop, were we did a tasting of various types of kimuchi. It's their traditional food, its basically spicy, rotten cabbage, but it's really good. On the way from from Narita to Utsunomiya the driver got lost so we were 40 mins delayed!!!

I thought Seoul was a beautiful city. A lot of it is alongside the Han River, South Korea's fourth largest river, and there are dozens of bridges that are brightly lit at night. Including a bridge that looks like the Olympic torch (built for the '88 Olympics). It was so nice to be in a city that has actually space and so much nature. All of the palaces are in the city center, but they have so much land around them. It's so interesting to see these very traditional sites mixed in with the modern architecture of the city.

There were many differences I found between Japan and South Korea. First the people in S. Korea, or at least in Seoul, seem to be a lot pushier, where Japanese people tend to be push-overs. I don't think they'd take half as much crap that the Japanese do. And, the Korean's were so willing to help you and speak English to you. In Japan, no one will talk to you (usually unless you force them to), where as in Korea they were always asking if you needed help AND they spoke ot you in English. Also, I do have to admit that their English is a dozen times better!!!

Also interesting, about 80% of the cars were Hyundai it seemed. Of the other 20%, I'd say 10% were KIA and the remaining 10% were miscellaneous. They drive on the "normal" side, but they all drive like bats out of hell. However, still not nearly as bad as in Thailand!!!

Other things I noticed and were different to Japan:

• next to no bicycles
• open space! no crowding, riding the subway was a pleasure!
• woman had normal, nice fashion sense
• wider streets
• much fewer HIGH (impossible to walk in) heels
• couples were really touchy-feely, men carried women's purses

I really enjoyed myself though. It was a nice way to end my time over here on this side of the world. I will certainly miss traveling once I am back home. But the rest will be really nice too I am sure!!

That's all I can think of right now, but I am getting really tired, and I have to be up early again tomorrow. No work, but am going to Reiko's house. She was my TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) student and she invited me over. After that I am going to the goodbye party a bunch of students are having for me. So it'll be a long day, though I'm sure it'll be super nice!

If you are interested take a look at my PHOTOS!!!

My final day at NOVA

Well I am now NOVA free!

That's it I'm done!

Though now that it's over it's a little sad to see it go. The students are mostly really nice and the daily interaction with so many various people is really nice.

My last day was good. My Kinders were actually well behaved again, I had a good Voice lesson, my Seniors are always really good and the students I had for my other lessons were so nice too. In my last ever Voice lesson (that's the general discussion room), 5 regular students came to see me off. All of these ladies are so nice. I have to admit I cried a little when the lesson bell went.

Though I am surprised at just how little I actually did cry when it was all over. It was sad, but I've grown a lot less sensitive and at least can refrain myself from balling endlessly.

Another student, Hajime came to the school just to bring me a goodbye present. He's so sweet. Thirty something and not married, still living at home with his parents. But he is one of those truly genuine people. Super nice.

At the end of the day, Kanae and Hiro (Japanese staff and my manager) came to the teachers' room to send me off and brought me a nice bouquet of flowers. Sadly I had to leave them in care of another teacher as Kedist and I were heading straight to Tokyo after work.

Well that completes my NOVA experience, now after just returning back from South Korea, I have only 5 days left in Japan (not including flight day)!

Working on my S.Korea photo album, so will post when that's done.

My cutie Tuesday kinders: Haruna, Koudai, Nano, Yuuta and Yoshino. 

My favourite (not that I should admit I have favourites though) Senior class: BACK ROW L TO R: Takuya 1, Takuya 2, Naomi, Ayano and Saki. FRONT ROW L TO R: Misato, Rina and me. 

The ladies who came to say goodbye in my last Voice (general discussion) lesson: Hisako, Youko, Junko, me, Yuki and Yuki! 

A few of the students who were hanging around: Takeo, Hideo, Masayo and Noriko. 

Sending me off...the flowers I received at the end of my last day. Photo with Kanae and Hiro, my branch manager. 

Wrapping it up...

Well, am finally down to just one day (8 lessons) left. It was come both surprisingly fast and painfully slow. The goodbyes are well under way, and have brought a tear or two to my eyes.

Some students are just so great! It's sad to leave them and not be able to see what kind of English speakers they become.

One student today just found out I was leaving, but she waited around until I was done my next lesson to take a photo with me and to give me a present. It was super sweet! She LOVES Chip n' Dale, so I got a Chip n' Dale photo album and a Chip n' Dale mug. I'm sure never to forget her now. She's the sweetest girl, a kindergarden teacher. She wrote me a note too, here's what it said:

Dear Verena

How are you?
I'm good!
But, I'll miss you very much.

Verena's lesson was very simple and happy.
I like Verena and Verena's lesson.

We enjoyed your lesson very much!!

I never forget Verena and Verena's lesson.

I'll try my best!!
and I'll be good English speaker.

Good luck to you!

Thank you very much x10000000

Now, how can you not be sad to leave students when they are that sweet and kind!!

Another student told me today that she will not be able to advance to the next level without me because I am her "lucky lady". She said I taught her her first Level 7a, first Level 6 and first Level 5 lesson and that she is very grateful. Another super kind lady. She is a farmer and has improved so much in my time here. I know she will continue to do great!

Also, on Sunday, the Bento (lunchbox) man, gave me another free bento! We see him everyday on our way to work at the train station and I always say hello and speak a very little with him. And one day back in November when Jason and I went to the Tokyo Motorshow we wanted to buy bentos from him, but he wouldn't let us and insisted we take them as a present. Well since he has given me two more and will never let me pay for them! He's so kind too!!!

Anyway, I could go on for a while yet, but I've procrastinated finishing packing my bag for Korea, and I've really got to get to bed as I have to wake up early and do a bunch of things before my LAST day of work! Then Ked and I are off to Tokyo for the night before heading out to Seoul for 4 days! I'll write Saturday night!

Oh, and below's a picture taken at my work farewell party last night. Taken with Kedist, Aya, Billy and Satomi, some of the other teachers and Japanese staff at my branch. It was a good night. Miyuki made me some homemade cookies which were so good! (Told you they were all so kind!!!)

L to R: Ked, Aya, Me, Billy and Satomi! 

Saturday

An overall kinda sad day. Said goodbye to 3 kids classes. It was the first set of Kinders that made me cry though. After the lesson I rushed out of the room first to ask their parents if I could take a photo as I was going home to Canada (of course, none of the parents could really speak English so it was "me" - pointing to the nose as they do here - and "Canada", but they understood). They agreed so I lined them up for the photo and had a tear in my eye. See below.

One of the mothers asked "back?". I said "no". And then she shook my hand and said "thank you very much" and then of course all the other mothers did the same and made me cry more. The one said, "Genki?", meaning are you well? So I responded "hai, daijobu desu", yes I'm ok. And I laughed, but I went to my next lesson all red eyed.

So after that I decided not to ask for a picture of my second kids class, but just got tear eyed when I said good bye to them.

Then Jason and I went out for dinner at "Country Kitchen Buffet", ate far too much and then walked over to "Pet Forrest" - A General Pet Service Station, as the sign says - to see if I could find a carrier suitable as carry on luggage. Well I found one, which is about 1/2 an inch too big in two dimensions, but I think it'll be ok. At least I hope it was ok. Especially seeing as I bought it.

Tomorrow's my work good bye party. And we will go to my favourite Izakaya, Shirokiya. I doubt I'll write after that so until next time, one final countdown:

3 days of NOVA left
which means 24 more lessons to teach!

P.S. Good luck Tanja on your exam!!

L to R: Shiori, Rina, Mayuko, Shunki and Shuuya 

My Weekend

Well that's my last weekend coming to an end. It's just four more work days now. I think that's managable!

Thursday I did a lot of packing...my suitcase is 3/4 full which is good cause that's most of my stuff. And I'm also planning on taking a duffle bag. Luggage wise I think I'm doing well. Found a soft case carrier for Neko, so that she can travel as carry-on (no temperature restrictions apply for pets as carry-on, so this would solve the problem of the still too cold weather in Toronto). BUT, this case is only ok for the Narita to Atlanta flight, but not for my connecting flight to Toronto. There is a later flight from Atlanta that is a bigger plan and larger size allowances, but after going to the travel agent I discovered it would cost over $300 to change that flight. So I'm not going to do that. Tomorrow I will try to find a smaller case at a different pet shop, cause the other was only 1/2 an inch too high. So keep your fingers crossed that I find one for me and Neko!!! =^._.^=

After that Kedist and I went out for lunch at a place called "The Hamburg Restaurant" and it was sooooo good!! Too bad we just found this place yesterday. And our plans with Gavin finally happened, and we went to "Pandora's Box" with him and his girlfriend, Tomona. This restaurant is great! Not only food wise but it's also so cozy! You have your own private little booth (with kotatsus - heated tables) that have curtain/door type thing for a closing. I really like this place.

Today, Ked and I went for lunch to an Indian buffet with Aya, our friend and Japanese co-worker. Then at 5pm I met Junko, Kazuhiko and Youko for dinner. They picked me up at the train station only to drive bascially around the block to the restaurant we were going to have dinner at. We went to a very traditional Japanese restaurant which was called "3 Pines" that's a translation of course. There we had kaiseki, a series of small dishes, which might be the most traditional Japanese food and is usually eaten on special occassions.

Click on the link if you want to know more about Kaiseki.

The restaraunt was beautiful! We had our own private room with a traditional table which was decorated beautifully! All the dishes used were so nice too!! And the server wore a kimono. I don't remember how many dishes we had, but it was about 4 or 5. I ate several soups, a lot of fish, both raw and cooked, fried fish and vegetable, Japanese pickles, steak and potatoes, amongst other things! Oh and lets not forget the sweet rice with tiny fish in it. This was the only dish I was hesitant to try...all those little eyes looking up at you. But it actually was very good! And we ended our meal with a lovely crepe filled with custard cream and topped with blueberries and strawberries. We arrive there at about 5:15pm and left at 7:30pm, and this entire time was spent eating! And drinking about 5 cups of green tea. It's strange, I never used to like green tea, but now that I'm leaving I'm actually really starting to enjoy it!

The ladies told me that: The kaiseki meal is the flower of Japanese cuisine. Everything is garnished so nicely! Presentation obviously must be very important. It was so nice of them to take me out, and it certainly will be a meal that I will always remember. A definate nice way to end my time in Japan.

Ked and me! Cheezu! 

Tomona and Gavin...Kampei (Cheers)! 

Junko and myself 

Kazuhiko and Youko 

One of the courses...sadly this is the only picture I took of the food, wish I had of taken a photo of each dish...here we have raw octapus, tuna and another type of fish I've never heard of and shredded radish. Very good!!! 

The Adventures of Jason & Verena at the "Tasty Kiosk"

Mmmm.....lunch at the "Tasty Kiosk"...sound good?!?!? How about if I tell you that it really is a little booth in the train station directly beside the train tracks!!! Still want to go?

I have to say that I was a little hesitant! I mean that is kind of dodgy right?? Who wants to eat noodles that were basically made on the train tracks? All that dirt flying around.

But hey, you only live once! At least that were mine and Jason's thoughts! So we decided this was something I was going to have to try before leaving Japan!

So this morning, before work was the day to do so!

We documented everything by photograph! We were worse than the stereotypical Japanese tourist! We took about 20 pics! The joys of having a digital camera!!

Anyway, Jason ordered (well it was a lucky pick seeing as we couldn't read the vending machine from which you had to get your food ticket) Soba with tofu and I ordered Soba with raw egg. Soba's just a type of Japanese noodle, made of wheat. It was my first time having Soba actually...and we were both pleasantly surprise! It was actually quite good and a real bargain at only 300YEN!! about $3.50!

So, all in all, the "Tasty Kiosk" (that's its real name!) was a good experience!!

Also, on Saturday after work Jason and I went out for curry at a restaurant in the train station (this one wasn't anywhere near the tracks, but rather outside of the station). I LOVE Japanese curry...mmmm...but the point I want to make here is that printed on the straw wrapping was: Best art is the art of taste!!! :) Thought that was worth the mention!

Well will end this entry with a countdown summary:

5 Days of NOVA left...
which means 40 more lessons to teach!!!

OH! And see below for a few pictures of the not-so-dodgy-afterall "Tasty Kiosk"!

Buying my ticket... 

The Soba being prepared... 

Finished products...Soba with tofu and Soba with raw egg (that was mine!) 

Mmm...Oiishi! 

Proof that the "Tasty Kiosk" really is RIGHT beside the tracks....Mmmm 

Weekend Report

Well another weekend coming to an end...at least this time I kind of accomplished something!

Yesterday Kedist and I went out for lunch, and then went to the travel agency because I had to tell them Neko's weight (which now btw is up to 3.2kg) and the measurements of the carry case. Then we went to Tobu Department Store to go to the bakery downstairs to get festival cream-filled pancakes! One of my favourite festival foods! Anyway, standing in line this old lady behind me was literally ON TOP of me. If I moved forward a cm, she'd move forward an inch!!! I'm not even exaggerating on this I swear! Kedist was just cracking up, though at the time I wasn't amused - I couldn't move!! She was probably anxious because the place was almost sold out of sakura mochi (a cherry blossom rice sweet), and yesterday was girls' day and its a traditional food for the event. Then we came home and I burned some DVDs and packed up the last of the boxes to be mailed home.

Today, I actually woke up early (around 9) and went to the post office to mail Lucy some books that she had left here, and to find out about their pick-up service for large parcels. They gave me the number of the main post office and I tried to call when I got home but of course they ONLY spoke English. So I called a Japanese friend who ended up calling for me, and the post office guy was at our apartment around 1:30pm to pick up the boxes. It was cheaper than I expected and I only paid 25,000YEN for the 3 boxes. Well I guess that is a lot of money (around $300) but it's A LOT cheaper than excess baggage on a plane!

Our lunch plans with Rie were cancelled again this week because we got about 12cm of snow, and our dinner plans with Gavin are again postponed until next week. So I'm just burning some copies of my DVDs for Kedist and I will think about starting to pack up more of my room. AND I have to iron my shirts for the week AGAIN, but at least this is the LAST full week of NOVA and after that its just a 4-day week...wow, it's really getting down there.

Well that's it for now.

Countdown summary:

9 NOVA days left...
which means 72 more lessons!!!

Yuki Suzuki's so nice!! (and I love the rhyme in her name!)

Take Two (damn Internet screwed up my first draft of this post)...

Since I tend to pass on so many negative stories about Japan, I thought it'd be good to pass on a nice story for a change.

About three weeks ago we were talking about chopsticks in Voice (general discussion room)...about the rules and traditions, etc. Though this sounds quite boring it was actually one of the most interesting conversations I've had! So anyways I was asking how they teach children to use chopsticks and said that I wanted to teach Ty when he gets a little older. So, Yuki told me about chopsticks you can get especially for children. I had heard this once before but haven't ever seen them in stores.

So then today she stops me in the hall and asks me if I am busy (I was just talking/playing with the kids waiting for their lesson). So she says that she has a present for my nephew (children's chopsticks) and for me she had translated all the instructions that were written on the package since I am the one who is supposed to be teaching him. Isn't that so nice?!?! I think so!!