you`re everybody`s satellite ~

...okay, so what with internet access being thirty minutes from home, I may not be the most faithful recorder, but here`s an update.

Along with a bunch of other Ibaraki JETs, I will be climbing Fuji this weekend, sadly with no tuque in tow. I knew I should have brought one from Canada! Oh well, you can`t win them all. Despite hearing that parts of the hike are much like standing in a cattle line, I`m looking forward to the climb and the sunrise ... the view from Fuji at sunrise is one of the most celebrated in Japan, and apparently the basis for the old national flag (the one with the red sun with the rays.)

With any luck, I won`t be too broken to train by Monday; I`ve only been to two aikido classes so far, but quite enjoy the sport. It is definitely an adjustment, but the other participants are kind and very talented at the martial art - and a lot of fun to hang out with afterwards. I`ve adopted Carl`s word - nomunication; a blend of the Japanese verb nomu, to drink, and communication - to describe the afterwards, where we hang out in the kitchen/common area and talk, laugh, play guitar, dodge divebombing hornets, and share a drink or two. The shrine and dojo themselves are historic, which is both odd and perfectly natural. Maybe it`s just my Canadianisms acting up. It`s odd... Japan is very much a country of the synonymous past and future, whereas Canada is very much about the here and now. Not in all things; of course, that`s a generalization, but still, there`s something to it.

I have no doubt I`ll be able to put a more eloquent spin on that thought by the end of the year - maybe by the end of the week! Classes start tomorrow, but I don`t teach until Friday... I have my lesson plan completed, and my introduction practiced for... I am nervous, but it`s more anticipation than anything. I hope.

Cheers, and take care, everyone. ^^

here, where the daylight begins ~

Ｊｕｓｔ　ａ　ｑｕｉｃｋ　ｈｅｌｌｏ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｌａｎｄ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｉｓｉｎｇ　ｓｕｎ！　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｍａｄｅ　ｉｔ　ｓａｆｅ　ａｎｄ　ｓｏｕｎｄ，　ａｎｄ　ａｍ　ｃｈｉｌｌｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　ａ　ｍａｎｇａ－ｋｉｓｓａｔｅｎ；　ａｎ　ａｌｌ－ｎｉｇｈｔ manga library that also has super-cheap Internet access and reclining chairs... mmm. Paradise? Maybe something close to it, aha. My town, Omitama, is about half an hour south of where I am right now, and is charming and super-spread out (by which I mean there will be a massive vegetable garden/random game preserve right next to the supermarket or across from my school - which is four stories tall!), but it has a kickass little bookstore/art supply shop, an amazing coffee shop where they roast the beans on site (I know nothing about coffee, but the process had me enraptured) and a great little bakery... so, with all my bases covered, I am a happy clam.

Or a happy Taryn, more like.　...Although, after spending the night at the Beach Bash just north of Iwaki, sun, saltwater, and sand all having worked their magic, I still feel a little like a clam. ^^ The party was, while smaller than expected, a ton of fun; a great chance to meet a bunch of other JETs and catch up with ones I had met earlier; to catch the waves of the Pacific and wish for a one-piece swimsuit, to raid the conbinis (convenience stores) at unspeakable hours for onigiri and beer and chocolate with handfuls of others after scaling walls and crossing scrub-brush that we nicknamed the Valley of Doom. Mmmm, and it was all for very healthy food. Yum.

Hey, it was a party, so...

I`m not teaching yet, so still feeling sort of touristy, but life is good. Settling in, nesting a little, partying a little, and trying not to lose my voice via karaoke. Blistered feet from dancing are terrible (and saltwater does not help this, either) but oh, the dancing is worth it. Even if it is to bad 90`s pop of both the Japanese and English persuasion!

This, and I am seemingly surrounded by writers. This fact is immeasurably kickass. ^^ I hope you all are well; you`re loved and being thought of. Take care, and I will try to write more soon, and post pictures once I have my own Interwebs.