Typhoon's a-comin'!

My first typhoon experience.

There's no danger in my area - just really strong winds and lots of rain.

Teacher of the Month...

Every month my company sends a newletter to the foreign teachers in our area, which includes a lot of little tidbits about teaching and general information. There's also a Teacher of the Month section and this month, my little old picture was on that page!

My school's manager nominated me in August and the main office chose me and another teacher. Woot woot! I get an engraved pen and a little blurb in the newsletter. But the best thing is that my manager really appreciates my work. Summer was so busy for me - I tried my hardest to do every task well and that effort was recognized. That makes me feel good.

Darn typhoon season.

When I moved into my apartment in Japan, I noticed that my window didn't have a screen. I thought this was typical of most Japanese buildings, since the windows at my schools don't have screens either, so I didn't complain.
But the last few weeks have been so sunny and nice and I really wanted to open my window and enjoy them, but without letting a bunch of creepy Japanese bugs into my apartment. So I asked my school's manager to help me get a screen. Last week, we went to the Japanese version of Home Depot and discovered that we had to special order a screen and it would be delivered in 10 days. No problem - 10 sunny days passed by with the hope of a window screen in the near future.
The window screen arrived today.
And typhoon season has started in Japan. It's going to be rainy all week.
Waaaaaah waaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Birthday Yakiniku!

My birthday isn't until the 25th, but this weekend, four of my students treated me to an awesome yakiniku dinner.

Yakiniku is one of my favorite Japanese meals. You order a bunch of raw meat and cook it on a little grill built into your table. It's fantabulous.

I had a wonderful time with my students and was so grateful to be treated to dinner. Their only stipulation was that I stay in Japan longer.

Halloween candy, onegaishimasu! <---- (please!)

My favorite holiday, Halloween, is coming up and my school is having a costume party to celebrate on October 24. I would love to give my students and co-workers some good old American Halloween candy, so if anyone feels so inclined to send a package of sweet American-ginormous sized bags of goodness my way, that would be incredible!

Some of my favorites include:
-Sour Patch Kids
-Skittles
-Peanut Butter M&Ms
-Swedish Fish
-Laffy Taffy
-Peanut Butter Cups
-Almond Joys
-Charms Blow Pops

And one of my co-workers, Aya, loves Atomic Fireballs, those red hot/cinnamony candy ball things. So if someone finds those and can include them, she would be eternally grateful.

Wintergreen Lifesavers have become a favorite at my school as well.

ALSO, if one of you Barnes and Noble frequenters comes across a learning-the-Japanese-language book and wants to pick it up for me, I would not be mad about that. I'm still plugging away at my lessons, but I could definitely use extra help. Anything that looks helpful and interesting would be perfect.

Domo arigato gozaimashita!
(Thank you, thank you, thank you!!)

Summer is drawing to a close here in Shizuoka Prefecture.

A surfer enjoys some September waves in Omaezaki.

Going on safari. In Japan.

Last week I went to Fuji Safari Park to see all kinds of animals. Fuji Safari Park is unlike an ordinary zoo - you can drive through the park and see the animals roaming around free (well, not completely free, but not caged up, either).
Of course, it was very crowded and kind of a dreary day, but still a lot of fun.

Look at that freaky bear! The sign says, "DANGER! Never get out of your car! Never open the windows!"

People in a lion shaped bus feeding the lions.

After we drove through, we walked to another part of the park where we saw minature ponies (apparently, they are part of the American stereotype in Japan, so that area had oldies country music playing and the workers were dressed like cowgirls) and white kanagroos. Good times!