Monday, September 23, 2013

Middle School Sport's Day, Okinawan Lucha Libre, and Neo Park Zoo

Undokai (運動会) or sports days is a big deal in Japan, with teachers canceling classes to practice various sporting events. The Sports Days for my elementary schools aren't until later this month, but I was asked by my board of education if I would like to participate in the middle schools sports day as part of a relay. I had just finished getting over a terrible cold, so I was extremely happy to participate and be active once again. On Saturday, I laced up my running shoes and walked to the middle school. There, I met up Justin, the middle school JET, and my two other teammates who were Japanese-Pervian and Japanese-Argentinian. We were officially mcticially the international team. I was extemely nervous because I didn't realize that so many people attended these events. The principals and vice principals from my schools were there too! No big, I'm only representing my whole damn country! We were running the 4X2, and  I was the second runner. Ultimately, we got second place and won a box of tissues. I will be swimming in tissues in Japan since I get them just by entering a store. Afterwards, I felt no obligation to stay, and I left. 

The same week, I went to an Okinawan lucha libre match. It sounds just as corney as it sounds: masked individuals perfomring choreographed pro-wrestling moves. It was cheesy, it was sweaty, it was japanesey, and I frickin' loved it! 


Do you even lift?

I also went to Neo Park Zoo, which is a little less than a zoo and more of an aviary. There were hundred of birds that you could feed, and other animals such as capybaras, lemurs, bats, and wallabies. There was a petting zoo of small animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs. The dogs were a little weary of people. I noticed that some would almost corner the dogs to pet them, which made the dogs snap in aggression. I just knelt down and waited for them to come to me. I think they could tell I was an animal person <3.

This little one asked to be picked up and just plopped right down.

I also decided to be a little loca and feed the ostriches. These birds are immense and very intimidating. But when do you get the chance to feed them? Exactly! Never! My first time was a huge fail because my hand was at the same level as the birds beak, so it just clamp down it's mouth on my hand. Surprisingly it didn't hurt, but it scared the crap out of me. For my second attempt, I lowered my hand and it worked!





Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and Nakijin Castle Ruins



The paperwork for transferring my semi-predecessor's car into my name was painless and, most importantly, free. Once that I had my car, I could explore the island to my hearts content. The first adventure on my list was Okinawa Ocean Expo and Churaumi Aquarium. Churaumi Aquarium is one of the world's largest indoor aquariums that houses three large whales sharks. However, it's so much more than a fish bowl. Churaumi Aquarium is located at the Okinawa Ocean Expo. The Expo sits right next to the ocean (hence the name), where visitors can see gardens, laze at the beach and visit outdoor aquariums such as a dolphin theater and manatee and sea turtle exhibits for FREE!



Churaumi Aquarium is just one part of the Ocean Expo, but it is not free. Once inside, the first exhibit had a small petting tank where you could pick up and touch various starfish. I'm pretty sure this exhibit was meant for children, but as an avid animal lover, I couldn't pass up the chance to get hands on. I've been on enough caribbean cruises to know what a starfish feels like, but these was huge! I loved feeling the bottom and sensing the starfish move to get away from my icky human hands. I only wished the kids had been slightly more gentle with them, but there were people reminding the kids to only handle them underwater.

<3
Afterwards, I visited the multiple exhibits of sea creatures. The main exhibit was their giant acrylic tank. Within the tank there were three large whales sharks, three manta rays and three spotted dolphins. The dolphins were a newly added feature to the exhibit. There were also hundreds of other rays and fish within the tank. Some rays were almost as big as the manta rays! It was amazing to see such giant creatures up close, but I did feel a bit sad for them. These animals usually have the whole ocean to explore and a tank, although large, is extremely small compared to the ocean. However, they looked healthy and relatively happy. One manta ray was the result of the breeding of the first two, as Churaumi is one of the few aquariums that successfully breeds manta rays. I also loved watching the animals interact with the scuba divers inside. What an amazing job! The dolphins where clearly the most interactive, and they played and were pet by the scuba divers. I was very surprised by their interaction with the manta rays as well. The manta rays would postion themselves in front of the scuba divier where he/she would scrach the sides of their mouths (or that part that sticks out). The rays would also chase around the dolphins! It was too cute!

Look at their happy faces!

After buying the cutest whale shark socks on Earth, I hopped into my car and drove to Nakijin Castle Ruins. Nakijin Castle Ruins in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and house the ruler of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. It it currently in a ruined state, but the surrounding area is beautiful and definitely worth the trip. 






Sunday, September 22, 2013

Okinawa JET Orientation: A Mission

About a week after arriving in Okinawa, all new JETs were expected to attend a welcome orientation. We received the emails a week before except the email did not explain how to arrive at the orientation, which was located in Okinawa City. What made it worse was that the orientation was scheduled on August 15th - my birthday!

See this date? This shit is sacred!

Okinawa has absolutely no rail system outside of Naha. Therefore, residents must either drive or take the bus. The email contained the address to the orientation, but links were all broken. Seeing that I had no way of knowing which bus to take or to which bus stop, I put my mother's quote to the test, "Preguntando se llega a Roma; Asking will get you to Rome," and I asked someone I thought would know. Unfortunately, no one could seem to be able help me because no on had taken the bus before or they were driving to the orientation. Thanks! So with the lack of information, I did the next best thing I could think of, which was to utilize technology. It's 2013, and if Siri can tell me where I can hide a body then I can definitely figure out how to get to this orientation. 

At least I met a new friend while staying with a friend

I used Google maps's street view until I found the nearest bus stop and zoomed into the sign. From there, I figured out the bus route. I had a veteran Oki JET confirm, and I stayed at his place, which was a lot closer than my apartment. That morning, he dropped me off at the bus stop on his way to work, and I changed buses three separate time to arrive at the orientation. I arrived perfectly on time, but I also arrived drenched in sweat. Absolutely drenched! As I rushed into the bathroom to clean up and the janitor, who was cleaning the bathroom at the time, told me how beautiful I was. As much I wanted to beam over her compliment, I was a total disgrace as my dress, hair, and makeup were a complete mess.

On a lighter note, the orientation as very beneficial, and I enjoyed the time spent with my new JETs. I didn't enjoy some of the passive aggressiveness that I experience from a particular person when a friend announced that it was my birthday. However, during lunch two OkiJETs from Singapore bought me a green tea cake and sung me happy birthday in English and Chinese. There was a get-together after the orientation, but I skipped this to bum a ride from a northern JET. I should have mingled a bit more but I was so exhausted, and I wanted to wash the day and sweat off of me. Later in the night, I Skyped with my parents and boyfriend as they sung me "Happy Birthday."

 According to a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four, 27 is "a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience." On to a sexy 27! 
So delish!
           
Happy Birthday to me from my parents and boytoy!
           

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Down the Rabbit Hole

On the final day of the JET Orientation, my friends and I met up for our last breakfast together before we were shipped off to our future homes. As an Okinawa JET, we had to rendezvous early to catch a plane from Haneda Airport to Naha International Airport. This was my first time at Haneda Airport. We formed a line to check-in as we were given our boarding passes. During security, I started to feel a little uneasy because security had to scan my bag twice. I think it was because of my knitting needles, but they didn't ask to open my bag and after five minutes of waiting, I was told I could go ahead.

I promise, I'm just trying to make scarves!

Our Japan Airlines (JAL) plane was small, but Disney themed in honor of Tokyo Disney's 30th anniversary. Therefore, the plane was decorated with the whole Disney cast. The flight was ridiculously short, but I spent the time chatting with fellow JETs and a flight attendant who spoke perfect English. Once we landed, I immediately noticed the lack of air conditioning as I was slapped in the face with intense heat. This isn't your typical beach heat. This was hot and stagnant air. Luckily, I decided on a dapper business smart attire of khakis and a button-up shirt, but I felt really bad for the Oki JETs in suits.

The guy in the suit totally regretting his decision to wear that
After baggage claim, I walked into the greeting area where I was greeted by two Ginoza JETs and my Ginoza Board of Education supervisor holding a large welcome sign.  It was nice and slightly overwhelming to greet them, hop into the car and make small talk while feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

 Afterwards, we drove to the BOE for a welcoming ceremony where I gave my welcome speech.  I also signed my apartment papers and set up gas, water and electricity in my new apartment. However, I was told before hand that I would be staying at a local bed and breakfast until I purchased basic living needs for my apartment (see website here). I was at the BOE for about 3 hours until they drove me to the bed and breakfast where I met Nakama-san (a.k.a. obasan; "grandma") and her daughter.

The bed and breakfast was a traditional Ryūkyū style house with wooden floors, a veranda, paper doors, and hurricane-proof everything. I was greeted by the daughter who was an English teacher on maternity leave. She helped me with my things and set up in one of the rooms. This was the first time complete alone. I thought I was going to cry as I lied on the tatami floor in front of the air conditioning unit.  My moment of reflection was cut short when obasan came by and opened the doors to my room, plopped down, and struck up a conversation. She brought some Okinawan donuts, known as aandagi, that she made for me. I instantly felt better. I had originally thought that that I was just staying in one of the rooms, but it turned out that I had the entire house to myself. Obasan came back again during the night to take me to watch Eisa practice. Eisa is Okinawa's traditional dance using drums and a sanshin (similar to the shamisen).

A Traditional Ryūkyū home to myself
The next days were a complete whirlwind of errands with different people from the board of education:
  1. Stamp (inkan) Registration
  2. Completing my Residency Card
  3. Opening a bank account to Ryūkyū Bank (RyūKin)
  4. Buying a cellphone (au IPhone)
  5. Aeon (a.k.a. Jusco; like a Japanese Walmart) and recycle shops for appliances
    1. Fridge
    2. Microwave
    3. Rice Cooker
    4. Washer
    5. Stove top
  6. Nitori (think Japanese Ikea)
Because I didn't have the car, I was only expect to go to the board of education instead of my schools and, of course, I got to leave early. So far Okinawa has proved to be very laid back! They even have a concept like "Cuban Time" known as 「沖縄 タイム」or  "Okinawa Time," where people always run late. I think I'm going to love it here!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

The JET Orientation: Three Days of Workshops

The three days of orientation should be reworded as the "Three Days of Discussing Culture Shock and How Every Situation is Different Orientation." The workshops that were beneficial were "Driving in Japan" and the teaching workshops that focused on your specific school grades (ex, middle school). I can't say that I remember much, because I mostly just stared into outer space. However, I had one defining moment. My friend Alexis and I attended a "Self Study for Intermediate Japanese." Aside from the handout, the workshop was useless.  However, what made the workshop amusing was the presenters. 

This graph shows how much you'll be hating life in Japan

There were two presenters, but I was only focused on the British girl. In the beginning of the presentation she expressed how difficult it was to learn Japanese (true). However, it wasn't just what she said. It was her body language. If I could paint a mental picture, she was slightly hunched over looking sadly at the powerpoint. This is where I turned to my friend and said, " I think she hides under a table at home and cries (over learning Japanese)." Too bad, I should have kept my damn opinion to myself. Why? Because everything the presenter said after totally supported my "you hide and cry" assumption. She talked about how everyone is better than her at Japanese, how she sets really low goals and, most importantly, how her school won't let her speak Japanese to her kids. 


Every time she brought up another point, I would start to laugh which would only set Alexis into a fit a laughter. At one point, I had held it together up until the "my school doesn't let me speak Japanese" and that's where we both lost it. I had to bend over to pretend I was messing with my bag, while my whole body shook with controlled laughter. I attracted some attention some fellow British JETs behind me, who also thought the workshop was horrendous.

I can't go into more detail about what happened after, but let's just say when you are retelling stories, but sure to look around. Ha!


The JET Orientation: Arrival

After that ridiculous flight, you can imagine that I was jump off of the plane and teleport to the hotel. If you think that'll happen, then I'm sorry (but not sorry) to burst your bubble. After leaving the plane, we were escorted to customs. Prior to landing, the flight attendants give customs forms and a second forms for my residency card
Residency cards are issued at Narita Airport during customs. Don't worry about the long times at customs because they opened a separate (and large section) just for JETs. Also, don't worry about your appearance during customs. Your picture for your residency card is exactly the same picture used for your visa (with some slight difference in saturation).  I wasted time and make up on the plane. Don't judge me!
After I received my residency card, I went to baggage check to receive my bags. 
Grab that big ass cart because you are going to need that bad boy to take all of your belonging to transportation.
After passing through baggage security, there was endless checkpoints of JETs in green T-shirts for me to follow so that I could ship off my largest bag to my board of education.
You'll receive an envelope with baggage tags and all sorts of other goodies prior to your flight. Don't lose that ish!
Afterwards, we boarded a bus to the hotel. The bus ride can take around two hours to four hours depending on the traffic. My bus ride was around two hours, so I used that time to casually chat with friends and unwind. The hotel for the Tokyo orientation is the lavish Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The hotel is frickin' immense. There, I followed signs to another room where where I received orientation materials, and my room key. My roommates were fellow OkiJETs. Tka, who also flew in from Miami, and Lora, who came from Nashville. They seem to place us by destination, both original and future. I took a shower to wash of the travel stentch and got ready for dinner. Dinner, on the arrival night, is not provided, but since this wasn't my first time to Tokyo or Japan, I didn't feel intimidated. Lora opted for combini food while Tka and I went with my friend Alexis to a nearby Indian restaurant for some curry and nan. Afterwards, we went back to the room and I knocked out. 
If you think that partying it up in Tokyo that first night is a great idea, remember that you are expected to be at the Orientation at 9 in the morning and breakfast is only available the hours before. You'll be surprised how fatigued you are just from the flight.