The Earthquake, "Where were you?"

Since the earthquake, everyone I've reunited with has asked, "So, where were you?" We want to find out how close people were, if they realized what was happening when they felt it, and how soon they were able to find a way back home. It really reminds me of 9/11, where everyone recounts where they were when they first heard the news or when the towers were first hit. As I said in the last post, a few of my friends were back home in their respective countries. Here are some of the more interesting stories my friends had to tell me.

Jerry was in his room when it happened, but wasn't sure what to think because he couldn't compare the feeling of this earthquake to any other one. Should he leave? Was this a normal intensity? He left his room, but the only other boy in his area was named Ryan and he didn't know what to think of the quake either. They saw the walls of glass and metal beams on their floor shaking, but no one had told them what to do in this sort of emergency. They just stood in the hallway, away from the glass, until the largest amount of shaking was done. Then Jerry returned to his room and went online to find out he had just experienced Japan's worst recorded quake.

Kaze was closer to me than anyone else from our group. He was shopping in Kichijoji when the ground started to shake. Actually, he was playing with a toy Godzilla when the first shakes started to happen. Living in Taiwan, he was used to earthquakes and thought that the Japanese were overreacting when he first saw girls curl up into balls in the streets and people dive towards the pavement. After going back to the original store to buy the toy Godzilla doll, he was able to return home and find out more of what happened by bike.

Meghan was meeting with a veterinary student to whom she's been teaching English. He had just gotten back to Japan from America and was excited to tell her of his studies there. As they were speaking in Starbucks, they felt the shock. At first, Meghan thought it was fun, but started to to wonder why everyone was so worried and surprised. She was prepared to sit and wait it out, but her student rushed her outside and waited with her until all the shocks were done and she could get home.

Matthew (not Gan-san, but a boy from Australia) was swimming in the ICU pool for some extra exercise this spring break when the earthquake reached the campus. The entire pool turned into a mini tsunami as the water splashed against the windows, emptied out the larger pool, and flooding the changing rooms. The swimmers clutched at the metal  ladders on the side of the pool as they were tossed around like buoys. Even though he lived in a distant city, luck would have it that he had ridden his bike to school that day and that he knew the road home well. He was able to return home easily, but his host mother had to walk 3 hours home since the trains had stopped running by that point.

Another boy in my dorm was 5 kilometers from the nuclear reactor and was able to take pictures of the initial heat explosion and smoke cloud on his iphone. He was visiting his grandparents at the time, and they refuse to leave the area, but sent him back to Tokyo yesterday.

Meghan, as I had mentioned before, was trapped with a friend at the Tokyo Disney theme parks and was not able to return until Saturday morning.

Yuta was driving near Yokohama and was not really bothered by the earthquake because of the shock absorption in his tires. Luckily, he made it home to find his family and home completely fine. The Zelkova kids were able to contact him through facebook the day of the earthquake.

Yu-chan, a senior in the Wadaiko club, was finally able to contact her father a few nights ago. He was working in the Sendai area during the earthquake, but is finally doing well now.

This is a fascinating group of Tweets from Japan during the first day. We all experienced the earthquake from different perspectives, and it wasn't until we came together to see how each person was able to deal with it. Since Friday, more and more students are evacuating the area for Kansai or leaving the country. We don't know where to go or what to believe now, but those of us who are staying are trying to find out as much as we can and help each other stay prepared. If there is anything that the world can do now, it would be to pray for us in the next few days and to donate to various relief efforts. More information to come later. Take care - we'll do the same here.

The Earthquake, Roll Call

Ever since I was a kid, roll call has been one of my favorite parts of group work. The litany of call-response was very reassuringly to me. Whenever my friends and I go out, we always have a roll call or sound off of some kind to keep track of the group. Because everyone was scattered in the midst of daily activity, one of the first things that happened after the tremors stopped was to take roll call.

Just of few of the 40-some Wadaiko members
we needed to call roll for everyday

This was easy enough for my Wadaiko kids, who I was with at the time. After the first evacuation, we were able to call roll and establish that everyone was there. But getting a hold of someone outside of the area was more of a problem: the phone lines had been jostled, everyone was contacting each other at the same time, signals were down or lost, and there was too much going on at one time. I couldn't even call the girl standing right next to me. We went into a tizzy trying to contact everyone we could think of, find out how they were, where they were, and how they'd get home. After the major quakes, I started emailing my family, Gina in Thailand, friends studying abroad here in Japan, and and people who have been taking care of me here, like Mr. Spengler and my Wittenberg sempai. They all sent, but none of them arrived on time. My phone, too, wasn't receiving any of the emails sent then; it wasn't until 4-5 hours later that I began to receive messages from my friends.

As it turns out, my close friends and classmates are doing well and are safe now, but some had a more difficult time than others. Of course, the Wadaiko OYRangers (Alice, Jorren, Sarah, and I) were all together with my roommate, Miki, and the rest of the team when it happened. Thankfully, my best friend Gina was enjoying some amazing summer weather in Thailand wasn't in harms way in the slightest. My Zelkova Familia, however, were all across the board: Lia was in New York, Sho was in Virginia, Rei was in New Zealand, Ellie was in Hong Kong, Meghan was at the Starbucks near Musashi-sakai here in town, Yuta was driving near Yokohama, Matt H. was in the pool, etc. In the end, we were all accounted for and made it home that night, except for Mika, Jorren's sister, and Meghan's dad. It turns out Mika and her childhood friend had gone to Disney Sea (that place I was so excited about with the Soul Run kids) and they got stuck there once all the trains stopped running. She, her friend, the entire Disney Sea and Land staff, crew, and customers, were stuck there the rest of the day and into the next morning. They slept in a movie theater as the Disney staff scrambled to find bread and rice for people to eat (the local cafes, stores, and vending machines were all empty). Jorren's sister was visiting him from the Netherlands and arrived in Japan on the morning of the earthquake. She doesn't know Japanese or anyone else here, let alone have a phone, so he was terribly worried about her. Meghan's dad had come to visit her, too, but his company forced him to board the next flight to China when they found out there had been such a major earthquake, so they did not get to see each other before he left.

The girls organized the sofas into a nest with room for
2 girls per couch. Even at night, they left the TV on
in case a new development was announced.

Since then, we've been holding up together in groups, and the girls on my floor have been sleeping together in the lobby for the past few days and many of the foreign students have made camp in the first floor lobby. The Wadaiko team has been super paranoid about us always traveling with a partner, especially between cities. Meanwhile, some people have started to leave the country. My friend Elliott is the kid who usually has all the information, so I steal a peak at his blog every now and then for good links and up-to-date reports. He is currently on his way to/has arrived in Australia where he will be for the next two weeks. The rest of us are going to sit it out here. I'm keeping track of where everyone is, in the meantime. We are still on break for the rest of this month, so I don't have to worry about classes, homework, or tests. I'll do my best to get more information out there.

Keep us in your prayers.

The Yakiniku Ojiisan

The other night, I was wondering the neighborhood in search for ice cream and vegetables, when I stumbled upon the mysterious, late night, yakiniku stand! I've seen this stand before, but I was always headed somewhere else or didn't have money at the time. That night, I decided to make a friend.

Allow me to introduce you to my Nashi Obaasan replacement: Yakiniku Ojiisan (Barbecue-Meat Grandpa)! While I was waiting for the chicken to cook, I spoke to my new Ojiisan and found out his life story. He is now retired, but in his younger years he was a chef at various international resorts and hotels. He lived in a variety of places, but one of them was Shizuoka, one of the locations that Gina and I visited in the winter. We were able to chat about that for a bit (fun fact: Shizuoka is famous for tea and quiet, lovely fields, by the way). While his family has always had this house (seen in the back ground) he would stay in apartments and the hotels when he lived in other cities. Even now that he's retired, he loves cooking for other people and he sets up this stand outside his house every night to serve the after work crowds. The menu is pretty cheap for chicken, beef, or vegetables with salt or special sauce.

He was very nice and even posed so I could take this picture. The food was great, and I'll probably go back for another late night snack. No more pears, but I at least can get tasty chicken. :)

Kaitenzushi, the Basics

(Yet another food blog)

Up until now, I’ve only been to the kaitezushi (revolving sushi) bar behind Musashi-Sakai station and one in the basement of a Kobe department store complex. Going to the one in Kobe won’t happen for me until I go all the way back to Kobe, so I was prepared to settle for the one near the station. But while it was cheap, it was so small and so crowded, and I’d have to bike all the way there. Not such a good set up. That was until my friends let me in on a great ICU secret: there is a bigger, closer, cheaper sushi bar right down the street!

They had all been craving sushi (and, really, who doesn’t?) and we had Friday afternoon classes canceled for a government issued test that weekend, so we decided to head off for our fill of sushi right after Japanese class. So, after class, off we went; past the gate watchman, past the rival ramen stores, the small shrine, J-Mart, Don Quixote, the large shrine, and under a bridge or two. We can in mass, which might have intimidated lesser store owners, but this particular kaiten was used to having swarms of ICU foreigners, so they weren’t shocked to see us at all. We did, though have to split up because SOME OF US couldn’t wait and decided it would be a good idea to skip the second half of Japanese class and go to the restaurant early, so they were already done by the time we arrived. All’s well that ends well, though, as our second wave would have had to sit at a second booth anyway.

For those of you who are new to all this (and in case I haven’t written it already), kaitenzushi bars are known for minimal customer-chef interaction and for serving most of the food on a revolving belt. The sushi chef cooks (rather, matches or wraps) everything in a little area and sets his finished pieces on the belt. As the little fish travels around the counter, it is up for grabs for anyone sitting at the bar. If you want one, just take it. After you eat the sushi, keep your plate until the end the servers will tally up how much you ate and bill you off that. Different types of plates have different colors or styles to help calculate price. For example, a yellow plate might be 105 yen, but one with blue flowers will be 225 yen. Color also lets the customer know if the sushi comes with wasabi already included or not. Each shop has a different plate system, so it is good to check before you grab a 500 yen plate. Ordering off the menu is also allowed.

If the store is small enough, you can just tell the chef what you want. But at the place we went, there cooks were all in the kitchen and two belts of food were coming out on the floor. In order to order, you had to type what you’d like electronically and when your order was ready, it would be sent around in a special bowl and music would announce that it was coming near your booth.

Most people like tuna and other types of fish, but the chewier stuff is my favorite! Clams, oysters, squid, and octopus are all good choices, but if you want something else, just pick it up. The restaurant that we went to had French fries, soups, desserts, and lots of “unique” sushi rolls, too. The food was so good, filling, and cheap, we all went back two days later! But having it twice in a three day period is enough for me. I’ll be set for sushi for a while, I think.

Exploring Noodles

My favorite Ramen shop (not the one that makes me sick, but the one right next to that one) is kind of expensive, and I was thinking that I should go out to different places every now and again. Not that I don’t love my Ramen shop (they give people free curry and rice, and girls get free dessert, yum!) but other places have different items on the menu. Gutara Ramenya, it isn't you, it's me. No, on second thought, it is you. Sorry.

So coming back from church, Saturday night, I stopped off in a side street, and squeezed myself into one of the many tiny, tiny ramen shops. There was only one old man working, but you could tell that he had everything down pat. I got some soba noodles, concentrated miso soup and a few gyoza to top things off. Just to make sure I knew how to eat it, the man was nice enough to explain the noodle/soup combo to me. I still don’t think I was doing it right, but I tried my best. It was surprisingly spicy, but that was fine by me. I used the gyoza to absorb the last of the sauce and soup. Very tasty!! I’ll have to try a different store next time. Haha, but probably not the one where the salary men sing traditional Japanese enka.

English Club at High School

Guys!!! Okay, this is kind of rather late, but I’m still super excited about it: the local Japanese high school has (get this) an ENGLISH CLUB!! Now, I don’t really know what that means, but I DO know that after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, anyone who is interested in learning more about English and English-speaking countries meets up to talk about all things English. No, really, that’s what they do.

I found out about this club through an organization called Chi-Q-Jin (a play off of the Japanese words for Earthling/person: chikyuujin). This organization partners foreign exchange students with local elementary and middle schools to play games, talk about what other countries are like, and get young kids excited about the world. They also support this English Club, but were having a hard time recruiting ICU students and most of the other Chi-Q-Jin members are Chinese, Korean, or Hispanic.

I was more than willing to help out the high schoolers, especially because most of their class time is dedicated to route translation or situation role play, not very flexible for developing real conversation skills. So I decided to drop in on the next club meeting. But we kept it a secret from the students so that it wouldn’t negatively affect attendance. Before meeting with the students, the teachers explained that they had only started learning English last April, so they would be a little shy and hesitant. Also, I was asked to pretend to know NO Japanese whatsoever. The teachers would also only speak to me in English to keep up the charade.

Well, right now (or two weeks ago) all the upperclassmen were busy studying for their college entrance exams, so only the first-years were left in the club. Make that 4 first-year boys, one who was pretty good with English so he dominated much of the Q&A time, one who was fidgety and giggly and silly, one who was exhausted from watching too much television the night before, and one who was from the Western part of Japan and who obviously was not being invited to be “in the in group” by the other three, but was trying his best to say what he was thinking in English. They talked more to each other and the teachers than they did to me, but that was because they were trying to figure out what to say or how to say something. It was rather funny, because each question directed my way involved about 5 minutes of preparation and practicing before one of the boys felt confident enough to try it out and see if I could understand them. Since I knew what they were talking about in Japanese, it helped me know what they were trying to say, but I only answered based on what they actually said in Enlgish. It will be better for them that way.

The topics were pretty basic. Since it was our first time meeting, they asked for my name, where I was from, where I go to school, if I like sports, etc. My name (Alexandra) was a bit too difficult for them and sent one of the little guys into a stammering fit just trying to pronounce it; in Japanese, to say “Alexandra” you need to add a whole bunch of vowels, making it extra long – Arekusandora. I made them guess my age and that took about 15 minutes! As hard it is for Westerners to guess an Asian person’s age, they have the same difficulty for us. The only thing is, they always guess too old, instead of too young. I did tell them that I was in college and that I was older than them but younger than their teacher. But they were so flustered (not wanting to be wrong, embarrass themselves, embarrass the teacher, insult me) the just said, “ehh…ehhh…EHHHH? 27 years?” Hahahahahaha, no.

That’s when I decided to take over and just let them listen, which they enjoyed. I told them about the magical and mysterious world of America, where special trucks drive around town selling ice cream in the summer, sushi is expensive, kids can make tunnels and houses in the snow, squirrels run on top of telephone wires, deer are bigger than people, and you can see rabbits every day. I shared with them these wonders and each time they stared back in disbelief. They would even ask their teacher if what I said was true. “Why do trucks take ice cream around if people can just buy ice cream at the convenience store?” “Because most people don’t buy daily groceries from the convenience store in America and these trucks can attract all the kids in the neighborhoods who don’t go shopping with their parents.” “Isn’t it dangerous to have all those wild animals around?” “Americans are very used to seeing birds, raccoons, and other animals around.” And on and on it went.

At the very end I gave the boys and the teachers some Dove’s Chocolate melts-things because on the inside of the wrapper are English phrases that they could read. The main teacher thought this was a fantastic idea, but the boys just liked the candy and tried to trick the teacher into giving them more. I’m going to try to go back there most Thursdays, but we’ll see how well I do in the coming weeks.

Middle Eastern Culture Center

Ah-ha!! I found it! You thought you could hide behind your deceptively friendly, tattooed hippopotamus, simple maps, and street names that don’t exist, but I found you none the less!

Actually, a Japanese girl gave me directions (which I forgot), so I was going to look back at that map (but I didn’t feel like walking to the bus stop), so I started wandering around the outside perimeter of the school. Luckily for me, the Japanese really like organizing things, so a whole bunch of institutions were all lined up neatly behind my school. There was another college, a theology seminary, a chemical research lab, and the Middle Eastern Culture Center!! This place right outside of ICU’s western gate, so no extensive searching was called for, nor did I need the bus. However, and this is the BIG however, the Center is closed for maintenance and renovation for the foreseeable future. I think that it is through the end of the month. :S I was hoping that sometime during the break, I’d be able to go and see the exhibits, but now I have to wait until everything is opened again. I couldn’t even find out how much the entrance fee was or learn about what it is they actually show. It was a total zannen.

Missing: Grandma Nashi

Oh, no! I was walking along one day, when I realized that something was missing. Had I lost my wallet? Did I forget to do my homework? Nope. Someone was missing: Grandma Nashi!!

Next to one of the little farms/gardens near my school, a little, old woman would sit selling Asian pears (nashi, hence her nickname) which I would buy about once a week. But lately, I was so busy with the festival that I hadn’t gone to see her. But on that day, I realized that I haven’t seen her out by the fruit stand in a while. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the fruit stand, either. So, not only have I not had an Asian pear in weeks, but I haven’t gotten to see my little obaasan. :S

What sad times are these when foreign college students cannot purchase Asian pears from Japanese grandmothers in autumn. Maybe she is not growing pears anymore or has moved her location, but I was hoping that come fall, she would have more fruit. *sigh* I guess not.

Where Did That Come From?!

While walking to the Japanese-version of Marc's, I decided to go on the opposite side of the street, just for kicks. It is just the other side of the street right? WRONG!! Hiding on that side were 3 totally new places!

1. A grapevine field; I wasn't sure if I was seeing properly at first or not. I just got done telling a friend of mine yesterday that they don't have grapevines here, and I had stopped looking for them, actually. As I was going along, There was a wall of ginko trees forming a barrier to a small farm and I thought, "That's strange... I wonder what's behind the trees. (looks inside) Those seem like ivy. (stares for a while) Really familiar ivy. GRAPES!!" Sadly, these grapevines are made for making grapes, so the leaves were (you know, besides inedible) smaller than I was used to. But, lo and behold, the sign says they are grapevines. I wonder if they are going to have a wine making event or grape-squashing day...I wanna go if they do!!

2. Greeks; this was actually on my way back. I was walking underneath the pedestrian bridge, and glanced up at a sign. It was in Japanese, sure, but it was in katakana, which meant that it was for a foreign word. The foreign word was right underneath the Japanese. I wasn't going to bother reading it, but one of the letters didn't look right to me. Because it was Greek!! I found a Greek company here! I don't know what they do or who they are, but they're Greek by gum! This calls for some investigation at a later date.

3. A Shrine; I was told that shrines and temples were everywhere in Japan, so I was very disappointed in the lack of both in my town. I wasn't expecting anything large, just a little shrine to Amaterasu, that's all. Well, going along the sidewalk, I had to pause and let a swarm of little, old, Japanese women come past me. "Where are they all coming from?" I wondered. So, curious as I am, I went down the side street they had just come from and found a stone torii gate! The entrance to a Shinto shrine!! It was soooo cute and little with it's little summoning bell and stone inscriptions, but I didn't want to take a picture of it, seeing as the women were still kind of right there. But now I know where it is and I can go back and get a few pictures (any more than a few and I'd be getting duplicate images - that is how small this shrine is).

I also want to get photos of my Fruit-Stand Grandma, or at least her garden and flags so that you can see what it all looks like. I swear, she's there in her little nook everyday, so hopefully she gets more customers than just me.

Also, I update various photo albums, so even if you think that you've seen one, check the last few photos in the album to see if I have added to them or not. And I moved Campus & Heya 2 up to the top for my little sister to see better. This is all mostly for you, Phia.

Japanese Crows, A Warning

These birds are terribly frightening! There laugh sounds unnaturally evil, they eat small dogs, attack Japanese children, and they have a bad habit of stealing things left outside (cell phones, keys, ipods, your dinner, etc). And they are around. All the time!! If there is anything about Japan I dislike, it is the CROWS!

They are huge!! I swear, the smallest one stands up to my knee! They are bold too. Most birds fly away when they see you coming. Crows look at you and say "bring it on!" with their eyes. Too scary for me. I don't like them one bit. Imagine if some mad scientist took a wolf, shrunk it down, turned it into a bird, accidentally let it loose, and all the subsequent birds developed a New Yorker's attitude: that is the Japanese Crow.

I tried to imitate an American crow's call and a Japanese crows call for my roommate. She was not too impressed with my bird noises and said that they sounded alike. But I don't remember American crows actually laughing at people the way the Japanese ones do. And when I was in the park, a girl named Olivia and I heard one of the crows repeatedly say "Ohayo", which is a typical greeting in Japan. Scary, scary stuff. I don't trust them in the least.

Fear the Japanese crows. You have been warned.

By the way, I found this rather adorable bird that looked almost like a piper. So cute! But they move very quickly. I'll try to find it again, but now that it is getting cooler and very rainy, I don't if it has migrated or not. We'll see.

Ramen, the Basics

Be. Yond. Words.

But I'll try.

Ramen is not what you think. Ramen is not what I thought. Ramen is, by far, the best things I've had since I came to Japan. Everyone who has been to Japan before me wouldn't stop saying that they all got hooked on Ramen. "What is so special about Japanese-pork-and-noodle-soup?" I would wonder. "Maybe that is the Japanese comfort food or something."

Wrong. So, here's the story:

If you look in my Mitaka photo album, you'll notice that I got caught in a torrential rainstorm on my way home from the store one day. It was a long walk back to school, and I had already made pit-stops everywhere I could trying to stay dry as I lugged (full-out, lugged) a laundry basket filled with groceries and such back to ICU. After making it about 2/3rds of the way home, I thought of just stopping for a while and waiting till the rain calmed down a bit. But by then, I was right outside a ラーメン屋 (Ramen shop). Were they even open? Would they want someone who was all wet? How does one order Ramen? Just then, a young man came outside the shop to fix the "open" sign that had fallen from the winds. He saw me standing there. I saw him see me standing there. He looked at me. I looked at the sign. He looked at the sign. It was priceless.

A couple quick bows later and I was inside the store, my umbrella sopping wet in a rack, and my laundry basket-'o-stuff right next to it so as not to moisten the entire store. I threw my stuff down at the bar (for those who don't know, there is a bar that surrounds the Ramen store's kitchen) and pulled out my wallet. Now, buying food in Japan is a little different than back in the States. In this store, right next to the main doorway, was a vending machine. But not an ordinary vending machine, no Sir, this was a menu machine! You placed any amount of money into the machine, then pushed the button for the items(s) you wanted, and received the change and tickets for your meal once you were done. Then, just had the ticket to the cook and wait at your seat. Sounds easy enough, but the menu was all in Japanese. What was worse, it was mostly in kanji~! So I picked one that I could read, gave the man my ticket, and (after a while) he gave me a hot bowl of Ramen.

It looked soooooo good! Everything was in one bowl, sure, but it was neatly placed and orderly. And everything I needed to enjoy the Ramen fit on the bar top (tissues - for when your nose starts to run from the hot soup, soy sauce, pickled veggies - in the black and red container, and all you can drink water and tea). The taste was unbelievable, too!!! I'm a noodle-lover by nature, but this was more than my palete had ever handled from soup before; there was a buttery feeling, the veggies were still somewhat firm, but the meat was so, so soft, and the entire thing smelled like fall (don't ask me what that means, just have some for yourself). I was so dissapointed that I came there alone! I just wanted to turn to someone, ANYONE, and say, "Isn't this fantastic?! Can you believe this was just $7? They gave me so much, I don't think that I can finish all of this!!" There was a lot, by the way. It took me a good half hour to get it all down. But I loved every drop!

The moral of the story? Eat real Ramen, REAL Ramen, before you say that you don't like Japanese food. Don't like sushi? Fine. Can't find a taste for tempura? I can understand that. Eal just not your thing? I can dig it. But there is no way that in this world, someone exists who does not like Ramen. Get on over to Mitaka, if you can; I know a great little place just up the street.

Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, the Basics

So that I can try to reset from jet-lag, I will be arriving in Mitaka about a week before my classes start. As far as I know, there isn't a major orientation for the September Students (so dubbed, because we all just show up in September), so I can wander around the city for a little bit. Hopefully, I can find my way back home, too. I could aimlessly stroll down the streets and jump on random buses to find something interesting, but I'm not that spontaneous. Wouldn't it be more fun to have Japanese Scavenger hunt?! Of course it would!!

Here are the things I need to find, photograph, and visit in my first week (I don't know what sort of batsu to give myself, but I'll think of something).

1. Locate a Lawson convenience store. I figure that this shouldn't be too difficult, since it is the second largest convenience chain in Japan with 1255 stores in Tokyo alone. Originally, it started in Ohio (my mother's family has fond Lawson memories) but now they can only be found in the land of the rising sun. Why is locating a Lawson also important? That is the ONLY place in Japan where you can buy tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum!

2. Ramen shop. No, guys, I'm serious. A for-real-make-their-own-broth ramen shop. If you understand my need to find one, then you have probably already eaten at one before. I have only heard wonderful and great things about these places. Maybe I won't get some on the first day, but once I find it, I'll know where to go.

3. A dojo, maybe even THE dojo, I haven't decided yet. Every year, my dojo (at least, my teacher) goes to Japan to train with men and women who have been practicing Taijutsu for most of their lives. Our guys work with people (good and bad, skilled and .... lacking)from around the world. If I went with the dojo guys, they could show me how to get to a good Japanese dojo. But hopefully, I can spend a day to make it there on my own. I don't know how often I'll get to train in Japan, but I have to make the effort.

4. A second hand store. I'm told they are around, you just have to find them. And I'm not spending 10 months in Japan unless I can find some kind of Goodwill-look-alike.

5. The ocean. It is an island. Sure, I know that it isn't rivaling the surf of California or the beauty of the Bahamas, but I love water regardless. "Do they have any beaches in Japan?" - Silly blonde girl from New York

6. Cell phone company & Embassy. I'm not sure in which order I'll find these in, but they both need to get done.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know! I'll post the pictures to prove I've found the items in my list.