Cameras, Cut and Color, Cookies and Caves

It's been another busy week and weekend in Japan. Last week I bought a new digital camera at an electronic store..a canon S90 and got a great deal! I went with another ALT friend and together we managed to inquire about price, warranties, batteries, case and memory cards. The saleslady was so patient with us and so kind. We were doing really well communicating up until the explanation about the long term warranty plan. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, so all three of us whipped out the cell phone dictionaries! But, everything worked out in the end and I was able to have them switch all the menu options into English before leaving the store. All in all it was a very successful trip and I'm looking forward to using it on my trip to Thailand in a few days.

On Saturday I went to get my first haircut in Japan. I've been long overdue, but didn't want to go just anywhere. There are many small salons in my town, but I wanted to go to a reliable one. So I asked one of the English teachers at school awhile back if she could take me to her salon sometime. She got a really cute cut and said she would be happy to. Unfortunately, she was out sick for a few weeks and the date had to be delayed. But, she returned this week and said she could take me this weekend. I had drawn a picture of the kind of cut I wanted just to be safe. My friend introduced me to her hair guy and helped translate what I wanted done. She asked if he spoke any English, to which he responded very little. After it seemed the hair stylist and I were on the same page my friend went home to rest since she'd been at school all morning and had to go back later.

It ended up being one of the best haircut experiences I've ever had! I discovered that the hair stylist spoke a lot more English than he let on at the beginning. We talked about his travel experiences on a 3 month cruise around the world and he showed me pictures from his trip. While sitting in the chair I was given about 3 different smocks to wear and served coffee and chocolate while waiting for my color to finish! At the end of my appointment I received an unexpected, but very relaxing back massage..talk about some royal treatment! And the best part was that my total bill was less than what I pay in the states for the same haircut and color.

After my haircut I headed over to my friend's apartment to bake Christmas cookies. We had planned a girls' day with some of our friends, both English and Japanese. One ALT guy that lives next door to my friend came over to hang out for awhile. There were about 10 people that came and we did some serious baking using a microwave oven! We had to make many small batches and it took a little longer to bake the cookies, but they turned out surprisingly well. We made sugar, pink colored oatmeal and gingerbread cookies and homemade frosting! It was a lot of fun and good to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. I met another ALT who lives two towns south of me from Scotland. That's one thing I've come to love about being on the Jet program in Japan.. meeting people from all over the world.


Sunday I went on a bus tour to Abukamado Limestone Caves in Fukushima Prefecture. I was invited, along with two other ALTs, international high school students, Japanese host families and other volunteers by the principal of one of my schools. He is the president of a group called AFS, which has a similar goal to the Jet Program. It seeks to spread internationalism and expose students from abroad to Japan and vice versa. There were about 10 hs students from all over the world- Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malayshia and Australia to name a few. Some were staying for 2 weeks, others 6 months and others a year. We took a coach bus and traveled about 2 hours north to the next prefecture. Kocho Sensei Uchida provided everything from snacks on the bus, to entrance fees for the caves and art museum and dinner reception at the hotel.

The caves were quite the experience. We walked underground through damp walkways surrounded by limestone stalagtites and stalagmites. In the middle of the cave there were Japanese musicians dressed up in santa suits that performed a mini concert, a very surreal experience! It was noticeably colder at the caves and everyone kept saying how samui it was. But, being from Chicago it was nothing like winter cold back home!

After the caves we boarded the bus and went to the Tenshin Art Museum in Kita Ibaraki. I had been to this museum once before in November and seen paintings of the World Heritage Sites around Japan. The exhibits change each month and they had painting of children and another exhibit of artwork done by high school students around Ibaraki. Some of my students from Takahagi HS were at the exhibit handing out pamphlets. 6 students from Takahagi contributed art to the gallery. The artwork and paintings done by these high school students was amazing. Many of the painting looked like they had been done by a professional.

After the museum we went to a hotel nearby for the dinner reception. We were seated in a banquet hall and each exchange student went up on stage with their Japanese host family. Each person gave a brief speech about his/her experiences either living in Japan and hosting an exchange student. All of the exchange students had a very positive experience and loved their time in Japan. Then, came the eating part of the reception! We all raised a glass for the kampai or cheers and enjoyed sushi, sashimi, lasagna, and fruit. Again, found myself meeting and talking with people from all over the world!

As we were leaving the hotel we stumbled upon a fish cutting exhibition in the lobby. It was interesting and disgusting at the same time. What do you think? That was the last stop of the day trip and the bus took everyone back to the high school. Long, but enjoyable day and weekend.