too much!

too much kindness, too much unfamiliarity, too much fun, too much school, too much fire, too much heat, too much hilarity, too much itchiness, too much wildlife, and way, way, WAY too much slacking on the blog!

i hope you can forgive me!

i haven't posted fo reals in a week, and i'm really sorry! once you hear about all the mischief i've been getting into, perhaps you'll understand my cyberspace reticence.

in my last real post, i left off by telling you about japanese yoga class last tuesday. the next night, i again had the pleasure of spending the evening with real, live japanese people! who would've thought?!

my kyoto-sensei (vice principal) invited me to his friends' house for dinner, and i was thrilled to oblige. the family, which was of course the nicest group of people ever, consisted of a mom, dad, and daughter named yuriko. i thought yuriko was maybe twelve or thirteen...so imagine my surprise when i found out we're the same age! i thought it was a cruel joke at first, trying to trick the gai jin. but no--she's in college! what the heck?

the dinner was, naturally, amazing. there was salad, chicken nanban (yessssss), six types of sushi, fried fish, you name it. and on top of it all, the family made me this gorgeous wall decoration with shodo (calligraphy) on it that means "always smile, lillian." i teared up so badly when they gave it to me! i'm still constantly overwhelmed by how generous and kind japanese people are to me. as cheesy as it sounds, they make me want to be a better person!

but you've already heard that a million times from me, so let's press on with the recap. last week, i also started coaching a really sweet second year who is participating in an english speech contest. helping her has actually benefited me as well; now i know the main pronunciation problems japanese people have. their struggles with "L"s are already well known and (rather unfairly) mocked, but "th"s, "v"s, "pr"s, and "f"s are probably even more difficult for them. i really admire any japanese person who is serious about learning english...it must be so frustrating trying to pronounce those seemingly impossible sounds!

anyways, aside from doing that little private tutoring, i was kept isogashii (busy) with classes! i finished up with my introduction lesson, and was able to plan and execute two relatively successful lessons for my students! i was happy to get started, but it's challenging. the students are either dog-tired, or they're bouncing off the walls and pummeling each other. i kind of like when they're crazy!

i taught the 1-2 class (first years) one morning, and began with a warm-up game of telephone. for the row with all the wild, out-of-control boys, i whispered, "please introduce me to her." when the last kid came to the board to write the sentence, he giggled, and egged on by his mates, wrote: "Baby, please stay." i laughed hysterically, yelled "NO," which made the boys bust up laughing, and corrected it amidst whoops and hollers. gotta love the cheekiness!

on friday, classes were replaced with practice for "sports day," which will be this upcoming sunday. unlike any "sports day" or "spirit day" i've experienced in school, this is actually a serious commitment to physical activity.

oh, but i almost forgot; before the practice began, i gave my speech in front of the whole school. it went well, though i was doki-doki (nervous). when i first walked onstage with the principal, i followed suit when he bowed towards the big japanese flag. i feel so awkward when i bow. i do it all the time, and actually kinda hate it! i like the thought behind it, and what it signifies, but it still makes me uneasy!

anywhooo, back to the story. sports practice began with all of the students sitting in perfect rows and columns on the gym floor. someone said something in japanese, like a call to prayer, and everyone put their heads down in perfect silence. it lasted a minute or two. i have no idea what this was, but i've never seen so many people be silent all at once. it was eerie!

the noise level rose drastically a few minutes later. practice began with marching...military style, in place. the kids call out ichi, ni! ichi, ni! (one, two!) as they go. no one messes up. then, icing on the cake, they all salute...in the "sieg, heil!" style. when they first did it, my mouth involuntarily dropped open. one of the english teachers, who has an american wife, came over to me and told me that it has nothing to do with nazism, and that his wife had been similarly surprised upon first seeing it. i'm taking a video of it this sunday, so don't be shocked!

right after school on friday, i zipped home lickety-split so that tracey and i could hustle to the train station. we took two trains down to miyakonojo, where we'd be spending the night with JETlings melissa and carmen. wonderfully, we were also joined by some other JET peeps, and hit the hard streets of miyakonojo for a girls' night out! we ended up going to a delightful little burger place for dinner, and our tatted up (rare!) waiter kindly took this picture of us.

the place was vaguely 50s style, but had concrete-looking walls. i surmised that maybe it was modeled after a bomb shelter!

after some good post-dinner chillaxing with the gang, we hit the hay so that we'd be ready for the next day's festivities! saturday, we met up with even more JETs at jusco (kind of a department store, but also with food!). we bought supplies for our imminent beach camping, which of course included lots of food and beer.

i snacked on this salad in the car. those little white things are fish...with eyeballs! they're the salad's seasoning

finally stocked up with the essentials, we embarked on our journey to nichinan, a beach on the southernmost part of kyushu. the drive there was unbelievably gorgeous, marked by deep, forest-filled gorges, overhanging foliage, and an azure coast. i heartily wished i could've taken pictures from the car, but we were going too fast!

we arrived at the beach in the afternoon, and set up camp. the beach was very pretty, but unfortunately had a lot of trash. the water was still crystalline, though!

atsui desu ne?! (isn't it hot?) it was. it was freaking miserably hot!

but tracey and i managed to set up our wee tent just fine :)

jetlings frolicking post-rainfall. we all swam in the warm, salty ocean until it began to rain, then toweled off and continued the revelry!

post-swim, and too zoomed in.

after our frolicking was finished, we hopped back into our cars to high-tail it to the cape toi fire festival. there were about thirty JETs there, so it was extra fun! getting to see all the peeps, plus watching japanese guys fling balls of fire into the air, plus seeing a giant pole catch on fire, plus spectacular fireworks, all made the evening extra special! click here for my super bootleg mishmash video of the festivities! and enjoy the screaming!

that night, we returned to the beach to crack open our brewskies and enjoy one another's company. it was the perfect end to a perfect day! some of us even jumped into the ocean again..a decision later regretted, when our tents were full of sand and we were itching everywhere.

in fact, i am still itchy from the weekend. i don't know if it was mosquitos, or sand fleas, or what, but i got ripped apart by insects. i got dozens of bites. here are a few pictures of the heinousness:

gross! now that i've applied applied salve to them, they're scabby, gristly nubbins. i went on an emergency run to the drugstore with yuka, because i woke up on monday morning in a scratching frenzy. the bites were absolutely maddening! i seriously considered trying to slice off the tops with a razor, then rubbing salt in them. yikes!

i had always thought that it would be impossible for me to live in a tropical climate, but honestly, besides the bites and heat i really like it. biking to school this morning, i had to swerve three different times to avoid running over crabs the size of my hand. and during choir practice, the windows were open, and five different gigantic butterflies invaded the classroom. there's just always somethin'.

anyways, i think that that's quite enough for tonight. i've been totally wiped out, so i'm sorry again for the lazy postings. i'll try to be better! coming soon: seiun's cultural festival, sports day, ANOTHER welcome enkai (dinner/drinking party) for me on sunday night with all the teachers, and surefire hilarity. much love from me to you!

beri beri cute-u (according to students),
lilly