Tag Archives: travel

Around Koga

Discovering Koga

Sushi is arriving

The last few days have been spent doing one very important thing: getting lost. Often. While I’m lost, I’m usually quite worried, however, I have to admit that getting lost has taught me more than maps have. This week and next, I am under strict instruction to hang around town and wait to hear about the day that I am summoned upon by my company. This translates to: explore Koga with your phone handy. I think I can handle that.

Last night, a fellow ALT, Carolyn, and I grabbed dinner at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant (かっぱ寿司). This was actually my first experience at one of those! It was pretty cool, and quite reasonable. Some of the sushi was a little radical (hamburger nigiri) but I liked most of it. Desserts were on the belt, too. So dangerous for a girl like me!
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Travel

Training, Yatta!

Becky the banana.

Training is DONE! I repeat, DONE! I can’t say much about what I learned since that is all super secret stuff, but I can say that it was very challenging and motivated me to re-evaluate myself as a teacher. I want to do well, and this week has helped me to feel like I might be able to do it. Of course, that was after a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Or something similar. Continue reading →

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Travel

Hunkering Down

Matcha and ice cream latte

In an effort to shorten my posts, I should probably post more. That said, training is this week and I can’t promise how often I’ll be up to the task. I figure I might want to get one last post in before my 8am-9pm training days begin. Yeah, you read that correctly. So crazy! Yesterday was pretty relaxing. I got to hang out with Yoko-san, her mother and her father (both very kind) and we enjoyed a lovely “French” lunch together. Her father was so bold as to tell me not to eat very much so I don’t get fat, and ask me if I have any boyfriends (plural). Yoko-san said “Please don’t mind my father! He is so weird!” It was entertaining though, and that’s what counts! Continue reading →

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Travel

New City: Yokohama, Japan

Shoppers!

While I only have one day left here in Yokohama, it still feels like home already. Yoko-san has been so wonderful by taking care of me. She treats me like family and we have fun together. Not to mention, she is hysterical! I also practice my Japanese with her, and it has improved immensely since arriving. A lot of what I learned in college is returning and I am learning some other useful things (like jishin meaning earthquake). Speaking of! My first earthquake! I was asleep during the 4.0 in San Francisco last week, so this was the first earthquake I was aware of. It was kind of terrifying for this Florida girl. Mostly because it woke me up in the middle of the night and I could hear the entire structure moving. Continue reading →

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Travel

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Wow, what a ride. The last week and a half has been such a whirlwind! Please accept my sincerest apologies, I have not forgotten about you. Between GDC and moving to Japan, I don’t know which way is up anymore. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long post! I promise to update more often from now on. My goal is a minimum of 2 posts per week. So, with that in mind, the only place to go is forward.

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Travel

Doctor Doctor

In preparing leave, a lot is happening. Most importantly, I have been going to see every doctor under the sun to make sure I am in good health. During the month of January, I saw five doctors! I’m not really a big fan of going to physicals, but I know they are necessary. Although I had so many appointments, I ended up buying an agenda book just to track them all. So, 1 flu shot, 1 pair of glasses and 2 cavity fillings later, I feel much older than my age and it looks like I am all set to go.

Going to see the eye doctor, Dr. Ross of Winter Park, was pretty humorous. Continue reading →

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Travel

It’s Time to Begin, With One Foot in Front of the Other

Often when I explain that, come March, I will be leaving the nest and flying to live thousands of miles away in a country I have only had the pleasure to visit once, many are often awed and even inspired. I find this surprising, for many reasons. I believe (wholeheartedly) in deciding what you want to do with your life, and doing it. Simple. You can have anything you want, so long as you work hard enough for it. It has been a dream of mine for years and years to live in Japan. I worked hard to make that dream a reality and I am about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. It occurred to me that someone might actually be interested in reading this tale. So, here it is, the story of that journey.

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