Eiheiji Temple Lantern Festival!

Rockin' Karaoke

Some of our new friends.
Japanese style Karaoke booth. Private room for your friends and drinks served all night!
Singing the night away!
They give you tamborines! Good filler for those parts where you don't know the words:)

For Amber, Lisa, Mirna, and Melissa....singing Ring of Fire!

Ota-I-Ko Drummers

We were actually not allowed to have camera's, but I was able to get this little clip for yall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmDPWMcRN9g

Tojimbo Cliffs

Also known as suicide cliffs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xgo_7K9MUw

Tsuruga Fireworks!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rn-0W8wmbk

Tsuruga Lantern Festival Pics!

Here are some pics of our journey thus far! Enjoy!

Fukui Castle Bridge
Phoenix Festival in Fukui
Corey wearing his Yukata in Takefu Parade
Janna & Danny in thier Yukatas...muy sexy! Yeah!
Janna & Friends at Tojimbo Cliffs

Janna - car = less casualties....right?

For those of you who have been in a car with me, you know its probably not the safest thing you can do. Its probably a much better choice to go parachuting or swimming with sharks than it is to be a passenger in my vehicle. So, when I came to Japan, I was sort of relieved to find that I was not placed somewhere that requires me to drive anything other than a bike. Especially since the cars here are European style - steering wheel on the right side, and driving on the opposite side of the road. A bike surely seemed like a safer bet for me.

I am sad to say that despite the safety measures I have taken, I have already been in my first car accident in Japan! I was riding home from the train station the other day on my bike after a long day of Junior High English Camp in Ono. I was tired and it was the usual 100 degrees with 800% humidity that I have come to get used to here. I was dripping sweat and looking forward to stepping into my nice air conditioned apartment. I stopped at a crosswalk that had a red light and waited impatiently in the blistering sun.

Once the green light turned on, I slowly started up again on my bike. Just as I began to cross the street, a crazy driver out of no where came barreling through the intersection , clipped the front wheel of my bicycle. and sent me hurtling through the air. I landed hard on the pavement and pulled my skirt back down from over my head, re-covering my be-thonged bottom. I dazedly sat up and looked around at all the Japanese faces staring in horror. Still shell shocked, I was amazed to find that I was still alive, no bones were broken, and I was able to still move all of my limbs! As I got off the ground and began gathering all my teaching materials that were scattered all over the intersection, the crazy driver rushed to my side. "You ok? I so sorry, I so sorry!" he gushed as he bowed frantically over and over in my direction. Still not having my wits completely back, instead of ripping him a new one, I smiled and held two thumbs up, and sent him on his way.

I'm hoping the crowd got a good look at my American bum, as I am hoping it is the last opportunity they will have to see mine! Perhaps I should reconsider the whole car thing after all....

A Korean, 2 Japanese Guys & Nagoya

Some of you have heard the tale of my lost/jacked passport, but for those who haven't here goes. I arrived into Narita Airport after a grueling 12 hr. flight, stomach full of airplane food and a couple of drinks (so I'm feelin' pretty good about everything). Now take in mind that I don't really have any way of contacting Janna except through a liaison for the Jet program named Mellisa. Anyway, I was told beforehand to ship my luggage to my apartment and buy train tickets to Fukui when I landed. So I head towards the JR train ticket counter first to make sure I have enough time to catch each train and after an hour of broken Japanese and reciprocated broken English, I finally received my tickets. Yay! This is fun! Next I head to the QL which is at the other end of the airport to send my 2 million ton luggage bags. I was so happy to relinquish that weight, but that feeling suddenly turned into fear and pain after realizing that I had no idea where my passport was. Obviously I looked everywhere, tracked back and forth from the JR to the QL about as many times as I could before my first train left. This Feakin sucks:( I'm a sweat ball, dirt ball, haven't had a shower, starving now, & I feel like I'm at the tower of Babel. So eventually I fill out a missing article report ten minutes before my train leaves with the help of a information booth lady. You should have seen us,(info lady & I) filling out a police report while running down the corridor to catch the train before it left. Chink! the door closes behind me with an ambiguous feeling of relief and anxiety now settling in. Just rest, slow down, take a big breath again and again and again I tell myself. Finally I get a hold of Mellisa (the liaison) by borrowing a cellphone. I tell her the story and she gave me some/little comfort. Well at least I was able to convey my itinerary to someone that knows Janna. Maybe that will help. To sum it up in style, I first transferred to Tokyo by JR train, then I arrived in Nagoya by the Shinkensen (bullet train...weeeeeee!) at around 11 p.m. I hung out with two Japanese guys that were really fun and informative till about 8 a.m. when my next JR train left for Fukui. I finally got into Fukui at around 10 a.m. (still with no sleep since I left LAX) to find no one waiting for me. I know I know I sound like a wuss, but I really wanted to see a friendly face. I have a smoke use the restroom and as I walk out I see Janna walking by, so I literally had to bump into her because she thought I was just another Asian man walking around. To answer your question I did get my passport back 2 days later and it only cost me 6 dollars for shipping. Feeeyewwww!!!!

And So Begins Our Adventure!

I arrived in Tokyo on July 29th, a week before Corey, to complete orientation for the Jet program. The week was a jet lagged blur of information overload. Each day was packed with formal speeches from Japanese officials followed by seminars on different topics. Needless to say, we didn't get to see much of Tokyo, but somehow, we all managed to perk up after dinner for those all night karaoke sessions!

The last night in Tokyo, the Fukui Jets went out together to a restaurant called The Lockup, a theme restaurant where they handcuff you and take you down to your "cell" for dinner. Throughout the night they play scary music and random skeletons pop in to scare you. They are dressed up in Halloween masks, but strangely, instead of a scary stance or a loud noise, they threw peace signs at us after they jumped through our door each time. The dinner began with strobe lights and rave music blaring in the background - my eyes could hardly focus for the first 30 minutes. After the initial "scare" was completed, the music calmed down to a techno beat and the strobe lights went off. I spent the rest of the dinner trying to see through spots that were still burned into my retinas. All in all, a one off, as the Brits and New Zealanders would say!

After Tokyo, Fukui Jets took an 8 hour bus ride to our new home town through beautiful mountains, peaceful villages, and expansive rice fields. We moved into our new apartments and met our Japanese supervisors and schools. I'm finally getting used to taking my shoes off when I enter the school and putting on slippers and eating with chopsticks. After the crazy, busy week, I couldn't wait to see my husband arrive safe and sound in Japan!