My first skirt

Look what I did!!! I sewed a skirt!! I am incredibly happy. I have been threatening to do this since I bought a book on sewing way back in May of last year (almost one whole year of prep :) ). This was all inspired by Donna! I was so impressed with her creative and capable genius at making her own clothes and making fun costumes, that I wanted to do it too. Thank you for inspiring me Donna!! And also thank you for your advice and help with that damn bobbin! (I just turned some nobs and it began to work again, who knows what I did.) I can't wait to make more! Who knows what awaits me on the horizon!! (short pants actually, I want to make those or capris!). Also, I want to thank my job. Thank you JET program for giving me nothing to do all spring break which allows me to sew while still be paid for it. Lovely!

The picture was taken at work, right after I made it, so forgive me for not actually looking smart in the skirt yet. I am sure I will find a top that goes just right with it. And the reason I sew it at school is because they let me use their machines. I am too cheap to buy one of my own but I might get one at the next place I live. It is so much fun!

Selling My Stuff

Hey Everyone! As you know they cancelled the ALT position at Daito High so I have to get rid of everything in my house. The BOE said they would take care of anything I couldn't manage to get rid of but I would rather give/sell it to other JETs rather than have it get lost in the bureaucracy! So except for a few items everything is for sale. Here are some pictures of things that I really want to sell. If you want something, let me know and I can give it to you in July (unless I no longer need it), and I promise not to give it to anyone else unless you change your mind.

Things I am selling:

TV: 10,000 yen. It has a built in VCR, comes with a remote, and has bi-lingual capabilities (but to be honest, I have never learned how to use that function). It is in good condition and fairly new.

Desk and Chair: 3000 yen. They are both in good condition.

Stereo: 8000 yen. This has a CD player, MD player, and tape player. It is only about 4 years old and in good condition. There are two speakers that come with it naturally as well as a remote. (If you have a tape player-thingy that you use in your car to play your CD player, you can use it in the stereo and play music from your computer, I often do this. Savvy eh!)




TV Stand with two matching stands (3 pieces): 3000 yen. These are quality and will help you get laid, trust me!

One of the smaller stands mentioned above, as well as the speakers that go with the stereo.

Mirror: 500 yen. Who doesn't need a mirror?

Bookshelf: 1000 yen. This is a tall bookshelf with adjustable shelves, to fit your needs!

Stand: 1000 yen. This is a piece of quality furniture. It is tall and has two front drawers. Storage containers (3): 1000 yen for all. There is one pictured below and two more. They are in good quality and I use them in replace of a dresser but the possibilities are endless!

Stand-thingy: 1000 yen. As you can see from the pictures it is about yeh high and holds stuff. Don't you want to buy it?

Adjustable folding chair: 500 yen. I will make a washable cover for it (you can even pick the fabric that I make it out of!)

Trash can: 500 yen. It has two compartments with a divider. Wouldn't this be a convenient way to divide your gomi?

Electric Heater: 1000 yen. This is convenient for chilly evenings and would be great in a small apartment.

Fan: 2000 yen. It oscillates and has a remote. I am not letting go of this till right before I leave but if you want it, you will get it before the hottest month of the year, August!!

Iron and Ironing Board: 1000 yen. Everyone needs to get out those pesky wrinkles. I think you should buy this, you know, speaking as a friend.


Tall Lamp: 1000 yen. Doesn't this remind you of University. Well you can recall those wonderful memories every day if you buy it!


6 plug power cord: 500 yen. Because everyone needs more power!

Electric hand mixer: 500 yen. No lady can call herself a whole person if she doesn't have the latest technology in making cakes! Did I mention that it will get you laid if you buy it?

Nabe Set: 1000 yen. This comes with the burner, pot, matching bowls, and even some gas I didn't use! You need one of these for those lonely, cold nights in Shimane next year.

Electric Blanket: 500 yen. It is in good condition and I can have it cleaned before you buy it. It will keep you toasty warm if you buy it!

Red adjustable futon/couch-thingy: 10,000 yen. It is two years old and in good condition. It comes with a washable cover. I put my regular futon on top of it and use it to sleep on as well as fold it up and use as a couch when guests come over. It is also great for watching TV in bed. You should definitely buy this!!

Free Stuff:

Plants - Come on, you need some life in your apartment!

Kitchen stuff (plates, cups, silverware, cooking utensils, pots/pans, storage tins, all of it!)

Lamp - It is a table top lamp with some Japanesey paper on it.

Cushions - I have a ton of large and normal sized cushions that I just want to give away.

Black stand - I use this in my entry way for storing shoes, you could use it for that too!

Futon rack - This is used to air-out your futon. It is just a simple, adjustable rack.

Clothes drying rack - It is one of those tree-like racks where the arms fold down.

Toaster oven - It works well but it doesn't look that good so whoever wants it can have it.

Bicycle - After I get the tires fixed, it will run like new!

Dish drying rack - I actually have two and you can take your pick!

Small blue adjustable chair - It is just a floor chair but it is small, use it for guests you don't like.

Pink and white rug - I have a rug that sits in front of my sink, it is a bit dirty but if I scrub it you can use it at your entry way or somewhere else where you don't mind it getting dirty.

Phillips Raditor Heater - This was probably expensive but I don't know cause I didn't buy it. It can heat your home better than pesky kerosene but it is electric, so you are paying for it either way. If you are interested you can come check it out first.

Dolls Festival

This blog entry is a little late in coming but I wanted to share some pictures of Girl's Day or Dolls Festival that I celebrated. Dolls Festival was on March 4th and the purpose of this day is to honor girls. When a woman gives birth to a daughter the mother is given a set of dolls that show the King, Queen, Princes, and Princesses of old Japan. They range in style and value but they all just show the royal family sitting around. Then on the day, you set them up and look at them, no playing with these dolls. Then you eat food and watch kids run amuck everywhere, at least that is what I did.

It was an interesting day for me because I got to hang out with one of my Japanese friends and meet her friends and their children. Watching the dynamics of the children was interesting as well. There were cousins at the party, a boy who was 3 and a girl who was 2. The 3 year old boy was bullying everyone younger than him. He stole a ball from a girl and then kept shoving his already wobbly 2 year old cousin. I thought the parents would discipline him for being bad but no one did anything. All they said was, gambatte (roughly translated as Good Luck). Even at 2 years old the parents are teaching their kids to fight their own battles. But at the same time they allowed bullying, which is a huge problem in Japan, even among adults! The whole day was interesting. I am not often around small children and after that day I am thankful for that!!

Enjoy the pictures!

The dolls.

This is my supervisor's daughter (Fuko) and she is the cutest Japanese girl I have ever seen!This is my supervisor Naoko, my friend Miwa, and her niece.

Naoko, her daughter Fuko, and me with the dolls.
The bully!

Glasses Shopping

Recently, Sa-chan (Sara) has been hunting for a pair of cute Japanese glasses. She of course invited me along because she needed my expert opinion on glasses! I know I have never worn a pair of glasses in my life and this was probably the first time I have ever been in a spectacles shop but she was still hopeless without me!

But eventually I got distracted. While I should have been paying attention and trying to help her, I began browsing myself. Here are some pictures of me pretending to be smart. I think I would call myself smarty-pants if I wore these glasses. Not unlike a random girl I had class with at OU who would answer questions out of turn in a class of two hundred!! Grrrrr! I still hate Miss Smarty-pants! But I would definitely be a smarty-pants if I wore glasses. My favorite pair is, of course, the last!!

Vogel Park

Recently I went to Vogel Park in Matsue. For those of you who didn't realize it, Vogel is German for bird. I don't know why they chose the German word for bird over the English word but that is what they did. Confusing. I wish they would pick one language to rip off that way we wouldn't get mixed up. Todd, Heidi, ChauChau (a Chinese girl who recently moved to Shimane with her mother) and I went to the park over the long weekend. It was a good time. We learned that there are African Penguins. We thought it was cruel treatment to keep the penguins in this warm area with all the tropical plants but as it turns out that is the kind of climate that they like! Also, we were able to feed the birds. We paid 100 yen to hold this cup of fruit and other delicious things birds like and they would land on our arms and eat out of the cup. As a person who is a huge fan of animals, it was coooooool! There were also all these beautiful flowers there. It was nice to see so much color and life during the winter. So I took a ton of pictures. Enjoy!

Daito High Graduation

Today we enjoyed long and emotional ceremonies in celebration that the 3rd graders are finally free from mandatory education. Yep, that is right, it is graduation time in Japan. The school year goes from April to March (quite different from the US system). The celebration was also a little different from US high school graduations.

We started today by first having cleaning time. Why this is necessary I have no idea. All the teachers are dressed up and parents are arriving, but we must clean?!? Then we assembled in the gym for the ceremony where lots of people gave speeches and there was a ton of standing and bowing. We sang the national anthem, school song, all the students names were read, and then speeches were given. Then we went back to the 3rd grade classrooms where the homeroom teacher gave each student their diploma and all the students gave speeches about their time in high school (that means standing for 2 hours while 40 students speak!!). Then they all stood outside, gave each other presents and took pictures. It was great! My supervisor, who was also the homeroom teacher of 3-1 class wore a kimono for graduation. It was really pretty! She had to go to a kind of salon to get dressed in it this morning because you can't put it on by yourself. I think wearing a kimono was really cool.

I keep thinking about how important this moment is for them, but at the same time how these last four years are insignificant in the scope of their life. They were still children while attending Daito High and therefore had not the opportunity to stretch their wings and really make something of themselves. Now they will ascend into the world and finally become who they are going to be. All the trauma and triumphs of high school are over. For some that is a relief and things will look up from here on. For others they enter the twilight of their life sooner than they would have liked. I, for one, was glad to graduate high school and never look back. I enjoyed it but at the same time I knew there was so much more out there and I was more than ready to get to it. I wish the graduates luck.