My Trip in Japan

Back Home

2008-02-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

I feel sad. It's been a great two months. Great is not as strong as I really feel that can reflect my feelings about Japan. I'm planning already to return soon and return to GenkiJacs. I am going to study on my own, of course, but I feel that you need that kind of interaction and immersing myself in Fukuoka is the way to do it. And of course GenkiJacs is the best way to do it. Why? Let me tell you.

1. The people. Yes, Japan is full of great people. Fukuoka has people that are always helpful and kind. But GenkiJacs have a staff that goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable and at ease. They spoiled me with chances to find things in Fukuoka and in Japan for things to see and do. It was my own fault that I didn't do all of them. The teachers were the best. They always found a way for me to remember certain things to help me speak and understand the language. It wasn't just a way to repeat things because we know that set phrases and set responses do not work. That's why outlessons were so fun. Outlessons were the times we shopped for groceries for our Takoyaki party. Or when we asked travel agents about recommendations for places to go in Japan and why. Or when we went to the shrine and were shown what to do and why. Or the 'extra' outlessons when we went to the yatai to order food or went to the photobooth to take pictures with our friends. I mean it was a constant learning experience. The fun seemed to be more of a primary factor than the learning, but next thing you know what we did helped me later when I was at the market alone without my teachers.

2.Location. GenkiJacs was right there in the center of Tenjin. Three points of subway stations were less than 10 minutes away on foot and one,Hakata station, was also a JR point that can take you to the rest of Japan. Buses are everywhere and they take you everywhere. Plus temples and shrines were always a walk away. Ohori Park was two stations away for a nice walk or good run. Tenjin Station was the hub of buses and the Nishitetsu(sp?) Line, plus it had over 6 floors of shops and restarants. It was hard not to shop or eat there. ha. Also, nearby was an arcade with a place that you can bowl, play darts, badminton, or just games. GenkiJacs is right in the middle of it all.

3. Lessons/Schedule. All the lessons were 50 minutes long with a 10 minute break in between and a lunch after two hours, usually. At least that was my schedule. I didn't have to wake up early everyday. There were days my classes started at 11am. Nice!! I could sleep in, catch up on homework, extra study time, run errands, or whatever. Or sometimes I had a 2 hour lunch so I could go somewhere with friends and not just pick up my favorite bento. Our schedules were always different. Just like our lessons. All of my lessons were always fun and something new. My day could be like 1st a Conversation Class. We would talk about our weekend or what we did yesterday. Mind you, this is all in Japanese. The only time you spoke in English was to ask how to say what you wanted to say in Japanese. And you even asked in Japanese. So I ended up building my vocabulary. We would use our Grammar structures we just learned to feel more natural in our speaking ability. Funny for me, I always reverted to being polite in the -masu form. Ha. But I was speaking. ha. The great thing was the topics were always open. Sure, it would start to be us talking about work, but then we would start talking about people at our work, or crazy things on the differences among all our countries. So it made it real easy to learn. Then I would go, or stay in the same room, and have my Grammar class. This was the nuts and bolts of Japanese, or any other language. And I have to say, Japanese has it easy. People think it's hard but it's not. Like to create a question you just add -ka. That's it. For English, we change word order, add a question word, and sometimes conjugate the verb to create a question. Grammar class was also fun. It's actually a conversation class with a topic, haha. Once we go over the what's and how's, we start talking by role-playing. And we didn't just follow the book on the grammatical point. Our great teachers would throw in something that would help us remember or even add on to show us more. This is also when we worked on Listening. We would watch a short dvd clip or a cd and listen. The we would interpret or fill in the blank. This could be then end of the day, but I wanted to add an extra conversation class, so I would get more out of my stay. Some of these extra classes, we learned more cultural points and played games. I learned how to play Shoji, Japanese Chess, and a card game where you have to find a card with a certain syllable and the card has the picture that the reader is describing. In the end, I took a pop culture class and we went over a few pages from a manga. We interpretted and discussed the grammar points and looked over a few cultural points because of the way the language was structured. Fun stuff.

4. Staff/Teachers. What can I say? They were more friends than staff. But I still spoke to them with the polite form, haha. They always were there to help and talk. for me, I had to break study and return home for a funeral, the staff sent me an email while I was in America to tell me when I had class on the day I returned. Also, my teacher gave me a few pages of homework to make sure I didn't fall behind. Nice huh? What I thought was cool was how you may have mentioned something in class and then a few days later, they would comment on it. Most people would forget. Also, the staff would help us when things came up. One student had an issue with the bank, the teachers were willing to go with her to speak or interpret for her. I also had the chance for my own interpreter when I had the TNC television studio come to my apartment for a taped interview. The staff always looked for opportunites to make us feel comfortable. Level checks were given to see where you would start. I may have known the kana and some words, but they let me start in the Basic Foundation class because I wasn't comfortable. I can't pick anyone to be my favorite because I liked them all. Each teacher had their own style but they also shared the idea of who we were as non-native speakers and tailored their teaching for us. Another great point is how the teachers were so energetic, it was infectious. During outlessons, I wasn't as shy as I usually am. I had fun. I'm gonna continue to study Japanese because of them. They added to my interest in the Japanese language and culture. And when I return, I want to be a little more advanced than I am now, not to impress them, but to better communicate with them and everyone else.

5. Size. The school was small, but that was only because there were a lot of students. This should show you something. Unfortunately, I missed the expansion. But I will be back to see it. Yay! The only thing I'm worried about is that the classes were perfect for us to have classes with a max of 6. I'm hoping it doesn't get bigger. I like smaller classes. The interaction was perfect. This was important because, in my opinion, our levels and comprehension of the language was still a little different among the students in the same class. I know there were times I felt I held the class back, but it helped when the other students were still helpful. The thought of a class of ten is bad. One or two who fall behind can really hold up the others, plus it can get out of hand with our conversations. haha. I like the class sizes as they are with 2 to 6 students. It also made it better for outlessons. I love those outlessons.

GenkiJacs is a real good school. They are making it bigger as they should because more of us are coming back and the students keep expanding. I made a lot of great friends from around the world. Where else can you say that. I met a few people from other countries in my Army days and in college, but it's different. Maybe it was how the school made the classes small enough for us to get to know each other in such a short amount of time, but I feel I made better friends here. I like how GenkiJacs made everything fun. I learned a lot because of that. Just take a look at my vocabulary list. haha. I'll keep that to myself. You build your own. I'll be back soon and blog again.

Day something jan 24

2008-01-24T02:23:00.000-08:00

it's sad, i'm getting close to the end. I made a lot of good friends from around the world which makes it real cool. Erin from Aussie land is going home tomorrow. we came here at the same time, but she was in a more advanced grammar class. At least I caught up to her in conversation. We all went bowling for the fun of it. I say for the fun of it because most of us weren't very good. haha. After the first round we played with our left hands. Then the next round we mixed it with our left first and then our right, then we played our left on the first throw, then if we had a spare, we could throw with our right. Just weird rules but it made it fun. One of our instructors went with us. He's pretty cool. I'm actually older than him. Two of us won prizes by getting strikes when they surprise announced that there was a contest for strikes. We got a group picture through the bowling alley. That was cool.

earlier this week, we went to a yatai stall for ramen and oden. My classmate from France never been so we all went. it was fun, but really cold. haha. luckily the stall was very warm. the ramen was real good.

Also we have been doing a lot of out-lessons. this is where we learn a few things then go to a store, restaurant or place of amusement and fill out a worksheet in Japanese by asking japanese workers questions. it helps in our way of conversing in a real life situation. the people we ask are always cool. They don't speak english and speak as they normally do. they don't dumb it down so it's tough sometimes. One time our teacher had to tell a store clerk to talk to us in japanese only because the clerk was trying his english with us. haha.

I havent been travelling much since i have little time. I'm studying more cause it's getting tougher. But these lessons are more natural and are the building blocks of lessons to come, so if you don't get it now, you won't get the rest.

I'm including a picture of Mandarake. one of the big anime, toy, and manga store in Kyushu. it's cool. let me give you a brief layout. The first floor was the manga that just came out and the ones from the previous week/month. The second floor had the stuff for guys, like porn. Really. haha. They had the fantasy stuff, the fighting stuff, the robot-mecha stuff, and of course, the porn. The third floor is the 'gay floor' as i call it. hahahaha. It was geared for women, but the majority of stuff was yaoi stuff. I was going to try to find stuff for my sister, but there was just too much 'yaoi' i had to leave. haha. The fourth floor was all toys and movies. This was cool. Being a collector myself, they had a lot of the collectibles I wanted. And just like on ebay, they had the stuff that cost big bucks. I saw a 'sexy' Rei figurine from Evangelion for 500 dollars. They didnt let me take a picture. damn them. I wanted to buy stuff but I know I was going to spend too much money. so i left. haha. I may go back.

Tomorrow is our takoyaki party. My french classmate is going to make crepes. it's going to be fun. see you.

A quick post

2008-01-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Saturday the 12th, One great thing and one very bad thing. Unfortunately, I found out my aunt passed away. It's very sad because I grew up with her with her being my mom's sister. We went to the PI and she took care of us over there and then she came to america and she took care of us when we went to Florida too. I will be going home for a day this week to go to the viewing. I don't want to write about this in my blog since this is a private matter and I just wanted to briefly comment since I will not be posting for a while.

travel is limited with the amount of time and immigration issues. I found out in Japan that they limit the amount of people who visit other countries is very limited. It affects me because of the amount of people who travel on the weekends.

On Saturday, a TV station, TNC, visited my apartment to film me. They already visited other students, but I live the farthest from school so they scheduled me for Saturday. I found out they wanted to see what we do in each country to treat the common cold. I made chicken noodle soup. It was okay, but I felt dumb because all the japanese I learned went out the window. I could understand them most of the time but I could barely speak. The show will be on the 31st of this month, maybe I'll get a copy.

ahh!! I'm losing track of my days

2008-01-10T01:13:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of an amusement park next to the daizafu shrine.

ok ok. it's been a while and I forgot to write in here. It's been a while cause i moved up again in class. Supposedly my Japanese got better, but when it comes to speak, I freeze up sometimes. haha The school is great. They really help me a lot. I'm actually in two different conversation classes. One is still in the beginner 1 stage where I need to be polite. well, really in my polite form. And the other we get to be more casual and its more of an everyday form. Kind of what you hear on TV and anime. Though not as advanced as anime. From what I was told, anime has a lot of advanced stuff and high vocab. The news is probably the only thing that is really advanced.

I may get to be on TV literally tomorrow or on Saturday. There's a TV station TNC that will come by the school. They want to interview us and see who has "cool" ideas or recipes on getting rid of the common cold. I guess because its cold season and they want to hear from us foreigners. I want to give them my whiskey hot toddy. We'll see if they pick me, then I'll be on TV!!! yay! For note, I think TNC is the same TV station that did one of my favorite shows, Ainori.

Also, my new classmate is a French girl and she's really cool. Down to earth person. She's very intelligent and speaks three languages already. Another note, I noticed she's the fourth or fifth European who can speak more than two languages. One girl at the school is self talk in Japanese and she's in the intermediate Class. Smart, huh? That motivates me to continue hard when I return home. Well, this french girl is like a hit with the school. She's funny, cute, and she has a good personality. We're planning to have a takoyaki and okonomiyaki party soon, and she offered to make french crepes. mmmmmm. I can't wait. She's funny in a way where she says she doesn't know Japanese well, yet she puts together sentences with no problem. That's a lot if you've studied Japanese with the grammar a lot different from Romantic Languages.

Well, it's cool that coming up we have a 3day weekend. lots of trips planned, yet I have to pick only one since I have to watch my money. When I get paid, I want to go to the Asahi Beer Factory. Free Beer!! Really!!! And I'm planning to go to a musical, or opera, or something with two friends from school on the holiday, Monday. Plus there's a place outside of Fukuoka to get live squid and eat it like sashimi. mmmmm. Lots to do. And then my new friend, she wants to go to Yahoo Dome for the Soft Bank Hawks and Fukuoka Tower. I think she wants to go with me to the Asahi beer Factory. We'll see. At least the factory tour is free.

Oh well, time to study. I have a test tomorrow. Gambatte!!!　がんばって！！！

I for got to add another one to my list. To save the eco, they turn off buses at stop lights to avoid more fumes. literally shut off the bus. Funny.

More things from Japan(kind of a list)

2008-01-04T22:28:00.001-08:00

1. Portable ashtrays. Really. People have it on keychains, or its the other half of the cigarette case. Then they dump it in the burnable trash. I got one for my brother in law. I should promote these in America.
2. Smoking booths, tents, chambers. Cool. I see most of these at the bigger subway or train stations. I saw a tent in Marinoa shopping outlet too.
3. Vans that do the advertising for you. In the cases I've seen, they were for people running for office.
4. Celebrities doing shows. Like you'll see the same comedian on a game show, variety show, talk show, and then a drama all in one week. Oh and they're also in commercials. You won't see George Clooney doing that.
5. Celebrities having fun. Most American celebrities show themselves when they want to look good, like fundraisers or something. Those are cool, but then they look like they never have fun.
5a. Celebrities on smart game shows. This is where they compete in things like knowledge in school subjects to what is the kanji or whatever. They're not afraid of not getting the answer. American celebrities are too afraid of looking dumb. Except for Britney.
6. Man-bags. And I mean very nice brands like Dolce and Gabbana, Coach, Gucci....
7. Nice shopping bags used as giant purses.
8. No paper towels or even hand-dryers in bathrooms.
9. And all the water is cold. No hot water.
10. No trash cans on the street. Also No trash on the street.
11. After you purchase something, Shopkeepers take your bag, escort you out, then bow real deep as you leave.
12. To try on clothes, you have to try it on over your own. Mostly shirts and jackets, I haven't tried on pants. haha
13. It's not strange to order a beer 11:00am with your lunch. Cool.
14. Pachinko bars are everywhere. They even have one named after Winter Sonata, the korean drama.
15. Most stores have more than two floors. Tower Records has 7, An electronic store has 12, One clothing store I went to has 5, and this one Dept store has 8. But they are all narrow.
16. Almost everyone has an mp3 player in their pocket. I think thats why I fit in a little.
17. I barely hear anyone honk at each other.
18. more than one bus stops at the same stop. so it gets confusing even to the residents where each bus goes.
19. If someone japanese speaks to you in English, speak back in English. They love it and then when you compliment them, most blush. I talked to a nice lady and she was happy when I told her her English was good.
20. I got 10 things of tissue in one walk to my school. I also got a giant cheese puff.
21. japanese girls are easy to approach and nice. Not as intimidating as the women in America. Some asked my friend to sing karaoke for them. funny.
22. Police officers are very nice here. they even give you rides if you're lost. i saw a kid get a ride from a cop to the subway station.
23. Umbrellas are left in front of stores, post offices, and some subway stops for people to borrow. And yes people return them.
24. You better slurp your ramen. They think something is wrong if you don't. I'm still learning.
25. I returned a phone i found in the bathroom. all the clerks thanked me. All of them. wow.
26. 24 hour udon shops, also internet cafes. people use these when they miss the last train or are waiting for the first train. Though the food is really good too. I'm looking for a 24 hour ramen place.
27. Cell phone accessories are huge. At the Loft, half of one floor had different things for the phones. cases, stickers, straps.
28. I've only seen the young couples hold hands

That's it again for now. I do have to mention this sushi place, Hyootan. It has the revolving sushi with four sushi chefs behind the bar. It was so good. And cheap. What I usually get in the states for 50 to 60 dollars, I got for 2500yen. NICE!! plus it's all you can drink green tea. The fish was fresh and they had it all, Sea Urchin, maguro, eel, salmon, roe, on and on. It's on bottom floor in the Solaria Plaza. I highly recommend it.

Day something, Jan 4

2008-01-04T06:07:00.000-08:00

Back to school and we took the full day to go to two shrines, The Tochoji Temple and something-something shrine. The Tochoji was the same from before with the giant buddha. Since it was the new year, most people bought charms or even lit incense and prayed. That one guy from Mexico bought two charms of each kind. Talk about really wanting a great year. Ha. They had this one chart we looked at to see if we were going to have a good year. Mine was half black and white, supposedly meaning that my first half of the year will be good and the last half would be bad or okay. Thanks alot Year of the Rat/Mouse!

We also had to write out our wishes for the year on the wooden cards you tie up. That was cool. I forgot to do that when I went to Dazaifu. So we headed back to school and us students had lunch together. Though we come to see about half the students leave. Damn. One was the Mexican guy who shopped all throughout school, another was my friend from New Zealand, he's going to teach as an ALT in Kuramoto(sp?) another was June from Australia and the another was Janine from Australia. Now Janine was very advanced. She was a graduate from a Japanese university. the last was my friend from the UK, James. Too bad we didn't get to hang out much. We only talked in passing, but that's kind of my fault since they usually went out and I never tagged along.

But I do have fun with my roommates or just wandering around Fukuoka by myself. haha. Some people will call me depressed at home for being a loner. Maybe I'll tell them I cut myself too to feel alive. Just kidding, bad joke. tomorrow I'm going to try a sushi place Hisako-san mentioned. I went there but the line to get in was superlong. It's one of those revolving belt sushi places but very good and very cheap. I may bring home a small platter for my roommates.

I think next week school, I'll be in for a full six hours a day, plus I think I'm alone in my classes. we'll see. sorry no pics today.

New Year's Day!

2008-01-01T17:39:00.001-08:00

hello. It's 2008 and I'm still in Japan. Damn. Only one more month. Anyway. I woke up late and decided to go to Dazaifu Shrine. Look it up. It was snowing but it was worth it. I had to buy a 400yen ticket to go from Hashimoto to Dazaifu. The subway was fine, not that crowded considering everyone usually heads to the shrine for the new year. But when I transferred to the train, it was packed. I was nice enough to give my seat away. There were a few cute babies dressed up in kimonos. But I felt creepy if I took their pictures. Anyway, it was a short 20 minutes to the shrine. Very fast these trains.

When you get there you can see the snow has been falling since the morning. It was real beautiful. There was an 80km walk to the shrine from the station and it was laid out in shops and restaurants. These were packed too. the shops were selling the mochi you have for the new year and the shops had souvenirs. I also noticed the smaller food stands, but I was getting pushed along with the new crowd towards the shrine.

We crossed the bridge over the lake and it was real pretty. The time I forgot my hat, it was snowing and under the trees the melting snow rained on us. One person was nice enough to put their umbrella over me for a bit. I love this country. When you get to the front of the shrine, it became a frenzy. Not a real crazy, mad frenzy, but the kind where you see so many lines and booths, you don't know which way to go first frenzy. I decided to head for the main shrine where you pray and toss money for offerings. I also bought a wish you can tie to the tree, or bull as some people did.

I went to the Kyushu National Museum. Very nice, but I was strapped for cash and didn't buy a ticket for the exhibit. I walked around and looked at the things we can look at. Also, we couldn't take any pictures inside. Too bad, they had a lot of old buddhas and sculptures from a castle. Sorry I can't read the kanji yet.

I came back down the hill and ate the food from the stands that were right outside of the shrine. mmmmmm. they had everything. Takoyaki, okonomiyake, yakitori, hotdogs on a stick, corndogs, okonomiyake on a stick, bbq corn, candy... it almost felt like a fair. Of course I brought money for food. I also bought mochi for my roommates. They were fresh too. mmmmm. I do have to laugh at one thing. THey had numerous stands on selling stuffed penguins. I thought it was the year of the mouse. oh well.

New Year's Day!

2008-01-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Its snowing!! Yay!

2007-12-29T19:43:00.000-08:00

I know I know. For some, it's no problem or nothing new, but I'm from Southern California where it barely rains and if it does it makes the news next to the Iraq War. My roommates had to work, except for Hisako-san. She went out and went shopping. Many have to work today and tomorrow because they have to take part in the ritual cleaning of the offices and such. That's tough. Not the cleaning part, but the work. I mean, my roommates work 6 days a week and 10 hours a day. hisako-san said she's use to it. They would feel great in the US. I told her and she said that would be good. I'm glad we all get the 3 day holiday coming up. It's for family and getting ready for the rest of the year.

I'm making this short and including my snow pics. You can see all white where I can usually see the mountains. and one pic of this electronic shopping center in Hakata. If I read it correctly, it has 12 floors of electronic goods. I couldn't take the picture, but they have a TV thats as thin as my video ipod. That's not even an inch. Wow. I was looking at the electronic dictionaries. They have this one where if you write, with a stylus, the kanji you want, it will pull it up and give you the kana and the english translation with examples. Cool. but it was 60000 yen. Thats right. Almost 600 bucks. I'll stick to paper and asking someone. haha.

Day 14

2007-12-27T23:41:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been 3 weeks in Japan. cool. Its kind of weird and I do have those homesick moments, but it's more when I don't know certain things or want to drive somewhere to get something. Otherwise, I'm having fun. I missed a party yesterday. Mark, from Texas, went back home. For some reason, I thought he was staying longer. They went to the Yatai's so I missed out. dammit again. That's why sometimes I wish I had my phone working and I had my truck.

In a way driving here is something to get use to. I've been a passenger in the car and I know I would be goin nuts if I drove. I thought I would be able to switch sides of the road in my head so easily, but as I observed, I want to say, "You're in the wrong lane." or "The lights red". But the funny thing is, drivers here will keep going until the last second. If it's red then they'll keep going instead of slamming on their brakes. They don't slow down when it's yellow either. I almost saw an old lady get hit, but she literally ran fast enough to get to the other side. The driver didn't even flinch. haha.

It might snow Sunday. That's the rumored weather report. I want it to snow since I barely see it in California. We were making postcards in class today and then ending up mailing them. Of course, we had to practice our speaking ability by talking to the post office clerk. I did pretty well. So now my sister and mom will be getting postcards. We even wrote in Kana. So that'll be cool.

Wait, i forgot to complain again. haha. in my new beginner class, we have a new student from Mexico. And I have to say, this complaint is not against the school. they're actually the coolest teachers around. Anyway, this guy seems to come into class anytime he wants, so even after the teacher has started the class for everyone that already made it on time, he expects the teacher to still give him the attention he needs by going over what we already did when he was late. Did that make sense? ok, let me tell you what he did the 1st day. He went shopping. We didn't know this of course, but when he came wandering in 15 mins late. the teacher was in he process of having us go over past tense and making us say what we did yesterday or earlier. He of course says he was shopping. Then the teacher says, "Really?" Then he pulls out these things he bought. haha. Me and the other guys looked at each other and laughed. Then today, he wandered in a class and a half late, in minutes, that was an hour and a half late. WTF? So the instructor, being nice because they are, started reviewing with him what we already did, so me and my friend had to sit there and watch him write his postcard. We then had to wait for him to practice what to say to the post office clerk too. Then while he was asking dumb questions, he tells us he was in Kyoto earlier. WTF? that's like 3 hrs away on the Shinkansen. Alright enough complaining.

So Mark left yesterday, now Rommel, from the Philipines, left. Chris from France will be leaving this weekend, and the guy James left from Australia, but he was Intermediate anyway. I think he was passing thru. wow. And my Austrailian friend moved up to Beginner 2. He was smart anyway. He's getting ready for the lvl 4 JLPT. Oh well, I'm done. See you.

Day 12 and 13

2007-12-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

Im losing count of days so the title could be wrong. The last two days have been fun and difficult at the same time. WE started the Beginner 1 class and it's difficult for me to stay in Japanese without asking, "How do you say this in Japanese?" Other times my verb is conjugated wrong or something like that. I'm better written, but this is a conversation class. ha.

I've been talking to the new guys and they have a better knowledge of Japanese. One's from Australia and the other is from New Zealand. Cool guys, they've actually have been around Japan for the past few months. Lucky.

They actually help me out a lot since my vocab is limited. I do like all the teachers in Genki JACS. They all are very helpful and they don't look at you badly if you don't know the word or if you are grammatically incorrect. I feel sorry for them, when they are trying to pull out the word from me. When I get it, they very happy. It's cool. So I make an effort to really study when I get home.

The picture on top is from Fukuoka Tower. The first one is from the way walking to the tower, the second is from the top of the observation deck. It's really tall. But I did notice that this was the time for couples. haha. Probably because of the holiday, but most things to do were for couples as I noticed I was the only single person there. Well, there were a bunch of girls together, but at least they were in a group together. haha. I took more pictures but I'l load them in my photobucket.

After school today, thursday, I went with the Aussie and New Zealander to this restaraunt called Eiyo(?). It had a three floors seperated by the kind of dishes you want. 1st floor was for Japanese pasta dishes, the 2nd was for Udon and Ramen, the 3rd was for Rice Dishes and the fourth was something else, I forgot. We went to the third and I got the Kastudon(?) the pork cutlet fried with eggs and onions on top of Udon noodles. mmmmmm. I wanted to take a pic but my dumb battery was dead.

Afterwards we went into an arcade where they had horse racing. Tiny toy horses racing on a tiny track and everyone bets on it. I think if you have a card you can load your horse in and you raise your skills for your horse. kinda cool. also they had four floors of video games. Next time, Ill bring my camera.

Christmas Day!

2007-12-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Yay. I get to say I spent xmas in Japan. Though, the Japanese do not celebrate it like Americans do. From the various points of view, I hear xmas is for kids and couples. Even though they say that, they decorate the city very nicely. Puts some cities in America to shame. They have xmas trees and decorate them, but they do not place presents under the tree. That's either given to their significant others or placed by the kids bedsides. Otherwise, you go to work or school. haha

First day of beginner class and my head is spinning again. Three new students in the class and their vocabulary is better than mine. It may just seem that way, but from the sounds(?) of it, they are better. I gotta catch up. this time the class is in full Japanese. If you don't know the word, look it up or ask the teacher and then you should be using it in Japanese afterwards. We made mini speeches today. Mine was about five sentences. :P We have to make another speech tomorrow without referring to a paper. So, I'll be talking to myself tonight just to get it right. So as you can see, lots of homework.

I have to mention this too. I've been watching a lot of TV to try to help my listening skills. It is difficult, but I get to see some cool TV programs. I've noticed, there isn't the same program nighty or even weekly. Sometimes. One night I caught a sports program where about 20 kids tie their legs together and then sprint against another team for about 100 meters. I thought it was just for fun, but then they show them train for it. And when they win or lose, the kids cry and even the coaches cry. crazy. I want to know the name of it.

Then there's another program that put celebrities against these guys who go after them like a big game of tag. It took place in an amusement park. The time counts down for the full hour and each minute counts for 100 yen. The amount of money started at 10000 yen, i think. it's pretty cool. And I have to mention this. There's really no trash talking in this game or any other game show I've seen. Like America has it in every game show they have just to win. But the Japanese contestants help each other and even cheer each other on. It's great. No wonder there's so much animosity in America. Now off my soap-box.

I'll try to remember other programs and mention them. Today is a nice day. I took a few pics of the Acros building. cool architecture, but the observation deck was closed. damn.

Day 10

2007-12-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

yay! I'm moving to Beginner 1. hey that's a lot for me don't laugh. I started in Foundation Japanese which helps with basic grammar and a small vocabulary base. But beginner now gets into more vocab, conjugation and more grammar. And the great thing is...no more wacko. hahaha. He'll stay in foundation while i move up.

I have to mention this before I forget. this past week with him, he likes to jump the gun alot. Meaning, when the teacher asks you a question in Japanese, you are to answer in Japanese. No problem. So the teacher asks me a basic question like, "What did you do this weekend?" Before I could answer, he cuts me off and says, "She said weekend. What did you o this weekend?" And points at me. WTF? Did I look like I wasn't paying attention? Ha ha. My friend Helmut, would say, " He knows. Let him answer." Ha. then he would do th same to Helmut. Helmut would give him this look like, 'don't'. Later, helmut asked me how come he does that. I told him, I don't know, that's how he is, I guess.

Too bad Friday was the last day with Helmut. He was a cool guy. He had a good open mind even though he had difficulty in the language. He did better than he gave himself credit for because he had to interpret from Japanese to English to German. He told me how he improved his English while learning Japanese. See. now thats an open and positive person. He's gone home to celebrate xmas with the family then take more japanese classes in Germany.

Since this was his last day, we had a dinner party at a chinese restaurant. it was really nice with as much as you can eat and drink. Besides Helmut, Lisbeth from Holland, and Mitsuko (who I didn't get to really meet) left. They made really good speeches in japanese. And from the looks of it, I have to do the same when I leave.

But I'll worry about the weekend since I have two chapters to read with more grammar and a good 100 words for vocab to learn. yay!

I may try to go to Daizafu Shrine wih someone from school. She wants to go on the 2nd of january but I have to check my school schedule. Otherwise, I'll have to go alone. I've been bad in trying to take more pictures and travelling. Maybe it's a money thing but my 5000yen card is almost done with so I have to buy a new one next week. I pulled some money already for groceries so we'll see. I've been budgeting, but I feel i've been penny pinching. So maybe next weekend, i'll go somewhere.

Like Lisbeth, she was here for three months and travelled to a few places in Japan. She went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. I want to at least try to make it to Tokyo. Hello, I'm in Japan. haha.

We have school Tuesday, xmas day. Well it is a Catholic Holiday. but I hear xmas cakes are given to people besides presents sometimes. I may buy a cake for my roommates and for the school. maybe I'll take pictures then. I promise. More pics soon.

It's been at a steady drizzle since Friday. (I'm writing this on Saturday.

Day 9

2007-12-20T02:26:00.000-08:00

ok ok ok. I was trying not to write about his, or really my opinion on this but its been bugging me. not about Fukuoka or Japan, but about one of the students. So let me apologize ahead of time. This does not reflect the school at all. The school is great, but this guy finally got to me. So think of this scenario. The teacher is going over the verbs to come, to go and to return. So we are going over examples using ourselves as subjects and different destinations right? So here comes crazy, he blurts out when the instructor asks if we have any questions,

"Sensei, how do we say in Japanese, ' I want to punch you in the face?' This is an important question." hahahahaha

Just kidding I'm exaggerating and changing the words, but he's like this. Even the other student in the class asks says in a german accent which makes it funnier,

"what does this have to do with anything?" hahaha. I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. But the thing is he keeps doing this. The other student then goes on, "You keep coming up with these things. why? what are you trying to say?"

I kept laughing. This guy keeps asking weird questions and asks how to say weird phrases that have nothing to do with the lesson. and then he says, "This is important to know."

I literally had to excuse myself because I kept laughing and then I started to think how he's either trying to pick a fight with someone or trying to pick up on girls, but his questions are crazy.

Oh, he is intelligent to the point of being able to speak more than 5 languages, but he keeps trying to say stuff as he knows more about your own language or puts down the Japanese language saying its too complicated and why do they do this and why do they do that. This brings me to our first meeting. I was standing outside of the school waiting for it to open, then he comes out of no where (no lie) and says to me, "Asalam a lakum" sorry for the bad spelling. I looked at him and said, "What?" and then he says,

"Oh I thought you were muslim. Didn't you say you're muslim?" WTF? He literally just came up to me off the street and said this. I even asked him, "Do I know you?"
So this kind of tells you what kind of guy he is. One more week with this guy. God please help me not push him in front of the subway.

So let's start my day. I went to a tea ceremony with my friend Helmut and Lisbeth. It was cool. We dressed in Yukatas (?) and learned how to take tea and how to serve tea. Too bad I couldn't take pictures, but our sensei did, so I hope she posts them or gives me a few copies. We learned how the tea ceremony was for men, samurai at that, only. Now more women are involved and can take part in both serving and taking.

Class was fun, even with the exchange above with this guy. I'm not mentioning names, but if you know me from the school. you'll know who I'm talking about since there was only three of us in my class. Sorry I have to complain again, but he always asks each teacher, "How long before we learn kanji? I don't know If I can do this?"

After class I went to Kego Park and took pictures of the xmas lights. Really nice.

12/19

2007-12-19T01:06:00.000-08:00

its wednesday and I finally got home. i went to the Loft to get a highlighter and notebook, but I really wanted to see this place. it has almost everything. Especially cute girls. haha. But let me start my day...

This morning was a late one. class did not start until 11:00am so I was able to walk around and get to know the other parts of Tenjin. I went to Kego park but I should've waited until nighttime because the lights of course would look better then. So i walked around the stores to see if anything is buyable. I need sweats or something to sleep in, but the store I wanted to go into was closed so I went to the Mister Donut nearby.

This is what I got. The sign said Best Coffee in the World. Eeeeehhhhh! I really just wanted the donuts and the coffee was pretty good. I included a pic of what I got. the chocolate one was ok, It was more of sugar bread. I couldn't taste the chocolate, so I just assumed it was for being healthy. The other donut was better in the sense it had more sugary flavor. This was a french creme and strawberry. Mmmmm. I guess this is why American donuts are so unhealthy. We're all fatties because of the transfat. Mister Donuts are good donuts, as Mcdonalds in Japan is good because of the oils they use to fry the food. If japanese people would try the stuff in America, they would drop dead because of all the transfat and stuff. Time to get off my soapbox.

I'll try to load the picture of the lottery lady who watched me eat all my donuts and drink my coffee. I don't think i was dressed funny or had a lightbulb on my head, but she watched me the whole time. maybe she was trying to hypnotize me to buy lottery. But I had to take a picture.

I also took a picture of the street at the end of the day. the sidewalks reminded me of new york. the rush of people is crazy sometimes. I walked behind my friend because he's taller and bigger, so everyone stepped out of his way. haha. Oh well. I'll try to upload the pictures later. dumb blogger.

Day 6 and 7

2007-12-17T22:39:00.000-08:00

well its been a fast two days because of all the studying. The vocab is piling up and so is the new grammar. The Japanese language is very logical. plug in the right word (noun verb) into the correct slot and you can start communicating. Plus the proper way is very proper. Probably to get you to learn the structure, then you can start dropping off words. Japanese is a language used for implying what you mean instead of being too direct.

The food is sooo good here. Funny as it sounds, but i want to go to McDonalds here. the commercials are showing a few special burgers and they look actually healthy. haha. though there is this commercial showing the super tomato and super egg burger. It's almost like in the states that has Carl's Jr with the six dollar burgers. here they are three patties high with an egg or thick sliced tomato to throw on top. mmmmm. I saw a Mos Burger when i was on the bus, but I'm not to sure where so I'll ask my instructors.

I was able to get takoyaki and the famous Hakata ramen. My cool roommate, Ko-chan, bought me takoyaki. And he referred me to the Ramen place, Ichiran. Good place. a good bowl of big ramen costs about 500 yen, then before you drink the broth, you can add for about 80 yen, more noodles. mmmmmm. Also the bento boxes here are really cheap and good. I'm using good a lot because i don't want to sound educated and use a thesaurus right now. But you can have anything from sushi rolls and curry bread to spaghetti and tonkatsu. Plus they have all these desserts. I'm getting hungry now. haha

One last thing. I forgot to mention that I watched Detective Conan recently. Reason why I'm mentioning this is because for a full hour they showed the anime version, then right after they show the live-action version. Funny. I've also been seeing a lot of commercials with American stars. Cameron Diaz does a Soft Bank commercial. Brad Pitt does two, a car one and a Soft Bank one too. I also saw my favorite Anna Tsuchiya on a Soft Bank commercial. I also saw Yuki and Aya Ueto. My roommates get a kick out of me knowing a lot of the actors and actresses. they know I'm an otaku. haha.

Tomorrow I'm going to see if i can hide my tattoo so I can go to the onsen. ha. Jaa ne.

weekend

2007-12-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

this is a quick one. I just wanted to say how much the people I am sharing the apartment with are just too kind. It's great. Sometimes I feel like an ass and feel I'm getting in their way so I go out of my way to do chores and stuff. What's funny is that I have to do it without them knowing because they'll stop me from doing it. They'll tell me it's someone else's job. So I ask a lot of questions, mainly in practicing my vocab in japanese. Then I learn when they take out the trash. where to take it. that kind of stuff. haha.

Oh yeah, last night, ko-chan's mom made him and us oden. mmmmmmm. home-made oden. very good. I want to find it in the states. hisako-chan is around more since she work normal hours, still long to me though. But she's the one I converse with the most. we rented movies and I watched die hard 4 in japanese. so ironic that i needed an interpreter on some parts for an american movie. haha. hisako-chan told me to visit daifaiku shrine and go to the museum nearby. by the pictures she showed me, it looks beautiful. i can't wait. It'll take a full day so I have to wait for the following weekend. I'm making a plan to go to Fukuoka Tower sometime this week. I'll take plenty of pictures.

Oh well, time to sneak off and do my chores. haha.

Day 5

2007-12-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

Yay! Christmas Party! This was fun. They actually had my classes start late in the day and end right before the party. Of course the school couldn't provide us students any booze, so they said bring your own. When I first bought a 6-pack of Asahi, I thought I was the only alkie. Then Sake, vodka, more beer just started appearing. Yay! I'm not alone.

There was a very nice spread. Pizza, onigiri, platters of Japanese and other finger foods, booze, and Rommel brought adobo he made himself. He's from Cebu City and is working here in Fukuoka as he attends school. Cool, huh? I met a lot of people here that I just saw in passing. I actually thought I was here a long time. One guy has already been here three months and will be here until March. Another has been in Japan for 4 weeks and will be here a full year. It makes me think how restrictions on Americans are really tough.

Anyway, we played bingo and I won a prize. It was loud so I didn't know I won until I looked at the board. I took a sake set. Ha, go figure. It was kind of funny. Some people started wearing their prizes like a wrestler's mask that looked like Nacho Libre, a raccoon mask I think, that everyone passed around to wear. Mika-sensei wore a samurai knot head piece.

Another cool thing was Host Families came to the party. Also the owner/caretaker of the dorms. I have to mention how everyone was concerned about the California fires whenever I mentioned I was from California. Nice. I told them it wasn't that close to me but how ashes were around for a day or two. And I also had to tell them, not all people from Orange County is rich. Damn those MTV shows!!!

I was having so much fun, I forgot to sign up for the Kago Shrine trip for this Sunday. But that's okay. My roommates want to rent movies, so I'll hang out with them. Hisako-san is always nice to me. I think she was invited, but she didn't come. They all work too much. She's actually working today and only has Sunday off. People at my job should shut the hell up about hours and days off.

But I am going to sign up for the tea ceremony for Thursday. I'm going to ask about the onsen trip. I know most hot springs won't let me in because of my tattoos. Damn Yakuza! There's a few more trips but I have to check my school schedule to see if I can go. I really like how they move our school times around so we can attend these culture classes. There's one when they make mochi but that's the one I think comflicts with my time. I'll check Monday.

Day 4

2007-12-13T00:09:00.000-08:00

Here i am again finishing up on my 4th day of school. I like the immersion program. You even force yourself to think in Japanese, culturally, because you understand how they speak and respond. There's a student with me who keeps saying, "In m country...." blah blah blah. Shut up. Why are you here? I sometimes remind him where he's at, but it gets old. Anyway, I had my first experience washing my clothes in Japan.

What do you mean? you ask. Well, washing clothes is just a little different. One thing is the measurements. I have to get use to the metric system. Damn America uses the standard system which if you think about really has no value. If I have to educate you, then remember a foot use to be measured by the King's foot, literally. And a yard use to be from the king's nose to the tip of his finger. Anyway, I digress. So I have my measuring cup from america and trying to convert so I don't use too much soap to the amount of water for a medium load, which is about 50ml here, I think. I got thru that without an "I Love Lucy" incident. Here's the big change. Well, I shouldn't say that because my grandma use to wash her clothes in the bathtub and then hang dry. But I the dry cycle is just a spin cycle that uses the centrifugal force to spin your clothes dry. So in short, my clothes weren't snuggily warm when it finished. It was still wet and some were still in need of wringing. I had to hand my clothes outside where it had been about 30 degrees F. So it took a full day and a half to dry. Yay!

I gotta mention another funny thing if I haven't done so already. I took the bus again and noticed that the bus driver shuts the bus down at stop lights. Right. Completely off. The lights don't take long, but they shut it off. I think that's why there is a sign that says the bus is environmentally friendly.

I have to go back on the comment i made about the depressed kids. I'm not taking it back, I just want to add that they are also very stressed. I almost wanted to say something to this kid who had to run and catch the subway. When he got on, he was clenching and unclenching his hands wringing the hell out of his pants. So picture him sitting on the train. His hands on top of his knees and he's crushing the material of his pants, his eyes closed tight, and just breathing hard. Now I know thats not from his little sprint. He look like he had issues. Like i have seen people run and barely make it on the subway, and all they did was let out a breath of fresh air. No, this kid was like regretting he didn't jump in front of the subway, or not wanting to get to school or something.

Continuing on this train of thought. I watched this girl. Cute, but too young for me. :P She was sitting and just looking at other people, women mostly. She looked at them for a couple of seconds, sighed, (at least in my opinion), then made a quick evil eye. I swear. I almost laughed out loud when I saw this. So I kept watching her to make sure. She did it again. Mostly to the women who had the nice dyed hair who had the nice designer shopping bags. Yeah, not the bag itself, but the shopping from the store. Evil eye. So I got scared and made sure she didn't look at me and give me the curse.

Oh, here's another funny thing. My sister will know when I mention the Wallflower manga. But there were a bunch of guys heading home I think cause they were all walking together in the mall and they had that look the guys had in Wallflower. There were about five, but they had that thin waif look with the rock star hair, dressed like they work at the Host Club. They had a lot of young girls watching them and doing the whisper whisper whisper after they passed kind of thing The real funny thing was they were like in their own world as f they were picturing themselves walking down the red carpet and they had their eyes on the prize. They didn't look left or right just forward into space. I swear they flipped their hair too a few times.

Oh yeah, I went to the IMS building in the middle of Tenjin. It's like a South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, but 13 floors up. Very beautiful building. I'll take pictures next time. I forgot my camera anyway. I mean all the stores had the workers say "Irrashaimase" with a 3/4 bow and very understandable. This is compared to the AM/PM people who say it and you think they're saying "Sumimasen" All the customers were wearing fashionable attire and here i was in my jeans, polo and giant backpack. I went to the rainbow plaza on the 8th floor for foreigners. No not for gay people. They have a floor for foreigners who are living or visiting for a long period. They have things from internet to books in your native language. They even have books ou cn check out to use for your stay. Very helpful people. Anyway. I gotta study. Jaa ne.

Funny things I've seen

2007-12-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

This is more of a list I kept in my head of all the funny things I've seen in Fukuoka. Don't get me wrong. I love this place, but the things touch me, in my opinion, as strange or funny.

1. Yes, alot of the women are hot, but they ride bicycles while dolled up and in high heels.
2. Everyone texts everywhere. I mean sitting and passing time on the subway is fine, but driving, riding their bikes, eating with people (who are also texting), and walking. I actually saw a man walk into someone because he was texting.
3. Toilet handles have a choice for a big flush and a small flush.
4. the bathroom stalls are enough for the toilet and you. I couldn't hang my backpack or jacket.
5. Even though there are signs to give up your seat for older people, handicapped, pregnant women, and women with babies, I saw people pretend to sleep or look the other way when they see anyone that qualifies. Though this is probably everywhere in the world.
6. this is not strange, but a little funny. When asking directions, most people here would rather show you by taking you to the place rather than give you directions.
7. Most smaller markets make you bag your own stuff.
8. Everyone runs for he subway even if they have one almost every fifteen minutes. Also, there's a sign thats says don't rush.
9. The ambulance drivers apologize for turning on their sirens and lights and for u-turns.
10. Salarymen, well most of them, smell like alcohol. Even in the morning.
11. This isn't funny or strange, but a lot of the kids seem so depressed. You can feel like a dark cloud over them. =(
12. It's true how salarymen let loose after work. So far it's been a few times I've seen them at the yatai's and just get loud.
13. All the women look like Ayumi Hamasaki or Boa or have some kind of ganguro look.

That's all I can remember. I'll post another list when i remember.

Days 2 and 3

2007-12-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

Whew! what a rush and I haven't even finished my first week. I have to say that its going to be tough for me but I am learning a lot. It may be because its hard for me to be placed on the spot. But thats good for me. Well, I'm having fun.

We did a lot with structure and the vocabulary keeps building. Plus they want us to speak only in Japanese when we are at school. This makes it tough for some, but I feel a necessity if you want to learn by total immersion. I must sound retarded sometimes, but the staff there is great. They always find a way to help you with a smile and encouragement. The school is great. We met more teachers which, for me, helps me in my listening skills on different ways the language can be spoken. The ones that are very energetic are Mika and Chihomi. They make it real fun. Yujii is fun too, he's quite young but very knowledgeable. On tuesday after classes, we went on a tour of Tenjin, the main city of Fukuoka. We walked and rode the 100 yen loop bus. We visited a very cool temple. What's cool is the giant Buddha that's at least 2 stories high. No pictures can be taken. But I did take others that they let me. Forgive me on posting pics, i'm having trouble inserting them where i want so I'll post them with a comment, maybe.

We also visited a shrine. I forgot the names. A lot of people were around making their year end wishes, but our guide, Taka-san, said New Years will be the busiest. I forgot to mention, I met another student cause she came along for the tour. She's a week ahead of me. Maria from Italy. She'll be here for 7 weeks, too. It made me think, when my current classmates leave after 3 weeks, will I be alone? Oh well. After feeling spiritual, we decided to go to two shopping areas. One was the Hakata Kilometer Shopping street. Like it says it's kilometer long and it's like an indoor swap meet. The other was the Canal City. Very cool place.

This is a 6 level mall that's shaped like an open auditorium facing the canal by the city. Near the canal are the yatai's that Fukuoka is known for. These are street cart mini restaurants serving mostly yakitori and ramen, but there were other foods. All of them are crowded so you usually eat standing up. Delicious and cheap. The pics I took are cool, but I'm going to revisit during the day because the flash did not help to light up the area. They had this one place we went to where you get a group of people to take a picture and then you can draw on it and stuff. Funny. They had a room with costumes wherer you can dress up as anime characters. Kind of kinky if you saw the costumes.

Finally we went back to school and then a few of us had dinner at a place called Gusto's. My way of describing it is Western food made Japanese style. Very good. Here's the pics.

This is the wish tree

The monks each get a statue

I was bad and took a picture inside. I didn't know until the monk told me.

The monk is ringing the giant bell

That's Taka-san washing his hands the way you're supposed to at the shrine.

lost on my 1st day

2007-12-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Yes. I got lost on my 1st day to school. Luckily, I brought enough money and left early so I was not late to class. I trust the subway more than I trust myself on the bus. If I could understand better, than I maybe would not have gotten lost. So it is my fault. The bus system is based upon how far you travel. It starts at 100 yen. they even have a 100 yen loop as long as you stay in that area/loop.

Anyway, I could not read the signs. This time I could only see they were in Kanji. I saw later that there was romaji, but they listed all the places they go to, not just the stop. So I tried to listen for it. Ha. All I heard was Charlie Brown's teacher over the loudspeaker. Plus I was on during rush hour. Sheesh. It was so crowded, that I let go of the bar at one point and let myself stay upright with the amount of people on board. Funny, huh? So, this is how the bus system works, i digressed, When you first board, you take a ticket. The ticket will have a number on it. Mine was 15. So now you just watch this light board up front. This board has your number with a price under it. This starts at 100 yen on this route. so as it progresses in distance from when you pulled your ticket, it goes up 10 to 20 yen. I has 500 plus yen on me. Side note: it costs me only 320 yen to take the subway. As time went on, we took a whole different route that took me to the beach. Ehhhhh? I saw a lot of cool stuff but nothing familiar. So this is the part I panicked. From my spot, I could not see any familiar landmarks, nor a sign in Romaji, nor hear the driver. So I asked the guy next to me, "Tenjin wa?" He just nodded. I took that as a yes. I got off then looked around. There's a sign that says "Tenjin North". So I thought, Damn which Tenjin is it? So I head South. I hit the next stop that said Tenjin South and no luck in finding anything Familiar. I went up to a traffic person, they look like cops without the shiny leather. I asked him "Nishitetsu Hotel wa doko desu ka?" I asked for the hotel because its more familiar to other people than the school. He then tells me pointing kind of east, Tenjin Meiji. Damn. That sounded familiar because its one of the stops for the subway. So I walk. and walk. Then I finally hit a subway station. This I know. So I look at the station map. These maps are just like the mall maps in CA. They tell you where you're at and show where everything else is at. I overshot my stop by four. So I paid about 200 yen to the right stop and walked to school with a half hour until class. So I thought, I'm sticking to subways even during rush hour. So until I'm better acquainted with the area I'm sticking to walking and the subway.

Class Time. We had a quick orientation. there were six of us who started today. and a whole bunch of others who speak so well, I thought they have been here a while. Only one other person, Erin form Australia, is staying for 7 weeks. She understands better, though, so she's in a different level class. Even though I know basic phrases and grammar, I stick to newbie. It makes me look smart anyway. I'm in class with someone from France and another from Germany. Classes are a blur, but I did get the basics. They are fast pace and almost all in pure Japanese. I have homework to do now. Sorry no pictures. tomorrow maybe. I have Pop Culture class tomorrow. Woo Hoo!!

Zero Day

2007-12-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here I am already in Fukuoka, Japan. I'm going to be attending the Japanese Language and Culture School called GenkiJacs. But i want to start this with going over my travel day because it was 'special'.

LAX will never fail to amaze me with it's employees. When i first arrived in the Tom Bradley terminal, I started my own line in front of the ANA booth, if thats what you call it. The gentleman working there was very nice and told me I had an hour to wait before they opened. Cool, no problem. Thanks for my sister for dropping me off, i was set. While I was waiting, I had two TSA employees that looked like wanna be security guards tell me, separately, that I was in the wrong line. I even showed them my printout that I was taking ANA. I didn't want to argue so I humored them and did a circle of the area that brought me back to the area the ANA employee told me to go. Anyway, when the time came around, I checked in to my flight and loaded my bags through security x-ray machine. While I was walking to the gate, one of the security guards from before said,

"See that was easier right?"

What!? Anyway, I just smiled and walked away. Now another funny incident...

As you go through the checkpoint where they scan your carry-on and you yourself, there was an employee blabbering with no-one really listening. It's like he was making a speech to his own followers. Not one of us was paying attention. I loaded my bag and shoes on the belt to be x-rayed. After it went through, it stopped. The employee blabbering asked me 2 to 3 times in an incoherent manner if I had certain electronics in my bag. I told him my lap top, camera, and camcorder. Then he said in a rude way, (sic)

"you're my first one, but you won't be my last."

What?!

I asked what that meant. He said that no one pays attention to him and they slow down the line because of it. I looked behind me and there were three people still untying their shoes. Okay...So I said he needs to speak clearer and no one understands him while I was taking out my laptop to be scanned separately. This is the funny part.

He yells out, "Who didn't hear what I said about laptops?!"

All three who were untying their shoes raised their hands. Hahaha. Then they all had to stop and take their own laptops and then put them separately. Needless to say, he shut the F up and let us all through.

fast forward to the plane.

ANA is the best airline I had experience with. First off, all the stewardesses where beautiful. Ha. Notice I said stewardesses and not flight attendants. All female staff. But thats not the end of it. Their customer service shames all of ours. I had one 'A. Nakamura' (?), who kept checking on me cause I had a headache and she gave me aspirin. All 12 hours, she asked me numerous times. Did that sound right? anyway, they went around right after take off if we wanted slippers, headsets, and masks for the flight. Slippers? Yup. I took a mask and a headset. Even though I took some airborne before, I wanted to be safe. Besides, almost everyone took one and we all looked like doctors. I looked at the movies they were having and found "Bourne Ultimatum", "Stardust", "Perfect Stranger", and two flicks in Cantonese that I watched for the flight. Nice huh? I also watched music videos from Japan. Funny to see Yuki on there.

Okay, now the food. 2 hours into the flight they served lunch after a drink and snack. The two choices were Cream Crouquet Chicken or Grilled Eel over rice. Nice! I took the eel and it tasted just like the bento boxes you get at the market. Yummy. then for dessert they had Haagen Daas vanilla ice cream. I had to laugh because i remember SouthWest giving me, well, nothing for dessert. then for the next couple of hours, they constantly walked around checking up on everyone and they opened up their center 'bar' for anyone to go to if you didn't want to sit around and wait to be served. nice touch especially since most people didn't want to be sitting for 12 hours straight.

Finally, two hours before reaching Narita, they served another late lunch. This time we had no choice, but it was still very good. It was soba noodles with a side salad with a strawberry yogurt from Dannon. I was happy to eat because the next stop and connecting flight was hectic.

After being spoiled on that trip, I literally hit the ground running in Narita. Our flight in LAX was delayed due to congestion. (Thanks LAX). So that gave me 45 minutes to go through immigration (picture, fingerprints, and custom declarations), baggage claim, and sprint to the next flight. Thanks to me and 3 others, we delayed the next flight. I felt sorry for the girl helping me, she literally sprinted with me to pull me out of line, fast check me through the x-ray, then sprint to the gate. Man, could she run in heels. Really. I was sweating like a dog. I hated it. The connecting flight to Fukuoka was uneventful, both good nor bad. Did I mention all the ANA stewardesses are hot. The one doing the dog and pony show with the belts looked like Ayumi Hamasaki. Literally.

Upon landing, I have to give big kudos to Fukuoka and to GenkiJACS. They sent me directions to my accommodations that were spot on. If you couldn't follow the directions, then you should not bother leaving your house. I mean the detail was perfect, down to the left and rights on the street since I walked a lot of the way. In addition, the sign posts for each subway stop were labelled in romaji, kanji, kana, and a colored picture. I'll try to include a picture. And while you're on the subway, the announcements for each stop is in Japanese and English with a chime. That chime was important. I was about 20 hours running on fumes.

Now i have to mention this since I'm a male pig, that the women here were all beautiful. The subway and walkways were packed. I guess because it was a saturday and everyone wanted to get home. But there were lots and lots of pretty girls. If I had to put a ratio to it, it seemed like 8 to 1. Really. I didn't want to leave the mini mall that I had to cross through to get to my next subway. but the subway was full too. Woo Hoo!!

Finally, after a good 20 minutes walk with all my dumb luggage, i reached the apartment. I was greeted by one of my roommates, Takayuki, very nice guy. He gave me keys and the GenkiJACS packet, showed me my 6 tatami room (picture later) and even made me tea. We talked a little bit, but I was tired and he had to work next day very early. Get this. I shouldn't complain. He works as a social worker for older people and he was going to be out for 24 hours. What a work day! 24 hours. He said as if in passing, I'll see you Monday. Monday! I have employees who complain of an hour OT. Jeez! Well, Let me close this one so I can get on with Day 1.