my japanese crib

i am making this post because a) people have requested i do so, b) i was bored on a tuesday afternoon, and c) my apartment is darn cute. housing in japan is somewhat smaller in scale than say...some anthills in africa, but with that said, i am in no way suffering. after all, i am living alone in what could be an apartment for a family of four here (japanese people are generally smaller and neater people--i spill way more at lunch than my elementary school students.)

so let's start the tour with my bathroom. yes, that is not a camera trick, you are really viewing a "winnie the pooh" toilet mat and "hello kitty" toilet paper cover in my bathroom. and no, i didn't choose this cutsy decor myself. they were here when i moved in--thus, a gift from my landlord's wife. you see, these kind of things are everywhere in japan. anything that can possible fit any kind of cutsy character or pokemon on it simply does. and the great thing about it is that even adults love this stuff and don it on their apparel, key chains, you name it. sad to say, but i'll probably never embrace that part of japanese culture--except for that which is evident in my lovely bathroom.

onto my kitchen/dining room/living room--yes, three in one. it does the trick and i am rather pleased at my abilities of really cleaning the place up. i have to admit that i did put out that bowl of mikans (mandarin oranges) out on the table special. most of the furniture was also donated by my landlord and his wife. they are very nice people and love foreigners for some reason. notice the tv in the corner? it doesn't work, just decoration. clever, no?




and then there's the tatami room (my bedroom). it is my favorite place because it has a plush and comfy futon, a kotatsu (a table that heats up--one of my favorite things in general about living in japan), my computer, and a nice big window. and the walls are painted my favorite color: green, which really adds to the serenity of the space.


so i live really close to the takasaki industrial high school. so close that my balcony overlooks their tennis courts. every morning and evening i hear the whack, smack of the boys tennis team. i don't mind it at all now--in fact, i'm not sure what i would do if it wasn't there. it really makes me want to play tennis badly though. here the boys are now!

and this photo pretty much sums up how the wooden ceiling and my beloved electric heater/air conditioner are situated. my feet nicely highlight the exact location of the heater in the corner of the room.

well, i hope you have enjoyed the tour of mi casa. and if any of you ever come here, it could become tu casa--after all mi casa es su casa. p.s. i am still much better at spanish than japanese.

Congratulations class of 2006!

if you ever find yourself down in the dumps and need an ego boost, might i suggest (especially if you are in japan working as an ALT) that you have your students write you good-bye letters--although, it wouldn't really work in the middle of the school year. anyway, the japanese school year is slightly different than the american one in that the beginning of their school year is in april. thus, the 3rd graders (9th in america) are graduating in three weeks, and since i am going to elementary school for the next two weeks, today was my last class with this year's 3rd graders. so the english teacher decided to throw in a special assignment: writing me a letter. actually, the exact words on the sheet were "let's write a mail to ashlee"--not exactly great english, but it gets the job done. and boy, did they do a great job.

that's why i wanted to share some with you. and gloat about what a great teacher i am--hey, they said so...along with a whole lot of other things. so enjoy!



not only do they make me feel like i am the best teacher in the world, scratch that, best human being in the world, but also i feel really good about my english skills. i mean, i can understand most of what they are saying even when the word order, verb tense, or spelling is off--even when they spell my name wrong. i realize that i am so much better at english than them, and that makes me feel good.

this one even said "you speaks japanese very well."--wow, i was under the impression that i sucked, but i guess i am pretty good!

my favorite however, (it's bad of me to make fun of the poor english, but i have to...) is this one. i guess i wasn't that good of a teacher if sentences like this are slipping through.

and this one made my blush when i read it. i think that was what they were going for...it was basically a group of boy students helping their buddy write it. good one boys. i didn't realize i was such a "special women" to them.

great advice and original: "double bubble blows bigger bubbles." thanks for that. and the picture of a knight. i will not forget you either.


and i am looking forward to "be in a fight in elementary school" next week. ok, i can't completely be a jerk about that. she means "good luck!" in japanese, their equivolent to good luck is gambatte which actually translates to fight.