my favorites (photos taken while in japan or surrouding countries from my time abroad--the past two years)

inspired by my recent trip to the iowa state fair and all of its biggest and best of this and that competitions (including "most unusual vegetables" category), i decided to put my photos to the test. my test that is, and choose my favorites. i will be commenting briefly on each photo about where and what. i'd like to thank all of the unique and unforgettable individuals who contributed their time, humor, and friendship to me while i was in japan. hontouni arigatougozaimashita! this will also be my last post because i don't really live in japan anymore so the title of my blog would be rather misleading.

this was my second and final trip to disney sea. we had a good time despite the rain...this picture, however, would indicate otherwise.

this photo was taken during "Sakura 2007" outside of the Takasaki City Hall. kirei desu ne.

my private student hosna told me she "born two tulips, they are twins". after some confusion she brought me outside and then i understood completely.

lisa and i look like we came straight out of the 70's. i don't know how this picture turned out to look so old, but i like it. it was taken during "Week in Hokkaido, Summer 2006".

i had the honor of playing taiko in the Haruna Matsuri, but i also enjoyed watching my peers play. shane, jamie, and i played for the special "exhibition" time.

my students at kuragano kindergarten loved to play in the mud. they even had a special tent set up so the mud wouldn't dry in the sun. nothin' like blowin' bubbles in mud.

i apparently was not allowed to take this photo since i was inside the shrine in nikko, but i'm glad i did. it seems a bit confusing and that's what i like about it.

taken at miyajima island, the tide was low for this photo of the famous torii gate.

i ran into some of my students at the takasaki matsuri this year. us gaijin were dressed in our best yukata as well.

these two fellas, cynthia, and i barbequed at her place in rural minakami. it was oishii!

i was a model for a day with lisa, claudio, mike, and pete. we were the actual models' (slightly less beautiful, but as beautiful as we could be) bridesmaids and groomsmen for the georgian house brochure this summer. it was an awesome experience. unfortunately, i don't think they will be using this shot for the brochure.

this photo is taken on the southern korean side of freedom bridge. the bridge leads to north korea so south koreans who still have family on the other side write letters and pictures and set them against the border.

hanabi translates to "fire flower" and they have some of the best in the world in japan. this photo is from this year's takasaki masturi.

john and "his dad" in a park on ogasawara island in the middle of the pacific ocean.

on the way to ogasawara island on the ferry. even on our way there it seemed like heaven.

i conformed to japanese culture by participating in their sakura rituals of drinking beer and eating a bento in hiroshima.

i thought this was pretty, the colors and all. i took it at school during sports day.

this is from my christmas/new years in cambodia and thailand. it's the sunset reflecting off the moat around angkor wat.


of course there are many more, but you can't post them all and you can't save all memories in your hard-drive. living and working and traveling in japan was an experience that i am so grateful to have had. when i'm old and gray i will still remember these 2 years fondly. hope you enjoyed reading and/or viewing my blog. until the next adventure, sayonara.

peach pickin' with grannychan

i couldn't pass up the opportunity to hang out with granny(hamachan from haruna) one more time before i left. she goes peach and plum pickin' everyday and she is 82 years old. lisa and i joined granny and tsugiko this morning for the pickin'. it was so beautiful in the orchard on the side of the mountain. we picked around 40 plums each. after taking our loads back to the car granny demanded we take 12 (delicious, big, perfect) peaches in addition to the 40 plums. i now have all the pickin's in my apartment. i leave for america in approximately five days. what do i do with all this fruit?!




last week justin and i had a goodbye party with granny, tsugiko, and sachiko. we made them their very first tacos. i don't know how she managed to do it, but granny ate tacos with her chopsticks. she is a true nihonjin (japanese person). we took a lot of sandwich/hug pictures. this is my favorite of granny and i. i was like, "ok granny, i guess we have to hug..."

justin, tsugiko, and i

the impressive taco spread...

justin, sachiko, and i

it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday

i have a week and a half left here in japan. i've been saying goodbye for the past month, but this week it's has gotten more real. everything is the last. i was joking with my students last week about everything being my last at school..."last class, last school lunch, last ごみ(trash), last はきそうじ(time sweeping during cleaning time), etc." my last day at school was extremely great, but also very emotional. like i said in my multiple speeches these past couple of weeks, "although i am going back home, i will take many memories with me. i consider japan my second home and i will never forget all the wonderful experiences i've had living here." which is very true.

some photos from my last days at konan chugakko...

these two gals rarely came to class and did "para para" (japanese young people hand dancing) in the hallway. one day they taught me a little.


i occasionally played softball with the team after school. these are the 3rd graders. i told them to "look tough".


this is mr.sato's class, 2-5. mr.sato was taking the picture and said "any pose is ok" and this is what they came up with. nice.


this is 2-4, one of my favorite classes. they are/were awesome.


ikkui and kazuya (and me)


the 'lunch lady' nakamura-san, the head teaher horikoshi-san, and i. in the afternoons we usually chatted and joked around (mostly because we three had little or nothing to do.)


i've been slightly busy packing, but not too busy not to have fun. going swimming today, yey!

things i've done in the past couple of weeks (and i have photos of because i considered them 'photo-worthy'), but have been too lazy to post about...

1. last week at shintakao shogakko
i've been through a lot with these kids including intense dodge-ball games, rice harvesting, watching the musical Peter Pan (a theater company came to school, it was rad), and of course teaching them english. they have always been so genki (at times, too much so) and eager to learn that it was very sad saying goodbye. i took photos with every classroom at the end of my "last class". they wondered why i was leaving (which made me wonder more too) and asked if i was going to teach at another school in america (they don't know i'm not teaching certified). i signed about a million hats, bags, notebooks, pencil cases, scraps of paper, hands every day that week. they think my writing in english so fast is cool. one student wanted me to write my name in english, katakana, and hiragana (maybe only those of you who know japanese will understand the absurdity of that).



actually one of my old junior high school teachers switched to my elementary school so it was fun getting to teach english with him (he was the japanese teacher at junior high). this photo is taken with his 4th grade class, 4-2.


mari-chan is brazilian, not to mention one of the sweetest kids ever. she demanded to take photos together and with my two fluffy friends i use in class, bob and shunsuke. she also frequently yelled "ciao ashlee!" to me in the hallway.











2. sweatpants bowling (part duo)
actually this time it was only shane and i sporting the sweat-style. i guess those other losers didn't think it was appropriate. what is not appropriate about bowling in sweatpants? last time(in february) though the sweats were a big hit. so was taking photos of people's ketsu (butts) in their sweatpants. ナイス. nice.



















































3. 日本のりょうり (japanese cooking)
i attended the maebashi international association's japanese cooking class. that makes it sound much more official than it is...although, i did feel bad for not having brought an apron. my friend kumi and i decided to try it together. we made suimono (a yummy vegetabley soup), sekihan (rice with red beans), and an oily, slightly spicy vegetable salad(i forgot the name).

this was my cooking team.

bridget was shocked at the sensei's mad skills.

kumi and i pretending to 'work hard'.



4. okonomiyaki man
i can't take credit for finding this shop, i can only insist that this is the best okonomiyaki i have ever had. john introduced me to this glorious concoction: hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. we've frequented the place this past year and talked (well, mostly john does the talking) to the owner, hiroyuki, who is too affable for words. i like watching him 'do his thing' making each and every yaki-cake with care and concern. we promised to go at least once more before leaving japan.


5. i won an award...
at first i thought about not mentioning this, but i figured i've got the photos and i'm on a roll anyway. this past weekend was the farewell beer garden and people (mostly those from the JET program) voted on various awards such as "most likely to live in japan forever" or "most kawaii" (cutest). i was surprised (and absolutely delighted) to receive the award for "least japanesey"...i believe my kinpatsu (blonde hair) had something to do with this. justin, on the other hand, won "most japanesey" thus we had to inhabit our roles for this photo. i'm the loud, obnoxious american and he the strong, shy japanese.