Showing posts with label things to look forward to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things to look forward to. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wicked in Japanese!
Friends and I are going to see Wicked in Fukuoka sometime in April... all the lyrics have been changed to Japanese! Looks like the lead gals can kind of sing, so hopefully it will be fun and interesting :P
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Things to come
I realize that after my most recent flood of photo postings, I've posted hardly anything here. Which is not to say that I haven't been having lots of photo-worthy adventures. As soon as I download my latest photos from my stormtrooper baby (the Pentax), I will try to get caught up on things.
A few topics in store:
* Obon in Kyoto
* Beach and Sunset Live
* Random snapshots
* Seoul getaway
I may need to buy an expansion for my google image account...
A few topics in store:
* Obon in Kyoto
* Beach and Sunset Live
* Random snapshots
* Seoul getaway
I may need to buy an expansion for my google image account...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Upcoming activities
Things I am looking forward to this week:
Thursday: The Fukuoka EU Association is having a wine, music, ikebana, etc. etc. gathering that I managed to RSVP to incredibly late, but haven't received a rejection fax so I assume my attendence is go. Japanese friend (graduating from college and leaving for Osaka or Tokyo, cry ;_;) who is my wine buddy and I will enjoy sampling wines from the EU, hahaha... I guess the music and flowers and food might be interesting too.
Saturday: Beer and Pizza party with fellow JETs living in the area. The pizza will be from Costco (AKA America). YESSSSS.
Sunday: Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs. Busan Lotte Giants. As part of some friendship promotion thing, there's going to be a sister-city baseball game! S from NZ got tickets through work, and I am not one to turn down free baseball tix. One of my coworkers gets to interview some super famous Korean actress, oh lala!
That is about it. I took some nice pictures of the city the other day (which I will post within the week), since I didn't make it to Dazaifu to see the plum blossoms. I hope they are still blooming this weekend, as I am going to try to squeeze in a visit before the beer and pizza consumption commences.
Thursday: The Fukuoka EU Association is having a wine, music, ikebana, etc. etc. gathering that I managed to RSVP to incredibly late, but haven't received a rejection fax so I assume my attendence is go. Japanese friend (graduating from college and leaving for Osaka or Tokyo, cry ;_;) who is my wine buddy and I will enjoy sampling wines from the EU, hahaha... I guess the music and flowers and food might be interesting too.
Saturday: Beer and Pizza party with fellow JETs living in the area. The pizza will be from Costco (AKA America). YESSSSS.
Sunday: Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs. Busan Lotte Giants. As part of some friendship promotion thing, there's going to be a sister-city baseball game! S from NZ got tickets through work, and I am not one to turn down free baseball tix. One of my coworkers gets to interview some super famous Korean actress, oh lala!
That is about it. I took some nice pictures of the city the other day (which I will post within the week), since I didn't make it to Dazaifu to see the plum blossoms. I hope they are still blooming this weekend, as I am going to try to squeeze in a visit before the beer and pizza consumption commences.
Friday, February 19, 2010
WWOOF
In early May, Japan has this big long holiday (ok, 5 day weekend) known as Golden Week where most people can take time off to travel. The parade my organization participates in, and for which I am currently planning the international troupe, is smack in the middle of that long holiday. Sucks. So I can't make plans to travel with anyone because they will no doubt be leaving the Friday before or so, and the parade is on Monday.
However, I am anticipating accumulating a fair amount of overtime hours by that time, and I still have more than half of my vacation days left. In any case, I plan on taking a trip once the parade is over. It will have to be by myself, but that's no big deal and in fact, I'm looking forward to it.
Since I'm going to be here at least two years, I told myself that the first year would be the one to explore as much of Japan as possible, and in year #2 I would venture to other parts of Asia. Having grown up in the 'burbs and gone to college in the big city, I want to get away for a little bit and experience rural Japan. Most people probably think of Tokyo and Kyoto when they conjure up images of Japan, but apart from urban spaces here and there, Japan is REALLY RURAL. And it's beautiful! When I was studying abroad, we did a weekend homestay in the mountains of Okayama, and I just loved my host family's huge house nestled in the side of a hill, their grape arbour, and the tiny Shinto shrine in the nearby clearing of trees. I am grateful to be living and working in the city now (sorry, Marisa!), but I want to get out and experience a little bit more of the Japan that feeds this country and allows it to have some of the freshest, most delicious produce I've ever tasted. So I am planning on joining WWOOF (http://www.wwoofjapan.com/main/index.php?lang=en), going to a prefecture I've yet to venture to, and working on a farm for at least a week.
I'm getting super excited just thinking about it! People come from all over the world to participate in WWOOF, and I've read about a lot of wonderful experiences. It's not expensive at all, since all I would have to do is get myself to wherever I will be working and there receive free room and board for 6-7 hours of labor a day. I really want to work on a rice or vegetable farm, so I am considering going to Nagano Prefecture (lots of rice farms), but there are at least 15 other prefectures I'm interested in. I also think it will be a particularly rewarding experience since I speak some Japanese, and will probably be speaking nothing BUT Japanese for that whole week.
Another exciting thing I found is a farm in Saitama Prefecture that is just a few train stops away from where my first Japanese tutor's parents live. I stayed with them the very first time I visited Japan (eight years ago, holy cow), and although we haven't been in touch, it would be pretty amazing to see them and actually be able to speak with them in their native language after all this time. I can still remember what their house looks like, the shiitake mushroom log in their carport, the river and mountains nearby. So I am tempted to request to go to this farm and visit them along the way, even though I've already been to Saitama.
It's too early to do too much planning, since there is still sooooo much to be done for the parade, but I'm really looking forward to this!
However, I am anticipating accumulating a fair amount of overtime hours by that time, and I still have more than half of my vacation days left. In any case, I plan on taking a trip once the parade is over. It will have to be by myself, but that's no big deal and in fact, I'm looking forward to it.
Since I'm going to be here at least two years, I told myself that the first year would be the one to explore as much of Japan as possible, and in year #2 I would venture to other parts of Asia. Having grown up in the 'burbs and gone to college in the big city, I want to get away for a little bit and experience rural Japan. Most people probably think of Tokyo and Kyoto when they conjure up images of Japan, but apart from urban spaces here and there, Japan is REALLY RURAL. And it's beautiful! When I was studying abroad, we did a weekend homestay in the mountains of Okayama, and I just loved my host family's huge house nestled in the side of a hill, their grape arbour, and the tiny Shinto shrine in the nearby clearing of trees. I am grateful to be living and working in the city now (sorry, Marisa!), but I want to get out and experience a little bit more of the Japan that feeds this country and allows it to have some of the freshest, most delicious produce I've ever tasted. So I am planning on joining WWOOF (http://www.wwoofjapan.com/main/index.php?lang=en), going to a prefecture I've yet to venture to, and working on a farm for at least a week.
I'm getting super excited just thinking about it! People come from all over the world to participate in WWOOF, and I've read about a lot of wonderful experiences. It's not expensive at all, since all I would have to do is get myself to wherever I will be working and there receive free room and board for 6-7 hours of labor a day. I really want to work on a rice or vegetable farm, so I am considering going to Nagano Prefecture (lots of rice farms), but there are at least 15 other prefectures I'm interested in. I also think it will be a particularly rewarding experience since I speak some Japanese, and will probably be speaking nothing BUT Japanese for that whole week.
Another exciting thing I found is a farm in Saitama Prefecture that is just a few train stops away from where my first Japanese tutor's parents live. I stayed with them the very first time I visited Japan (eight years ago, holy cow), and although we haven't been in touch, it would be pretty amazing to see them and actually be able to speak with them in their native language after all this time. I can still remember what their house looks like, the shiitake mushroom log in their carport, the river and mountains nearby. So I am tempted to request to go to this farm and visit them along the way, even though I've already been to Saitama.
It's too early to do too much planning, since there is still sooooo much to be done for the parade, but I'm really looking forward to this!
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