Early on today at school Yamamoto sensei came to me and asked me about arrangements for returning to my country.

The JET program provides an airline ticket to Japan, and another ticket back at the end of your contract. It is a really nice deal, because it takes a lot of the burden off the participant, and allows them to get a decent start in Japan when they arrive without having to worry about being in debt for the cost of their flight.

I remember when I first arrived I was worried about the logistics of getting home – the flight would be back to Los Angeles, and I’d need to have somebody either pick me up there or fly up to San Francisco. I worried about what I would do after JET and where I would live, where I would find good Japanese food again, how I would keep up with my Japanese language.

If you’ve been reading this journal for a while you know that all these issues are pretty much resolved now. I haven’t thought about those feelings for a long time, but when they asked me about my return ticket this morning it really took me back.

If you are staying in Japan, you aren’t entitled to the ticket, and I’m not really interested in a one way ticket to Los Angeles anyway. I explained the situation, and everyone was happy and relieved that I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of not getting the ticket. I’ve heard stories of other JETs who get the cash for the ticket and then keep the money and stick around, so I’m sure they are always wary of some weird situation.

Late in the morning some of my students showed up in my classroom and waited patiently for almost 20 minutes for me to show up. Unfortunately for them, they were in the wrong place. Because the hallways are silent during the class they couldn’t move them back to where they were supposed to be, so their teacher had to track them down and teach them in my classroom. I went up there and said hello, and we chatted for about five minutes, and then I came back. For some reason this year has been full of little mistakes by either the teachers or the students, and we’re always having problems getting the right people in the right place. The last two years was pretty much trouble free – I don’t know what the difference is this year.

I’m home now and I’ve got a salad waiting for when Kuniko gets home. We’re trying to eat less, especially after the monster ham and avocado sandwiches last night. The salad is quite modest, really. Really!

As usual Monday was my easy day, and I got lots of flashcards finished off that I put off over the weekend. Kuniko cooked up a special lunch for me, and it was a pleasure to eat that midway through my day.

Tonight I made avocado, ham and cheese sandwiches on toasted French rolls for dinner, and now we’re headed to bed. I’m tired out from studying all day. I need some deep sleep…

This afternoon we spent time with a rental agent driving around the area looking for a new place to live. We looked at six or seven places, and one thing I can say about the experience was that everything was really big. You think Japan and you think tiny places, but all the ones we saw were very large, with plenty of room for all our stuff and maybe more. Location is important in any country, but it is especially important in Japan were the closest train station determines the price of the place. As you might expect, the farther we were from a train station the bigger and nicer places tended to become. If you didn’t mind a short bus ride or a long walk you could get a big place for a pretty good price.

Since Kuniko and I both will rely on trains to get around, we’re looking for something close to a station. There were two places in Okubo that were close to the station, and close to a big shopping center that we often visit, but neither of them grabbed us. One was facing the railroad tracks, and I think that could get a little noisy. I think we decided to keep looking, since we do have almost a month left to look around.

In the evening Kuniko took off for the second party, so I hung out at home and did a little bit of studying. I made a call to Hasegawa sensei, the former director of the Hyogo Board of Education. He’s got a really cushy research job now that involves working with the principals of all the public high schools in Hyogo. I was making the call to get back in touch and tell him that I’m in the market for a job in Japan. It was a classic moment, though, when I finally got around to the meat of the conversation and he suddenly started saying, “Hello? Hello? I think my connection is dropping…” That’s probably what I would say if some foreigner was asking me for a big favor. We got a good connection going soon after, and we talked for quite a while. He’s a really nice guy with a good sense of humor. Hopefully we can meet up and have drinks sometime soon.

Around 7:30 I went over to the local ramen restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat, and I was surprised to find the place packed. I ordered up a bowl of noodles and a beer, and it took almost twenty minutes to arrive. I was pleased to see that they were doing well.

Kuniko got home around 10:45, and so we did a quick shopping trip at IY before they closed and then headed home. It is going to be a pretty easy week for me at school, and I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday night Kuniko and I went over to visit Kuniko’s folks. We wanted to deliver some flowers in advance of Mother’s Day on Sunday. We’re going to be a little busy on Sunday, so we wanted to say hello. They were a little surprised that we were there – Kuniko had left a message but they didn’t get it.

We had some coffee and gave them flowers and chatted for a while. Kuniko and I were both tired, so we headed back home early.

This morning we slept in, and I think we might have slept right through the community clean up hour. Usually it is on Saturday, but because of the rain they must have postponed it until today. Oops.

In the morning I got a phone call from a guy that wants to hire me to work at his brand new conversation school that is opening in Kobe. I applied for the job a while back, but the more I find out about it, the more I get nervous. The guy was nice to talk to, though, and I felt a little better about the situation after talking with him. If they hire me I will be the most experienced teacher there – that’s a scary thought. The guy mentioned that one of the reasons he is moving back to Japan (he’s a Japanese American) is that a fortune teller in Takasago told him that it was the right thing to do. Red flag!

We’re going to head into Akashi to look at a few places to live soon, and then in the evening Kuniko is going to a second party for a friend’s wedding. I’ll be flying solo tonight and I’m seriously considering a big bowl of ramen for dinner….

I’m catching up after a few busy days. Thursday went pretty smoothly, but Friday I went out after work with Antoine, and we both ended up drinking a little too much. We hopped from place to place – we played pool, had hamburgers at Star Child (I had a chili cheese burger. Wow!), the Lock Up, and finally ended at the Belgian Beer place which is a new thing for us – usually we begin there.

I think we had just ordered up a sho-chu and a whiskey, and soon after that Kuniko called and she came over. She was just the wakeup call we needed, and we wrapped things up and headed home. It was late, and we caught the second to last train of the day, so we pulled in at home after one in the morning.

I got up this morning early with Kuniko since she had to go in and teach a couple of classes. I had a bit of a hangover, but nothing too bad. I hope Antoine is feeling OK, too. We’ll have to wait a long time before we do that again.

Every two weeks on Wednesday, I have a really busy schedule. Today was hectic, and it reminded me what other teacher’s normal schedules are like. The good news is that I did all the preparations earlier, so things went really smoothly.

I met with Mori sensei today, and gave her my draft for our next lesson. We’ve had differences in the past on how a lesson should run – I won’t get into it here. She looked it over, asked a few questions, and we decided to try it as is. Let’s hope it works!

In my three years in Japan I’ve noticed one thing that would make you cringe if you knew it… Japanese men usually don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. I know, I know, there are exceptions, but I have noticed that most guys at my school or people in public bathrooms rarely wash their hands when they finish up their business. It’s enough to make you want to never shake another hand at a party. Luckily bowing is more common here – I’ll stick to that. Seriously – is it a strange cultural phenomenon? I told Kuniko and she wasn’t so surprised. What’s the deal?

We had a really boring meeting in the afternoon, mainly talking about a new performance review system that sounds a lot like what I dealt with back in the U.S. It’s a new idea here in the Japanese public school system. Traditionally here you just get older and your pay goes up. It explains why so many teachers sit around playing solitaire and sleep through meetings. I’ll tell you this – those same teachers were paying very close attention to our meeting today. There is some concern, but underneath it I think that everyone believes that basically it will end up being the same system, with a new coat of paint on top. Since I’m outta here in a few months, I didn’t really concern myself too much with it.

It’s taco night here at the Fredricks’ household – as soon as Kuniko gets home we’ll spin the tortillas and get the party started. I’m seriously craving Mexican food…

Kuniko was lucky enough to have today off from work, but she got up early, heated up my bath, made me breakfast and lunch, and gave me a kiss out the door as I left at 6:30. Wow.

I did more lesson planning at work, and had a good time chatting with students both in class and outside of class. I am always amazed at how hard the students will try to speak English when they aren’t in the classroom. Somebody ought to take that idea and run with it.

During the morning I followed up on a suggestion to track down Hasegawa sensei, the former director of the board of education in Hyogo prefecture. My principal thought he may have some job leads, so I spent a lot of time on the phone and finally figured out where he was. I love trying to speak on the phone in Japanese, especially figuring out all the polite things to say. I wish I could just call people all day to practice more.

I will confess to hitting the hockey websites now and then during the day to keep track of two NHL playoff games – Buffalo vs. Ottawa and San Jose vs. Edmonton. Of course I don’t get hockey on TV here, so I need to follow them on the websites. I was very pleased when both Buffalo and San Jose won their game today.

As part of the full service that Kuniko performed today, she picked me up in front of the school when I got off work, so I really had it easy. We came home and had salmon for dinner, and sat around relaxing. Kuniko had even done the laundry, washed the bathtub, and did the dishes.

My head and shoulders were still hurting, so I went over to Ito Yokado to get another massage. This time I had them work on my shoulders and neck, and it was the best money I’ve spent. It was a little disturbing to hear all the cracking and popping going on inside my sore muscles, but the lady did a great job, and I came out of there feeling like a million yen. I could get used to heading over there now and then for a rubdown. Maybe I’ll get addicted to going there like the old men here who get addicted to hostess bars. Then again, maybe not.

I’m off to bed soon. It’s a seriously busy day at school tomorrow, so I better get some rest.

I’m back in the swing of things at work – vacation is over and today I was spending most of my time planning lessons for this week and next. The history teacher was happy to see me again, and told me that he spent the whole holiday watching movies at home, so that means he’ll have loads of questions. One of the questions today was “Does making out mean having sex?” Yikes.

I had only one class in the afternoon, and it went fairly well. The students were very active and were dying to volunteer to speak English. I kind of missed my students while I was on vacation, so I was glad to be back in front of them teaching.

The weather is getting warmer and warmer, and today I went to school wearing just a long sleeve shirt and slacks – no jacket required.

Tonight Kuniko has a school welcome party to attend, so I was home alone this evening. I had some ham and a caesar salad, and sat around watching TV and doing some last minute flashcards. I limited myself to one hour on the Nintendo… but I’d love to play more. It is seriously addictive.

Kuniko had to go in to work this morning, and so I decided to get up early with her and take the trip into Kobe. While she was at work I went hiking on the eastern side of mount Rokko, a place I have never hiked before.

I started at Rokko Michi station, and headed due north up the hillside. I passed lots of interesting neighborhoods, and it was fun to see a side of Kobe that I haven’t seen before. There was a women’s college up there, and some really interesting apartments built into the side of a hill. I took plenty of pictures, too. Some of them are here.

I hiked to the cable car station, and then took that to the top and enjoyed walking around the area. There were a lot of roads and lots of houses – it was like a small town up there. My first stop was a farm and dairy that I have been wanting to visit for a long time. Unfortunately, the farm was more of a petting zoo, and it was a big tourist attraction. To get to the dairy and the cheese you had to pay admission to the petting zoo, and I ended up doing my shopping at a tourist shop just outside the farm.

I managed to get some cheese there, although their selection was surprisingly slim. I did drink a glass of fresh milk, which was quite good. I also got a chance to buy a local beer, and later in the evening when I drank it it went down quite well. Very good, but a little too expensive.

I made the long descent down the hill into Kobe, and the downhill trek took almost an hour. It would have taken a lot longer going up that way – I’m glad I took the cable car. Back down in Kobe I bought a few games for the Nintendo, and that was quite an experience. I knew about a used game shop in Sannomiya, but I haven’t actually been inside. I went today thinking I might save some money, and it turned out that there were games there, but not the games that I was looking for. The games all had anime pictures of girls in short skirts and there were just guys buying them. Yikes – I got out of there quick.

Finally I picked up what I needed, and met up with Kuniko. We met up for some lunch, and then did a little shopping around the area. Finally we came on home and we’ve been resting our weary feet. Kuniko cooked a really good dinner – a garlic, shrimp and rice dish with miso soup. I think the rest of the evening will be more of the same, and then tomorrow we’ll try to enjoy our last day of this long vacation.

We are close to getting our tickets booked for Europe this August. It is turning out to be a real adventure. More on that later…

Friday was a pretty mellow day. We stayed in most of the day doing laundry and playing with our new Nintendo DS lite that arrived. We’ve been doing a brain training software that is kind of fun. It’s a real challenge for Kuniko, but nearly impossible for me since it’s not in my native language. My scores are always really low, and I try to use the language thing as an excuse, but so far, it’s not working.

In the evening we went over to Kuniko’s parents’ house for dinner. Her dad was late getting back, so we went ahead and ate dinner without him. When he did get home he didn’t mind that we ate first, and I think everyone was just happy that he didn’t get in an accident or something. I drink whiskey with him and we talked about all kinds of things. We ate easter chocolates that my aunt and uncle had sent. They really enjoyed those, and were really happy to exchange presents. They’re already thinking of something else to send…

I woke up today with no headache, and I’ve been feeling fine all day today. I’m off the medicine, even though I have lots left. Maybe it’s better to stay away from the painkillers and muscle relaxants for a while. Even though the headache is gone, there is still a little soreness in and around my head. My teeth hurt from clenching.

Kuniko and I went into Akashi this morning. We did something I haven’t done in nearly five years – we went geocaching. We walked around with my old GPS unit inside of Akashi park until we finally found a cache, but in a surprise move the cache only contained a map to another cache. We followed the map carefully, with clues like “count the number of stones on your right as you walk” etc, and then finally found the cache. We had to walk by two lovebirds making out to get there, and they didn’t really like the intrusion.

Kuniko’s opinion of the treasure hunt was “It was fun.” I suppose we’ll do it again sometime. There are not as many around Japan as there are in the U.S., but I think there are some in Kobe to try out, so maybe we’ll do that next.

After treasure hunting we did another search, and stopped by an apartment hunting place to look for a new place to live. We’ll be moving in July, so we have started looking at places. We’re pretty flexible on location, but we really want to be near a train station (preferably the JR line) and also near a big grocery store. With Kuniko’s car Carrefour is not so far away, so we can always stock up on cheese and wine when we need it.

For lunch we ate at Mister Donut. I know what you are thinking – eating donuts for lunch is not a healthy thing, but they actually have some new lunch items on their menu. We had two different noodle dishes, and they both were really good. They came with some dim sum on the side, and we were both impressed. I could have eaten more, though. We did buy some donuts for breakfast tomorrow.

We did a little bit more shopping in the area and then headed home. We made one last stop at IY and then came back here. Kuniko worked on a project to get all our favorite recipes organized into folders, and I worked on flashcards and fooled around on the computer.

Kuniko and I have been lusting over the new Nintendo DS Lite that came out in Japan a while ago. They have been sold out here and are really tough to come by. Yes, I want to play games with it and so does Kuniko, but the clincher came the other day when I found a program that will help you learn how to write Japanese characters. They also have programs to learn foreign languages, including English. The adult market is thriving. We were able to order one through Amazon Japan, so if all goes well we’ll have it within a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to try it out.

Soon Kuniko is headed over with another teacher to pay a visit to a student that needs a little extra attention, and when she gets back we’re having a sushi dish for dinner. Then we’ll catch a DVD that we rented the other day and relax. This long holiday is turning out pretty nice.

Tuesday I had two classes during the day, and a monster headache to keep me occupied in between. Although I’ve had a cold and a headache the last couple of days, I’ve been avoiding the aspirin, but finally Tuesday afternoon I buckled and took four aspirin. Unfortunately it didn’t even make a dent. Golden Week is from Wednesday to Friday, and usually most places are closed, so Kuniko convinced me to see a doctor in the evening.

When she got home Kuniko drove me to a hospital that was still open, and we talked with a nice doctor who seemed slightly crazy and very nerdy. He was really nice, though, and patient with us. He had me laughing (albeit nervously) and in the end offered to give me an injection in the back of my head to stop the pain. It was tempting, but a little scary. I finally decided to just go with the drugs, so I got a prescription for some painkillers, muscle relaxants, and even some kind of medicine patch to wear on the painful areas.

We got the prescription filled at a nearby pharmacy, and a very serious pharmacist cautioned me about all the medicines. She was completely serious – like the world hung on the balance of my use of these drugs. I think maybe she could have used some of my drugs as well.

After dinner I took the medicine and applied a patch, and things started getting much better. The headache diminished somewhat, and by bedtime it was only a minor irritant. Good advice from Kuniko – I’m glad I went to see the doc.

I woke up this morning with a serious sore throat which promises to turn into a cold by mid-week. I’ve had a headache now for the past five days, and today I just kind of lost my appetite. Kuniko got up early and made breakfast and lunch for us, and that let me sleep in a little bit which felt good.

At school I had just one class during fifth period, so I put in a request to go home early right after the class, and then I went home and slept for a few hours. Now I’m up and about, but getting ready to lay down again. I’ve got just one more day to get through at school tomorrow, and then I’ve got five days off in a row.

I definitely got some sleep in this morning, but Kuniko was up early. She was cleaning house and doing laundry early on. The weather was beautiful today, and so we made some plans to go out and enjoy it.

Kuniko’s sister was still in town, so they decided to do a little shopping at the outlet mall in Tarumi. I came along and we had a good time walking around and seeing everything there. There were lots of people at the mall, and so I enjoyed people watching quite a bit.

We got home from shopping and had Kuniko’s sister come up for snacks and a couple of games of Sorry. She learned quickly, and won the first game she played. After a few games she decided to head on out. Kuniko and I did some shopping at Carrefour and then came on back home, pretty worn out. We’ve both got to work tomorrow, so it should be a pretty mellow night tonight. In addition, I’m feeling a little sickness coming on – maybe a cold. Just in time for the Golden Week holidays…

Saturday Kuniko got up early and headed into Kobe to get ready for the concert, and I followed shortly thereafter, arriving a little earlier at a station called Rokkomichi. I was pleasantly surprised with the area. It had a nice feel to it, and it was in the shadow of Rokko mountain so there were lots of trees and hills nearby. It might be a place to look at someday to live.

I took a short hike on faith and managed to find the music hall, and since I had a little time I went to a nearby restaurant for some okonomiyaki, since I had heard that the concert could last almost three hours. I didn’t want my stomach growling during that time, so I ate a nice lunch and then headed over.

In the lobby of the concert hall I met up with Kuniko and was introduced to her students, both current and last year’s students. They all seemed really nice, and I think they were excited about the show.

I went inside and sat with two of Kuniko’s foreign students – she is teaching them Japanese. They are exchange students from overseas – Haley is from Canada and Jess is from Australia. It was my first time meeting Jess, but she seems like a smart girl and I think they are really enjoying their experience in Japan.

The concert was divided into three parts, and each one lasted about 40 minutes. The students did great – I enjoyed the show. The last part was an orchestra type arrangement, with almost twenty people playing various instruments, mostly the mandolin guitar.

At the end of the show they had a little tribute for two members of the club that are approaching graduation. It was their last concert, so there was a lot of tears and emotion.

Once the show wrapped up I headed back home, and Kuniko headed to Okayama to catch the tail end of a wedding party for one of her friends. In the evening I headed to Denya for some yakitori and had the chance to chat with one of the regular’s brother-in-law, who was a really nice guy. He bought me a couple of beers, and then put in a call to his daughter who came bearing a photo album. They pulled out a picture of me with his brother-in-law, and gave me the pictures. He was a really nice guy, but I had a hard time understanding his Japanese. The master was put in the position of being the interpreter. He translated the very colloquial local tongue into standard Japanese for me – a Japanese to Japanese interpreter.

The yakitori also had a new item on the menu, a steak. He grills up the steak just how you want it, and then serves it cut into strips. The price is right and the flavor was awesome. After the yakitori I headed over to IY and discovered some interesting things on the third floor. Bugs are really popular here in Japan, and they had a temporary wooden cage built and it was filled with insects – giant beetles – crawling around. Kids can buy them and they use them as pets.

Kuniko got home at a reasonable hour thanks to her sister, who drove her back from the wedding party in Okayama. We get a chance to sleep in on Sunday, so that is something to look forward to!