Found this interesting

My principal recently started giving me his English newspapers to read to keep up with current affairs. Found this article pretty interesting. Everyone still working to keep the population up to date on the radiation situation. The latest measure.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Finally warm again and super happy for the heat but now we are in rainy season. When I heard that I just thought hurricane season .. been through plenty of those back home but was NOT aware of the big difference between these countries. For one thing lightening actually hits stuff here and THERE WAS A TORNADO!! It hit the prefecture below mine.

Bye bye bim yet again

Leaving home always makes me a bit sad but all good things must come to an end and all that jazz. I don't know how I feel this time I mean yes I don't want to leave so soon but at the same time it still hasn't full sunk in that I'm home and it's already time to leave.

Time to go again. Dreading the ridiculous amount flying I have to do again so soon. Time to suck it up and get it over with but I'll be back in no time though AND I'M BRINGING MY FRIENDS BOOYAH!! TOURISM!!

Tight schedule

Ok back home and super happy about happy to be among my people and just blend in for a change ... well as much as I ever do anyway. As much as I enjoy brig lazy an lounge around with only 2 1/2 days in bim. I have to true "relaxing" at top speed.

So what do you do with just one full day in a country??? Well to be honest my first thought was find the closest beach and go for a dip I missed the beach I thought long and hard and I thought of a million things I should do see as many relatives as I could, go for a drive around the island, maybe hit a spa or something but when it all came right down to it I just wanted to spend the day just being at home and hanging out with my family just keep it simple. And it was well worth the money. I missed my dialect, the simplicity of just being lazy without a care in the world and being able to talk to my family without Skype or Facebook or some form of social media aid.

I wish I had more time but that wasn't in the cards this time but oh well any time is better than nothing. I know everyone was as happy to see me as I was to see them which is all I could ask for.

Making the best of a bad situation

I recently lost my cousin to lupus and this really hit me pretty hard after seeing her hospitalized. Like any caring relative I made the attempt to attend to her funeral but because of unexpected changes in he funeral date I got stuck with an nonrefundable and unchangeable ticket.

This frustration and grief took a toll on me for sure. I'm not gonna lie that I was super annoyed with my family and delta for placing me in a position which cost me a considerable amount of time, effort, stress and money to have to forfeit attending the funeral and force me to fly on a incorrect date due to their inflexibility. Ok deep breath. Make that two. Nothing to be done but try to make the best of the hand I was dealt. New plan off to New York and then home to Barbados. No point stating in New York if I missed the purpose of my trip on the first place. Going to pay my respects to my family and then head home this definitely made me want to see them even if its just for 3 days.

I'll definitely gonna need a vacation after this.

Had a blast!!

So today was by far my favourite day in Korea. We went to a huge mall with an enormous amusement park inside I did EVERYTHING and and went ice skating for the first time and I loved it!!!

Definitely going to need lozenges after all that screaming, was definitely an awesome way to end my trip. All in all I had a great time in Korea.

Off to Seoul

Final day in Korea so decided to head to the capital city after all. I've had a lot of fun with my friend Charlie but now its time to kick it to the next level AMUSEMENT PARK!!!! Happy dance!!

Jumped on the KTX (Korea's bullet train) and it going to take about two and a half hours to get there. The weather isn't looking all that great but I'd feel terrible not seeing the capital. Fingers crossed.

Definitely not in Japan anymore!

Ok another day pretty much over and I'm having fun but definitely seeing the differences between Japanese and Korean culture.

I'm know that every place is different and you shouldn't expect places to all have major similarities to what you've grown accustomed to but I can't help bus notice that Koreans seem less "repressed" than the Japanese. I'm impressed with the open display of affection for some reason. Even with the language barrier you can tell they aren't afraid to ask for what they what or what they expect. But at the same time I kind of miss the Japanese level of politeness I've grown accustomed to.

Of course they still have a good level of customer service but for reason the local population comes across a tad pushy. I spoke to the manager of the guesthouse and he said that's the culture of busan they are tougher than people living in capital. Well time to head to the capital and compare. One thing for sure they don't seem intimidated by my "foreign presence" which I like they don't hesitate to come to me and talk to me and ask questions. Well let the exploring continue.

Korea so far

Ok. Day 2 and sitting a cute coffee shop and listening to John Mayor and finally soaking the fact that I'm in really in South Korea. The first day it felt like was still in japan just in different part of Japan. But some things definitely tell me I've left now.

First thing I noticed was the display I public affection, that was definitely something you don't see much of in Japan. Next thing was the lack of Japanese vehicles but the biggest thing was the outward distaste for the Japanese people. When I arrived at the guesthouse and I sat down with other local guests and I without thinking said something to my friend in Japanese one of the women said no we Koreans don't like the Japanese and the others nodded. It definitely shocked me I didn't expect to hear that so calmly said but even though that was said Japanese culture is here and accepted. Many of the guests had a basic understanding of Japanese so those with low levels of English spoke to us in Japanese. Well let's not judge an entire people by the words of the few.

Even though I had that situation I gotta say i like a lot of things here cost of living is much lower than Japan so money goes a lot further, there is a lot of things to see in busan to the point I had to cancel my trip to seoul because there is so much stuff I still want to see.

Time to get out of here and go and explore some more!!

South Korea for spring vacay YAY!!

Spring vacation is here now so no classes and no sense in me sitting at my desk and doing nothing so time for a new adventure! As much as I love exploring around Japan it's time to start taking advantage of my geographical location and start seeing some of the nearby countries .. first stop SOUTH KOREA!! SOOOO EXCITED!! I've wanted to go to Korea since I was a teen when I started participating in Tae Kwon Do the Korean national sport and now I'm going to go yay!!

JUST GOT AN AMAZING ASSIGNMENT!!

I know I'm always singing my base school's praises but it honestly deserves it. My principal has just given me an amazing opportunity! He is very interested in helping me promote Japan to Barbadian public and beyond and now he has given me permission to spend my summer exploring Japan so I can write about my experiences! I can't tell you how amazing this is! Normally we are expected to stay at work during summer vacation while the students are away and honestly do nothing ... a waste!! I love that Bob (my nickname for the principal) and I on the same page and we both want to spread the Japan message any way we can. So I've decided to spend about 2 weeks going around Japan! I CAN'T WAIT!!

MEDS MEDS MEDS!

Anybody looking to move to Japan the 3 things you MUST NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT western strength toothpaste, deodorant and MEDICINE. Yeah sure you can import the first 2 but the last bit u might need to get creative to get it in.

These 3 things here are extremely weak and toothpaste doesn't have fluoride and the other 2 half the strength. Unfortunately I'm rationing my medicine from home since I've been sick a lot lately so it's pretty depleted. Yet again I used the medicine the doc gave me and it works while you take it (and prepare to be shocked by the insane amounts you have to take for anything) and as soon and the dosages are finished I find that I'm still sick! These things are more suppressants than anything else, frustrating. The mind blowing thing is that a lot of over the counter meds we would get back home are ILLEGAL in Japan!!!! Example NyQuil but if u have it at he airport and you found with it no worries it will just be taken from you no cuffs lol. Things like panadols are fine and some cough syrups are ok from outside.

I should have brought more meds from home. Ah well...

Home sick ... AGAIN

As much as I have come to love winter, I definitely don't love how often you get sick here. Fukushima is pretty cold, I can't remember the last time we were in double digit temps yesterday was 8C the warmest I've felt in months. Anyway, yeah sick again :(. This came on faster than normal, on Wednesday I went outside for a few minutes and came back inside with a sore throat and by the next day I had a high fever and dizzy with swollen tonsils to boot and was taken to the doctor. I missed my school graduation because I was resting in the sick bay.

Being surrounded by other sick people doesn't help either. One of my workmates is convinced she gave it to me and she feels terrible but I doubt if she had anything to do with it or is she's solely responsible. It's a harsh cold climate, taking precautions can only do so much. Anyway going back to bed, can't really eat because swallowing too much is out of the question. I can't believe I'm sick again for the third time in 2 months. Ah well ...

Learn how to fake it

Hahahahah this morning was a mad dash for the bus but here appearances are everything. I was all cool and collected as I walked to the bus. Unknown to anyone looking underneath my coat and cool exterior was my frantic rush for the bus. Pants barely on, make up smeared on in 15 seconds, hair just done 5 minutes before, bag filled with all kinds of random junk in case I might have forgotten something important in a panicked rush so when in doubt bring EVERYTHING!!!

2 mins til the bus arrives ready to bolt to the bus stop but never run walk feverishly with purpose, last thing you wanna do is scare the natives blowing pass them everything freaks them out and I don't wanna be responsible for causing a stroke hahahahaha. If it wasn't for the bleeding 2 hour commute to my southern schools I wouldn't have to be so panicked to miss any of my connections to get there. Deep breath.

Ah well I made it and it's Friday. Cheers to the freaking weekend finally.

Hunt for a dentist

Moving to another country has its perks; fresh start, new possibilities and blah blah blah. But the thing about moving is that fresh start means having to do every from scratch.

One of the first things I started to look for was an English speaking doctor. It's important yeah but I HATE doctors I always have but here people go to the doctor quickly at the first sign of trouble which is wise but I don't I literally try to run away when I get sick and my teachers want to take me.

Now the hunt is on for an English speaking dentist. I hate them too, maybe it's the white coat thing that just turns me off or the white sterile feel of medical centers but I get that "bolt" feeling when I hear that name too. But I've decided to get braces while I'm here. I would have waited until after Japan to do it back home but I honestly don't know when I want to do that.

Ugg I need a car

Yet another snowy rainy morning where I have to wait for the bus that's running late yet again. Don't get me wrong the buses here are far more efficient than buses home by far but winter conditions and winter traffic makes getting to work on time a hit and miss thing. Today must be crazy cold because I an actually see my breath in the bus.

Janelle Monae :Cold War

I came across this performance while bored on the bus and must have played this 10 times today. I just love her ^_^

To eat or not to eat

I was recently discussing being at an enkai and being offered shark fin soup as one of the courses at the dinner. I am personally against shark fin as I think shark fin fishing is very inhumane. Guess I have a problem with hunting the animal solely for its fin and discarding the rest of the fish sometimes ALIVE. I feel the same way for a lot of other animal practices but I brought this up when you get to Japan you are faced with a lot of new things to try and its a tricky thing sometimes to stay true to yourself and not offend your hosts.

Depending on where you are from a whole lot may not be know about customs about you country so be prepared for some eyebrow raising behaviour at times. Like they say when in Rome, but most people are very open to personal believes and won't take offense but I try to be as polite about some things as possible without making my Japanese host feel offended or uncomfortable. Just try to be as polite as possible and explain if you can and focus of something that you really are enjoying and enjoy yourself and bride to gap.

Winter hair care

What I love about being I Japan is that they are more liberal with the idea of how you style your hair for work. Back how most places preferred more conservative styles but here the line is drawn at over the top hair colour.

That's great but my biggest issue is caring for my natural hair here. Its not like you can walk to a corner store and get afro hair care products so it's made me extra protective of my hair. Now that it's winter the gloves are off!! Winter conditions are murder on black hair and skin (I'll talk about that later) and being a complete novice at winter hair care you gotta hit the ground running. Lucky for me I've been doing my own hair for years I dunno what I would do if I couldn't, many girls had resorted to cutting their hair off, wearing wig or relaxing it so they could manage.

Keep your cool

Ok. Today is the long flight back to Japan and thank god I decided to get to the airport 4 hours early cuz it was one turn around after the other ugg.

Assuming that my flight back to Japan was also on AA I went to the wrong terminal. On top of that the checking agents had a hell of a time figuring out my Japanese visa .... that was a panic moment. When that was finally sorted that was a huge relief but then when I tried to find out where I needed to go I got sent to the wrong terminal again. Some workers were less than helpful so after a while I just had to say "yuh know what ... screw this I'll figure it out myself!"

So 2 wrong terminals later I found where I had to go and finally could let go of the stress and anxiety of the morning. Finally siting here relaxing sipping some coffee and a so so at best croissant - kinda scared to keep eating it but hey.

As I sit here I wonder how it's going to be for me to readjust to life in Japan. I am excited to see my friends over there and my teachers and my kids. I dunno how easy it's gonna be to get back into the swing of things and go back to work everyday after spending everyday partying, shopping and going to the beach lol. I think the toughest thing is gonna be going to work the day after I get back, I think the jetlag is gonna be ... interesting. I think my first week will be spent in nurse tanaka's sick bay napping lol I really miss her she so adorable.

I just wish there was a faster way back to Japan, right now I'm worried about being sick on the plane again. For the last few flights I've gotten sick and I DON'T wanna go through that on this flight. Trying to keep my cool.

Hang in there Japan I'm almost there.

Bye bye bim until next time

As I start my long trek back to my second home I'm going through a lot of mixed emotions. The trip was well worth it. I had an incredible time with my friends and family and it was great to revisit my old stomping grounds.

I take back with my sun kissed skin luggage full of souvenirs and a heart full of memories. I guess anyone would have the wudda cudda shudda in the back of their minds about more things they think they should have done on vacay but nah I loved it the way it was. It was great to hang out with my family in person although they wanna drive me up a wall from time to time but they wouldn't be my family if they didn't.

Now it's off to New York for a few days to climatize to prep for the cold of northern Japan. To be honest I don't have any real plans for my time there just hang with family I haven't seen in a bit.

Bye Bim see you this Christmas. Lots of love. Xxx

Being a cultural ambassador

For all ALTS a big part of your job is being a cultural ambassador for your country, however, you are also an ambassador for Japan when you return home.

Since returning home on vacation I found myself fielding so many questions about my experiences there so far and life in Japan on a whole. That ability to answer any question also comes from being recognized from a program I did while in Japan about my life there. I'm still so surprised that I've been recognized by many people here at home. I love to see the level of interest in Japan and the amount of people that have become interested in going to Japan since hearing about my time there. For many people they were not aware of the JET Programme and since hearing about it they've become very interested in participating on the programme. I really makes me happy that I am happy to be able to help anyone in any way to to get more Barbadians to take part in this amazing experience.

Since being home I've appeared on the national morning program and been asked to talk people about Japan. I am so proud to be more than just another participant on this Programme and I fell like I am truly making a difference in people's lives and I'm not just being there only getting what I want out of the experience and leaving with the memories. My hope is that I can increase the amount of annual applicants and participants accepted in the coming years. At the moment they only take about 3 participants a year and I would love to see an increase in bajan influence over here similar to what Jamaica currently has. This too is influenced by the work done by bajans currently here. As there are so few if us over there our behaviour and our work directly influences the perception on our country and the future desire schools will have to have more of us in the future. This is something we all take very seriously and will continue to do.

Like I said before I love what I do and will continue to do this for as long as I can. :)

Reverse culture shock ( I thought I had posted this)

This is something that has honestly hit me like a ton of bricks. Living in japan has conditioned me for some serious isolation, very few black people and even fewer Caribbean people! In my area I was the only Caribbean person until recently when I was joined by a few Jamaicans. You become extremely accustomed to be rare and being starred at and seeing your own people once in a blue moon. Coming home or the holidays has seriously sent my system into shock.

After leaving Fukushima I headed to Narita airport and even there I saw more black people in the waiting area than I had seen in months in my area. That took some adjusting too. I found myself just constantly looking at them and acting just like the locals in my area when they saw me when I first arrived lol. When I arrived in New York this feeling and behavior was put into overdrive!!! Black people everywhere.!! It was awesome and at the same time unnerving it went from a trickle to flood in 13 hours.

Being in Barbados was yet another somewhat big readjustment. It's great I be home even for a little while, I missed my family, friends, food and the temperature but I found it somewhat odd. When I first arrived I was overjoyed to back in Bim but it didn't feel real to me. Walking around area and going to my favourite places felt surreal I didn't really feel like I was actually there. I kept asking myself was ever really in Japan??? I kept looking at photos in my phone to remind myself it was all real.

THINGS I MISSED
I definitely missed my family and friends like crazy. It's amazing to see them and hang out and just act crazy like the old days.

I miss the temperature. I love the new experience of winter but sometimes I miss not having to layer everyday. Being an island girl I kinda miss just plain old shorts and a t-shirt thing.

I miss that some things are are exactly the same as when I left. I love the way the island vibe and one love mentality. Nothing will change that about my people. I love that my country has avoided becoming a dangerous place to live. I can walk around at any time of day and feel safe.

THINGS I DON'T MISS
I have to say that Japan has definitely spoiled me. Japan is gotten me over the "island time living". Now I live on Japanese behaviour so on time is late and 10 mins early is on time and I like that ... Keeps you sharp. If you like that kinda of living sometimes Barbados will drive you CRAZY!!!!! Of course here is a high level of professionalism but in comparison to Japan it has a ways to go.

Many places in bim must be commended for their customer service but some place truly need to revise their policies or have more checks and balances for staff. I don't miss the time it sometimes takes to get things done.

Ah well i guess it all adds to it's charm. One thing I'll say bim preps you for living anywhere and will always love it for that lol.

Home for the holidays

Like so many people around the world I decided to head home for the holidays. Nothin is better than being surrounded by friends and family during this special time of year. However, unlike many other people, that decision was easy for me to make bus a difficult task to execute.

My decision meant a 170 mile train ride to Narita airport, a 13 hour 6745 mile flight to New York and another 6 hour another roughly 3000 miles to Barbados via Miami with a whopping 5K price tag. All I can say is there is no place like home so it was well worth it.

Coming home was exciting yet sad one. I was ex

I'm back!!!!!

Finally back in Japan and finally back on my data plan so I can upload new blogs. Yeah yeah I know I could have just sat around and typed my blogs at a computer but come on.... I was on vacation. So without further adue time to upload all the handful blogs I had some free time to do.