First, congratulations on the apartment! Iām not sure whether to wish you good luck at becoming an organizer type or just greater success at managing despite not organizing. Iām definitely in the latter camp.
Plain white is terrible, speaking as a non-uterus owner (though there are countries I suppose who would consider my wife as chattel).
Thank you! While I did do an overhaul of my apartment last year which improved things significantly, my brain just struggles with the whole organizing thing. Like āwhat do you mean more stuff (boxes, shelves, etc.) will make my place look like it has less stuff?ā and apparently I have an issue with object permanence or something because if I canāt see an object I forget it exists. Possible solutions for this are clear boxes or a label maker. My mother would hate it but function over fashion is the name of the game (for reference, my dad has a label maker and they have opposite opinions about it lol).
And yet somehow it is the most popular color of sheets. Like technically it is so you can bleach your sheets but who is out here bleaching their sheets all the time? Not all of us want baby nursery pastels and also who wants to bleach their sheets all the time? Itās stinky and damages the fabric. You are also at all times one nosebleed or scab opening in your sleep away from ruined sheets. Thatās just too much worrying for a place where you are supposed to be relaxed.
oooo very sweet C:
nice that you make your wall of memories on that fridge now ^^
im sure that the amount of bureaucracy and stalling would be so annoying that they would DREAD having to give up on you so late in the process and having to do all of the paperwork again ^^
congrats on the apartment though C:
isnt japanese horror like really popular because of how weird it is? xdddd
i heard from my american friends that they keep getting hammered with phone calls every day, multiple times a day, and most of them are telemarketers, but you canāt mute them because they always call from a different number, sooo, hold in there queenofthegods 
xddd
xddd
that could be pretty cute in a certain context, but im in general less content with that approach because im of the mind that making yourself smaller for other people is contagious and you might internalize the value of not standing out, so im definitely on the queer side of things and team teeth ring and bleached hair rings xdddd
that being said, that sounds very japanese and itās very sweet that you think of your students C:
isnt that just the default color without any extra colorings? i dont know how the process of producing sheets works like, but i imagine that bleaching is a part of the process for any color, and white is just the easiest to manufacture ^^
ā¦Iāve had your log on āTrackingā and havenāt been getting any updates, so Iāve missed all of the stress/chaos youāve been maneuvering through through the job/apartment hunt.
ā¦I think itās so, so great that you made a thick manual for your āreplacementā. I, of course, vote for ātellāem everythingāā¦ Because then it may be there for when they are ready to absorb what you are attempting to give them a heads up about.
ā¦I am a stupidly HUGE fan of bookshelves. As ADHD and usually getting through each day in cope mode, I usually use visual cues for remembering things, so I really understand when you said that you choose visual as best assistance to functional life.
ā¦Muji has my favorite clear stuff storage bins! I had to special order similar items over the Internet here in Chicago after much researchā¦ And then there they were, all neatly on the shelf in the store in Japanā¦
ā¦ If you use a Sharpie to label things, it can be wiped off with a napkin dipped in isopropyl/rubbing alcoholā¦
(This coming from home tie dye knowledge, not from industrial processes, but..) most synthetic dyes would go over ānaturalā colored fabric (yellowish, usually, but depends on the fiber) just fine. Iād expect itās probably only white fabrics that need to be bleached. Even pastels will go over unbleached colors just fine, but you do have to use a bit of color theory to get your expected final color.
16 lessons and 292 reviews
appeased the owl
zoom meeting with realtor
Started the day with a somewhat absurd amount of reviews and was busy actually working until the last hour and decided to see how many I could blast through before work ends. Sometimes the flying through works better than actually trying to pay attention. Kind of like I can spell better in writing than just in my brain, the body remembers but the brain doesnāt.
Because the April schedule came out on Friday, there are more and more people who know Iām leaving but we still canāt talk about it, just quiet whispers when others canāt hear. This is all strange to me but whatever. The teacher I donāt like was so chill today and we could just work together normally, it was so calm. Why couldnāt it be like this every day the past three years lol. She did follow me to the entrance to ask me if my last day is next Friday, and as much as I donāt want to tell her I just answered yes because it is my last day of the year but also my last day in general. She is already getting on me about cleaning my desk but I cleared out most of it a couple weeks ago so there isnāt much to do. This isnāt someone I want to share my leaving with however she is my closest coworker so it makes sense she knows. For now I feel kinda neutral about leaving but I fear I will be crying next week. Or, at the 6th graderās graduation? Looks like I can swing attending that.
Today I had three 4th graders run up to me and say āIām happy to see you!ā in varying degrees of fluency (all acceptable and adorable). No idea where that came from but their teacher came up to me and asked if anyone had come up to me, so I asked him what was going on. Apparently they are reading Swan Lake in Japanese class and because a character is a foreigner they used that phrase so some kids decided to yell it at me before running to the buses 
. The only Swan Lake story I know if the Barbie movie version so not entirely sure what is going on, but kids yelling stuff at you is always cute.
Had my meeting with the realtor again to go over some paperwork stuff so I can rent my new apartment. However, this time Mr. Engineer came to help! (over Zoom that is) Idk if this is specific to me or if others experience this, but whenever I am in some sort of interaction in Japan and I have a Japanese person with me, my brain just turns off and stops understanding Japanese. Now part of that is because the other person will go back to normal speed and language level Japanese, which is still a challenge for me of course. A big part of it is just my brain though. Like Mr. Engineer was asking questions and I didnāt even know where we were on the page 
. Because of the brain turning off effect I do often request to do things myself so I actually know what is going on. Did manage to lock in and at least partially follow the explanation though. The other reason I try to do things alone is if I start off going with a Japanese person, the other person will just speak to the Japanese person the whole time and not acknowledge me or not take me seriously. It sounds counterintuitive to not take someone with you for these things, but Iāve found it works better. However, for really important things like an apartment contract, some backup is appreciated. Just have to remind myself to lock in. Does anyone else experience this or is it just me?
As like with my last big move, the stress is killing me. This one is less intense I suppose because I am not moving to a different country. Still stressing me out though. My screen addiction is out of control and Iām getting nothing done. What I desperately want to do is going window shopping just to get an idea of all the things I will need and where to get them for my new place. My current place is furnished so I have to get all new stuff for the apartment. There is going to be some overlap of moving and still going to my job, as I opted to not skip out on all the end of year events and leave early. Like I still have classes until the 17th and still have events until at least the 25th. The administrator told me to move in äøę¬ but that is simply not happening as I am a human with a job. Technically I could just quit early and not come back, but the events are fun and I donāt want to miss out on my goodbyes because of all the stupid rules of not telling anyone. Will I regret the zero buffer between leaving my job and starting school? Quite possibly, but if I can attend the various graduation ceremonies I can sacrifice a couple of my spring break days.
That and the garbage calendar loooool XD
Maybe overseas but to them it is normal I guess? The comedy is also weird af to me.
I have a recycled number so I get more calls than I would otherwise, but generally speaking I never had a huge problem with it. I could also just turn off wifi calling so they canāt call me unless Iām in the US. This was actually the first time I got a call in the middle of the night like that. One time I got a phone call at 6am from my old lab partner the day after I got back to the US. It was so weird lol
I agree with you, and that is why I wear a suit when the actual correct ē¤¼ę is black dress, tights, blazer, flower pin, and pearls 
. The school uniform offers a pants version for girls but most opt for the skirt, and I want to show my students then can wear what they want, even if it doesnāt match the clothing ārulesā or what everyone else is doing. I have one other female coworker who also wears a suit in modified ē¤¼ę style like me. The first time we had an event she looked violently uncomfortable and wore it for as little time as possible, but now with two of us she seems a lot more comfortable. Some of my male coworkers compliment the look too, so I hope more of my coworkers and students can wear what makes them comfortable.
Also, one of the dads had blue nails, so I guess I would have blended in anyway XD.
Iām also moving soon and hardcore procrastinating on critical stuff so letās ganbare through this together 
yes, and I think a lot of it really is your observation native speakers talking to each other can quickly go way outside of the territory you / we would understand because the unconscious filtering they were doing for you suddenly stops. And thatās why your brain is switching off. (not being lazy, itās just raising a white flag)
Iāve had this, my SO, and lots of people mention this to me in different directions / different languages - comprehension of foreign languages is just so much harder in groups of natives, and at some point brain = mush. And sometimes brain = mush happens right away.
if you donāt mind answering a question about thisā¦ I moved this over here so if you mind let me know and Iāll delete
I am literally this week struggling with something and your experience of home schooling looks very similar to something some people I know are experiencing. A family is homeschooling all children, and now the children are in their teenage years and sooo lonely, and due to being so different, so very unable to relate to other children. Even the mother has finally noticed (it has been clear for years though because the poor children are just so starved of outside contact) and her opening up about it made me realise, ok, wow, now I know itās really bad. Also, since they speak like Jane Austin, of course, literally all the words that come out of āmodernā children are confusing and a bit scary. And other children just really couldnāt hide their shock at coming across them even if they were the nicest most angelic children ever.
Typical scenario: other child says literally anything, homeschooled child asks whatās that mean? And other child says (without malice), how can you not know that, do you live under a rock? homeschooled child: what do you mean by, do I live under a rock
They even struggle to relate to children at their church, for reference. A lot of what you wrote about distrust (eg, norms, to anyone on the outside) resonates in this situation.
I canāt change the situation, and I donāt live in the same country, but do you have any ideas what would / could even be remotely helpful that I can do from afar? Do letters and phone calls even help? I guess I donāt really know what Iām asking for or expecting you to come up with a great idea, but maybe, just maybe you have ideas for social contact that you would have liked and think homeschool parents might agree to, or something I can do that might give the kids a lifeline.
Iām a bit uncomfortable sharing too many details, because I try to keep my online posts about just me, so I donāt want to dig into details or judgments or invite a conversation in that direction. But constructive comments / ideas would be so helpful 
These kids are facing what I did, which is interacting with adults is fine but people my own age just didnāt go well. One difference is my mom kept us in various activities, like sports or dance. Because that we did still interact with others, but it was still hard to make friends because people prioritize their school friends.
The other unfortunate reality is until they turn 18 or can get meaningful employment and/or a driverās licence, parents have almost total control of their lives because there isnāt that second environment of a school.
However, as a teen, there are more opportunities. First of all, consider their location. Presumably rural, but how rural? Can they walk to a library? Can they get a community center? Is there a local community college?
Teens these days donāt read that much, however there will still be library kids. My guess is library kids will be more patient with homeschooled kid. You can also look at āpopular now!ā shelves or ask a librarian what books are popular, so the kids can get an idea of what other kids are doing and have something to talk about. The Contoured Librarian (on youtube and elsewhere) has suggestions for what books are popular with kiddos these days, but she is an elementary school librarian so thatās may be a bit young. Reading books that are popular with teens in general will help with vocabulary and topics to talk about. Many libraries also host events which would bring more interaction.
This might sound weird but at that age I was obsessed with school and slice of life animes because I didnāt have that kind of environment in my life. Not sure if that is healthy, but consuming media about schools/kids their age can be helpful in understanding how non-homeschooled kids live their lives. Not sure exactly how much you can learn from High School Musical or Ferris Buellersās Day Off, but still could be of interest.
As for a community center, that may have activities or clubs. However, that will likely skew older. But, as stated previously, adults are more patient with homeschooled kids so itās positive social interaction. Any sort of hobby or volunteering is a good opportunity and something parents can get behind.
If there is a community college in the area and they are old enough (my local one allowed 14 and up as long as you attended an interview), I highly recommend them taking a class or two. Not sure if the parents are aiming for college or not but if they are, the cheaper and early college credit is easy to get behind. Personally I found the community college environment wonderful for me. I started at 15 so I was generally the youngest but there were a few high school students as well. The environment is majority adult though so you still end up with that higher level of patience. The mix of ages and backgrounds allows you to learn a lot about the world and generally since everyone is a little out of the standard, they arenāt going to judge you for being a little weird. I made friends with people the same age as me all the way up to 65. Learned so much about the world in those small classes.
If they are old enough, consider getting a job or finding some kind of volunteer activity because again, the adult world is much more patient and even if there are kids in that environment (eg 16 year olds working at McDonalds), they are going to have to act more mature due to the seriousness of a job.
The reality is things get much easier once you turn 18 and enter the adult world. Kids are significantly more difficult to interact with. I was still being a weirdo and I am honestly shocked I had friends in my first year of university and yet somehow people stuck with me. Something about becoming an adult makes the awkward homeschool behavior more acceptable somehow. It took a lot of failing, asking questions, and patient friends to get to a semi-normal level of integration of society I have today.
As for what you can do personally, I would say working with the family to convince them to try something like community college or clubs or volunteering will do a lot for the kids. The other thing you can do is find out what teens in the non-homeschool world like and suggest books/movies based on that. You can watch/read it to and discuss if you have that kind of relationship with the kids. You can also of course suggest stuff from your childhood, like Iām in my twenties but love The Breakfast Club and Ferris Buellerās Day Off. Considering they are young even High School Musical is before they were born, and I think that is a safe fun school movie honestly.
Also, to be clear, people like you DO make a difference in the lives of homeschooled kids. My life was definitely better because family friends would convince my mom to let us try stuff and talked to us about, well, life outside our bubble.
This is so incredibly helpful! 
Thank you so so much for taking the time to think that through and write it all down. Honestly you nailed it, every single suggestion is possible, and you gave me a lot to work with in terms of motivating some of this with the parents. The kids are so open to anything that gets them out they just need ideas. The only thing Iām not sure of is the closest community college, but Iāll look into that, plus the oldest is 16 so I could nudge the driverās license a little. They could cycle to the nearest town, so you guessed that pretty well.
You are a star thank you!!! Now Iāll get to work on this 
cue the 67 joke
0 lessons and 0 reviews
appeased the owl
Not much studying, just a lot of ęćč©°ćć this weekend lol
Graduation day! Kiddos did great, I cried a little, heard some good speeches. Their homeroom teacher wore a full on Hakama which was a lot of fun. The other teacher wore a silver waistcoat and gold tie, probably the most visually interesting graduation teacher outfits since 4 years ago when the teacher wore a kimono (well, and I guess the current principal wearing a full on tailcoat).
As always, nobody really wants to take pictures with me lol. Usually they want to take pictures with their usual subject teachers, which makes sense as they spend more time together. In my five years of graduations I only signed yearbooks one year. My thinking is it doesnāt occur to them to ask me but once one does, suddenly there is a line. This year only one kid wanted a selfie but when a family was taking pictures of the third year teachers they were like āwait, shouldnāt (queenofthegods) be in too?ā Iām not actually a ļ¼å¹“éØ teacher but end up getting roped into the nonsense the teachers do because I am willing to go along with it. They have a chaotic group this year, it is hilarious.
Turns out the cat is out of the bag about my leaving more than I thought. The science teacher was asking me what Iām doing next year so the English teacher also came over to ask (he saw the schedule) and both of their jaws were on the floor when I said graduate school. The science teacher because he has a graduate degree in research and had a crash out then became a teacher and the English teacher because he is surprised I donāt already have one. Iām still quite young and have been at the school for a long time, I spent the time I would have been in graduate school here . Technically the in school announcement are Tuesday but you can already see the transfer meetings on the schedule and it seems like most of the office knows about me already lol. ALTs are not subject to the normal donāt gossip about your coworkers rule I guess.
Over the weekend I volunteered to help with desk restoration (kids have one desk for all three years, clean them up and leave notes for the incoming kids) like I do every year. However, I ended up getting really pissed off because of sexism and just generally being treated like Iām stupid. Like I got told to switch with a teenage boy to carry a heavy table (which I had carried with another kid when the teacher nearly dropped it on him) and a teacher told me I was using the wrong varnish (only to have the head of the whole event use the exact varnish I tried to use). Like excuse me I can definitely lift heavy stuff and am probably stronger than a kid and somehow my foreignness negates my three years of exerience doing this. The problem is I canāt exactly just disobey the teachers because if I donāt do what they ask they will think I donāt understand them and continue trying to explain. Thereās also the distinct possibility that I missed something in all the instructions because itās not my first language so there is always doubt in my mind that I did misunderstand something. Itās just so frustrating. Being an ALT has pretty much built in disrespect toward you and Iām so over it. Maybe I am not good at this stuff but Iām still a regular human and worked my ass off to learn this language and culture. I was so mad I literally left early with another coworker .Probably not the best response but Iām tired of being treated like Iām some kind of zoo animal that people are shocked can do anything but sit there. The students donāt treat me like this, cleaning up desks with me and carrying heavy stuff together, yet somehow the teachers push these ideas onto us. Some teachers always ask for āsome boysā to carry the tables and desks but when the kids divide themselves up it was the girls using all the power tools and boys with paintbrushes. Idk, maybe just stop trying to force your old sexist ideas on the younger generation? Just a thought.
On a less grumpy rambly note, some of the teachers do trust and respect me enough to abandon me at the check in desk for graduation . When I first started all I would do is greet people but now Iām picking up the pen, checking off names, and handing over papers. The true sign of trust is just leaving without saying anything, like last year they were like āwe have something else to do, can you watch this for a second?ā but now itās like suddenly Iām jumping in when one of them leaves or finding myself all alone while waiting for the last few to check in. ALTs and foreigners in general shouldnāt be relegated to some weird corner, we can be regular workers just like everyone else.
Speaking of which, apparently the grocery store chain Aeon is celebrating their 100th year and this is the poster they are using for the celebration
I love it. So much diversity. When the politicians and all their posters are out here trying to get rid of foreigners, hereās Aeon with a very progressive poster. While it isnāt uncommon to see some blond haired blue eyed person on posters in Japan, they usually arenāt depicted as truly in the group, usually just someone being helped by a Japanese person. All of the people pictured are great but I think my favorite is the hijabi in an Aeon uniform. Representation of foreigners working regular jobs is my favorite.
Awww, it actually sounds so nice!
I love that the kids donāt treat you weirdly
Your rant is on point, I would have felt the same way
(But probably wouldnāt have handled it as tactfully, because I donāt know when to keep my big mouth shut)
The Aeon poster was interesting
I hope they survive. I actually like shopping centers, and weāve lost several where I liveā¦
Iām glad that they even bothered to lowkey represent diversity
10 lessons and 23 reviews
appeased the owl
finished The Black Prism
I am just feeling all the things these past few days lol.
Unrelated but my makeup (to go measure refridgerators lol) was banginā yesterday but now my eyes really hurt . Either I am allergic to one very specific color in my new eyeshadow pallet or I have developed an allergy to one of the other products. Third time in a row this has happened and my eyes are all bloodshot at work which is a little embarassing lol. At least itās č±ē²ē season so people think itās that and not a hangover. Plan is to test literally every makeup product on my arms to see if I get a reaction and if that fails put them one by one on my eyes until one of them reacts. Initially I thought it was old mascara because lord knows how long Iāve had mine but even with all new mascara and eyeliner my eyes still hate me, which seems allergy like. Why canāt I just be sparkly in peace XD.
So anyway so on the weekend I drove to the city to see what the options are as far as apartent sized refridgerators, washing machines, microwaves, ovens, beds, dressers, and bookshelves are. My discoveries so far are that second hand stores have a lot of refriderators and washing machines right now AND, if my measurements are correct, I can fit them in my kei car. Also only 30-35kg each for the small ones so I think I can even get them into the apartment myself with the help of a dolly. Generally speaking living in a rural place is a bad thing when it comes to finding what you need, but one of the local hardware stores had a huge variety of dollys to choose from XD. Other discoveries are that Nitori seems to have the best bookshelves (organizers are okay, need to check out Muji like Shannon suggested) and nobody sells wooden dressers. Like the dressers are fine but I refuse to pay over 10,000ļæ„ for a plastic dresser lol. Thankfully Jimoty has a variety of good options so I just need to get familar with the dimensions my car can handle. Iām going to see how much of this apartment I can furnish with second hand stuff because not only is it cheaper itās better for the environment to.
Ideally I will have someone to help me with furniture but considering Mr. Enigneer lives and works 300km away it will be pretty hard for him and his gym bro muscles to help me lift furniture. The other problem is the elevator for my apartment is small. Like if I have to carry stuff to my apartment itās only the second floor so itās not a huge deal but I canāt move it solo in that case. While I do have friends who I could ask none of them live near my new or old apartment and will likely be at work when I need to move anyway. Plus I just have really hard time asking anyone for anything lol.
WTF was that ending?!?
You spend all this time making them a happy loving family and then you just ruin in?!? Brent Weeks why?!?
While I did finish the book, I donāt think all the violence is worth the plotline. Like yes it is interesing, but I donāt want to read all the horrific ways of dying to get to the interesitng plot twists. Iāve also come to the conclusion that Weeks is one of those authors who just likes to make his characters suffer. Like are they ever happy once in this series? Because of this, I decided to just read plot summaries of the next four books because I donāt think I have another 80 hours of violence in me but still care enough about the characters to want to know what happens.
While Kip and Liv make dumb decisions that cause a lot of problems, it does feel VERY accurate for teenagers. Doesnāt exactly fit with the whole āthe chosen one saves the worldā plotline but again, very realistic to actual teenager brains and reasoning.
Lord Prism/Gavin/Dazin is my favorite character. Heās such a complicated character but heās a good guy in the end even though he does some bad stuff. His thought process makes sense, heās doing his best, but is also trying to avoid getting found out. He does kill a lot of people due to this but he is also such a great leader. He does deserve to rule above his asshat of a brother. Also Kip isnāt even his biological child and yet he treats him like one, thatās a good man right there.
Karris is also a good character I think. Sheās smart and interesting as well. She deserved so much better. However, accoding to the plot summary of the next book she does marry Gavin/Dazin, which is definitely what they both deserve. Probably the happiest thing to happen to the characters.
Corvan is also a good character. Heās a stand up guy loyal to his friends and his daughter. He also deserved better, both his wives getting killed etc. Like damn thatās rough dude. Despite being so clearly 100% devoted to his daughter, he is so in a way that he doesnāt feel the need to go rushing to save her. Instead of rushing in to save his daughter from Lord Omicrome, he just trusts that she will find her way back eventually. Thatās some good parenting to be honest.
I called it than Zymun is Karrisā child as soon as he appeared for the second time. It makes sense that such a character would reappear and to mirror the good vs evil of the (False) Prismās War however circumstances of both Kip and Zymunās births feel unnecessarily cruel when Karris and Dazin could have just been happy together. While I get that some sadness drives the plotline, it all just feels unnecessraily cruel. The whole series feels unnecessarily cruel.
I think Brent Weeks is a good writer and this is a good series, but itās not for me unfortunately.
Itās harder to express myself in Japanese and nobody else speaks English really . Having low self esteem also contributes to my silence methinks.
Where I live this shop is the only one for an hourās drive around, so we kinda canāt lose it. Honestly I love Aeon and Aeon brand stuff, however it is also literally the only shop near me and even in the city almost everything is Aeon lol. Have a monopoly on the area, just like 7-11 does. Gotta cross city borders to find a Lawson or Family Mart.
13 lessons and 315 reviews
appeased the owl
Announcement meeting was today! No more weird secrecy!
A lot of people are transferring this time around. The biggest gasp was for the guy getting transferred to Sado Island. Being placed all the way out here then getting transferred to an island is just not nice in my opinion. However, some people like the middle of nowhere placements.
Due to my professor technically being under the medical school, the official place I am leaving to is the med school, which sounds mad impressive when in fact I just want to be a lab goblin lol. Also who knows if those other departments would have had English entrance exams, this is all very much a luck thing. Some of my coworkers had a lot of questions, as generally people assume ALTs have some kind of specialization in teaching English (not a requirement for the JET Programme) and donāt know I have a biochemistry degree. One of my coworkers was absolutely baffled how I did this and asked ādidnāt you study anime in college?ā It was a joke but kind of a tasteless one imo. Thereās nothing wrong with liking anime but I did take college pretty seriously so Iām a little offended. I think people can kind of forget that ALTs are whole people outside of being an ALT or liking Japan.
In other news, it started snowing again and Obaa-chan decided sheās had enough and wants to move in (specifically into the kotatsu lol).
She came in for a couple hours the day before but today she was waiting on my doorstep when I got home and wouldnāt leave lol. I did let her out a couple times to go to the bathroom (she was having nothing to do with the litterbox) but she came right back inside. She went to the genkan a lot actually, but when I would open the door she would usually just sit down and go back into my house.
Unfortunately spending a whole 12+ hours together showed me her health is even worse than I thought. Sheās very skinny and drinking a ton of water, which points to kidney failure. If the neighborās info is accurate sheās 15 years old which is about the time cats would get kidney failure, especially as a cat who has lived several years mostly outdoors. As I suspected and based on information from the neighbor, she was a house cat previously and wasnāt afraid of my cooking, the oven, toilet flushes, or any general house stuff. Hilariously the one thing that scared her was pouring kitty litter into a box. That is especially unfortunate because she wonāt use it so I have to wake up every time she walks around to make sure she isnāt trying to pee on the floor somewhere. This place is definitely no pets and I move out in 2 weeks so if she does pee on something the smell will still be quite evident. Otherwise she has all the manners of a house cat, though.
In the morning I walked her back home and am debating taking her to the vet. Sheās not mine and not sure if I am allowed to have pets in my car, but her condition does seem pretty bad so if itās fixable Iād like to fix it and if not, at least make her suffer less. As things are sheās just suffering out in the cold. Sleeping in the living room waking up multiple times a night isnāt ideal, but if thatās what she wants in her final days then it is my honor to be with her.
185 reviews +81 extra practice
appeased the owl
life admin tasks
WARNING: long rambly post incoming, I will break it up into sections lol
First and foremost, it is the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake. We had a Tohoku themed school lunch but no big anniversary stuff. My first year here was the 11th anniversary and on that day we raised the flags, played the tsunami sirens, and had a moment of silence (this was on a city level). Not sure why we stopped doing it. However I did hear that some people displaced by the disaster ended up in this area, so they donāt necessarily want to hear the sirens. Anyway, ask any Japanese person from eastern Japan and they can tell you in great detail about what happened that day, especially people my age who were kids at the time. Mr. Engineer remembers sitting in the gym and the lights swinging around. Personally, I remember waking up in the morning and the news being on. That never happened in my house. I saw the tsunami footage and itās burned into my brain.
A couple years ago I ended up within a few kilometers of the original evacuation zone. Fukushima is beautiful but eerily empty. While I was there I decided to go find a goshuin and after going on a treasure hunt to the top of a hill, finding the shrine, following signs back down the hill, through a personās garden, and to the back of a house, I still couldnāt figure out where to get my goshuin so I rang the doorbell. Out came an old man angerly saying āthe goshuin are in the box!ā but he froze when he saw me standing there, a random foreign girl in my pajamas (the rest of my clothes got soaked in the cave I was crawling in earlier that day). His first question was āwhy are you here?ā āI want goshuinā āhow did you find this place?ā āgoogleā¦?ā He seemed genuinely shocked but happy to see me, becoming very friendly and we talked as best we could in my still iffy Japanese and his thick inaka accent. I think when most foreign people think of Fukushima, all the think of is the disaster. In the end itās just a place, a place people live, and a place people are proud of and want to share. The people of Fukushima suffered greatly from the disaster and continue to suffer to by way of discrimination, even more than 10 years later. I go to a lot of very rural places and that was the most confused a person has ever been upon seeing me. These days I drive through Fukushima quite a bit actually, as it is the fastest way to get to Mr. Engineerās apartment. The radiation sign popping up in the darkness is a little eerie but itās always at the lowest amount. Fukushima is a mixture of very old buildings, brand new buildings, smooth straight roads, undisturbed nature, and a whole lot of abandoned buildings. I havenāt been to the coast but even just seeing the general mix of buildings shows the devastation and subsequent abandonment that occurred there. Last summer while driving home from Hokkaido Mr. Engineer and I saw a sign that said āhighest point of floodwaters from the Tohoku Earthquake.ā We were in the mountains of Iwate. I canāt even imagine. The people of Tohoku have suffered so much, their efforts to rebuild should be celebrated and the disaster never forgotten.
Left work early to run a couple errands, namely paying the deposit on my new apartment and taking Obaa-chan to a vet. The thing with paying the deposit is when I had to pay my deposit for graduate school, they sent me a paper form to bring to the bank. Pretty straightforward right? For the apartment there was some bank info and a total listed in step three of five on āhow to apply for this apartment.ā Like what do I do with that lol. Technically you can do transfers just using the app on your phone but there are amount limits plus I didnāt want to mess it up, so Mr. Engineer suggested I just bring the whole instruction sheet to the bank and ask for help.
Now, fun fact, but one of the major banks in Japan and one that can be found in every tiny town like where I live is ććć”ćéč”, which is, you guessed it, literally the post office. Not all post offices offer all services, but we have a big (well, maybe ābigā) post office in my area so I took my chances. This being my local post office I do know the workers and my favorite is when they get a new kiddo who is always way overeager to do their job lol. Especially the 18 year old boys, they are always so eager to do their job exactly as they were trained with the enthusiasm of sports day lol. Especially the baseball team kids, you just KNOW who played baseball in high school. Itās hard to describe unless you have spent a decent amount of time in Japan. Thereās just something about baseball team.
Anyway Mr. Beginner Badge was working front desk as the newbies always are and apparently all I need to do is use the ATM to pay, so the manager lady told him to go help me. Maybe to a Japanese person this is easy, but itās still new to me. The ATMs do have an English option, but I never use it because it has fewer options available and I swear the volume is louder. Itās like āHELLO EVERYONE, THERE IS A FOREIGNER TRYING TO USE A MACHINE RIGHT NOW!ā and the embarrassment inspired a speedrun of learning how to use it in Japanese lol. Working with these beginner badge kids is always interesting because it is a funny combination of them being way too overserious about work procedure then ābreaking characterā when they get confused because they are young and inexperienced and I am also young and inexperienced so we are just standing there being young and confused together. Mr. Beginner Badge was very helpful and in his (presumably baseball team induced) overenthusiasm noticed I hadnāt updated my passbook in nearly two years and helped me get a new one. It took like two minutes why did I procrastinate it for so long 
.
One thing I love about this younger generation is they are much more concerned with doing their job right than being afraid of foreigners. My guess is this is because people who are now early twenties had ALTs starting in elementary school so to them we are just part of the normal fabric of Japanese society. In my opinion, ārealisticā treatment is what I want out of interactions like this. Yes, technically I probably could figure out how to pay my deposit myself but the problem is I read slower than a Japanese adult so the ATM will start yelling at me or cancel the transaction for being too slow. Having someone there with extensive experience of the Japanese language to help me when I canāt find ćæ or something is greatly appreciated.
After four years and five winters Obaa-chan suddenly inviting herself into my house and refusing to leave set off some alarm bells for me. Itās cold but it was even colder a couple weeks ago, sheās been in my house before but always left again pretty soon after, cats can sometimes sense when they need help and go to a person they trust. She does of course have the neighbor who generally takes care of her but doesnāt let her in the house most of the time. Despite hating phone calls and having no idea what taking an animal to the vet entails in Japan, I looked up the phone number of the closest vet and called. According to google reviews he does work with stray cats quite a bit so I figured it was a good choice. After some negotiating, he said I could bring her right then if I could catch her. Bought a cat carrier and Obaa-chan let me put her in it without freaking out. It was nearly an hour drive to the vet which is definitely a lot for a stray, and she wasnāt happy at first, but she did rub her face against my fingers when I stuck them through the holes in the grate so she didnāt completely hate me.
The vet office itself wasā¦not what I expected lol. Like I grew up going to a farm vet so itās not like Iām used to fancy clinics or anything but it was literally a room in a barn with a couple signs lol. It was also clearly a one man operation, which explains why the vet himself picked up the phone with a simple āmoshi moshiā and I feared I had called the wrong number . Due to it being a one man operation, it was my job to hold Obaa-chan while he did the exam, which is also exactly what I did as a kid when my mom had to give animals shots or they needed more hands at the vetās office. Obaa-chan took it like an absolute CHAMP and didnāt freak out or scratch me up a lot. Most house cats react worse to going to the vet. Apparently she has kidney issues and fluid in her body cavity, but no cancer or fever. She got a shot in the butt and I have to give her pills now, so that will be interesting lol. She didnāt freak out at all on the drive home and even went right back into my house when we got back, clearly unphased. However she did end up leaving again as my kotatsu wasnāt on because I wasnāt home all day lol.
LoLoLoL
Iāve seen these kids
couldnāt have described it better
They are AWESOME
ā¦until you throw 'em a curve ballć
So glad you have Vet tech-like experience!!
I hope it makes obaanyanās life more comfortable insofar as youāre able
Poor Mr Engineer growing up with å°ēweek birthday! Thatās even worse than the āChristmas birthdayā
9 lessons and 345 reviews
appeased the owl
As always, a very productive day for studying because my co-teacher has a very short list of activities she permits me to do at my desk. This day, however, is different. This is the day Iāve been looking forward to for years and counting down to since the end of last year: my last day with the teacher I donāt like. This past year has been much better, better schedule, less yelling, finally calling me the right name consistently, using less insane teaching practices, my nightmares stopped. However I am still so excited for that chapter of my life to be over. A year ago I was crying on the last day because despite all my efforts to appease her she got mad and grabbed me, couldnāt even give the kids one proper fun day at the end of the year. Despite the past year being pretty good and the teacher bringing me some gifts, I still blocked her before driving home . Working together made me miserable for two years and being mean to children because you are having a bad day is unforgivable. Harsh and petty? Yes, but this is for my past self that desperately wanted to never see or interact with this person ever again.
So, uh, I think I have a cat now? Obaa-chan clearly holds no grudges about the vet incident and came right to my house when I went over to the neighborās house to look for her. According to the neighbor, she used to be a house cat, and considering how unphased she is by house noises I believe it. Hilariously and unfortunately, the only sound she doesnāt like is the sound of kitty litter. Supposedly cats litter box train themselves but so far she hasnāt exactly done that, but does get up and go to the door kind of like a dog. This means I essentially canāt leave her unsupervised at all. Her first night I woke up every time she moved basically. With some suggestions from friends and family, I tried getting a box of dirt from outside and when she did inevitably and unfortunately pee on the floor, I took the paper towels from cleaning that up and put them in the litter box I made. She then figured out how to use the box of dirt, progress! Could mostly sleep through the night lol. For now because she still canāt exactly be unsupervised, had to mostly clear out the living room because she previously tried to pee on anything on the floor there so no bedding or clothes can be on the floor. Using the box of dirt a couple times is great progress, but it still means I will be sleeping under the kotatsu in the living room for the foreseeable future.
Keeping a cat in no pets allowed housing is a little nerve-wracking, but at least Obaa-chan is mostly trained in the way of house cat life. Since I still canāt leave her in the house unsupervised, she does need to spend the day outdoors while Iām at work but that seems to be working out fine so far. Once I start living more fully at the new place I can take her with me, especially since I know she does well in the car. Itās kinda sorta stealing but she did kinda just decide she lives with me now. The medicine seems to have worked wonders, she looks much better now and even wants me to pet her. Sheās been mostly disinterested in being pet the past several months presumably due to pain, but now she is purring away and happy to be pet (most of the time, she definitely has her moments of wanting me to not bother her despite the fact that itās my house lol). We are still figuring out communication and Iām trying to figure out what she needs. Being old, wet food is better for her but turns out it isnāt very high calorie and she keeps meowing (sort of? No sound comes out) at me for food, so maybe I need to get some dry food for her to supplement her diet.
I feel like once you spend enough time in Japan you start to notice it, especially if you work at a school. Basically they maintain that overenthusiastic kid energy and behavior encouraged at all sporting events despite being ē¤¾ä¼äŗŗ. Stuff like yelling ććć£ćććć¾ćć¼ with their whole chest or going through alllllll the lines of their cashier spiel or the current store campaign. Gas stations is where I see this the most, but also random places like the hardware store. Not to say girls canāt be like this too, but I feel like the fem equivalent is girls in extremely regular jobs with absolutely IMPECABLE makeup+hair and fancy nails. Like whenever I see girls working at conbini in full sparkly makeup, long decorated nails, and the silly uniform (all the combini have bad uniform designs imo) it just brings me so much joy. These girls are always so chill and helpful.
The youngster at the other local post office is a girl that looks absolutely impeccable at all times and has such an air of confidence. I would trust her with my life (and my grad school applications lol). She laughed at me when I told her I forgot my glue, like yes queen this is the behavior I want at all Japanese customer service. Japanese people my age can still be a bit stiff but the younger ones are much more chill.
Can take a girl out of the farm, but canāt take the farm out of the girl lol.
This was really interesting to read about, thank you.
I remember seeing the footage of the tsunami on TV, and I wasnāt long returned from Japan at the time after spending a year there as an exchange student. It was so terrible to see, almost in real time. Iād never seen a natural disaster play out like that before.
I really like this sentiment and your story about the old man. He must have been so surprised to see you, and so happy to share 
