Who knew that you should not dispose of old rice down the toilet? I was cleaning out my fridge the other day and I have a habit of throwing anything liquidy down the toilet instead of in the trash bag. It is less messy. Well, the 10 day-old rice in my rice cooker qualified as 'liquidy' so down the toilet it went. I'll skip over all the gory details but finally, after trying home remedies, I went to the phramacy and had to shell out 1400yen for a bottle of stuff so strong that I had to sign for it. It worked. Let me tell you, I've learned my lesson and I highly advise you all to take heed--NEVER through edibles into the can.

So, I had a short break from work last weekend. Jin and I decided to go camping. There is an island off the coast of Kyushu, in between Japan and Korea, named Iki Island.

We've been hearing a lot of good things about the island lately so we decided to make it a last camping trip before I leave. It was worth it. It takes 2 hours by ferry from Fukuoka to Iki Island. I'll admit. When we got off the ferry, I was a little bit nervous because it really didn't look like there was much to see. It was a bit more urban and stinky than i'd pictured. But, a short walk away and we were at the campground. Unlike most campgrounds I've heard of in Japan, this one was free...and it had soft, green grass. It had an amazing view of the sea and the steep, rocky cliffs. We could climb down to the water easily.

We had brought some food for cooking but had passed a really tasty-looking sushi restaurant on the way. Since Iki is famous for sea urchin and shochu, we figured we'd better check it out. It was worth it. The fish was soooooo good and the shochu was better.

The next morning, the old man that we'd met the day before came by and took us on a car tour of the island. We got to see all the site which we would have never gotten to see if he weren't there...including one of Iki's most famous attractions-a big rock shaped like a monkey's head.

Before we got there, we were under the impression that it was a small island that we could walk or at least take a bus around. No way. We drove from one place to another for 5 hours and still didn't see everything. But it was really beautiful. I wish I could post some of the pictures I took.

It was a really great last camping trip in Japan. Even got to try out the new tent I bought last year...in the rain! (it didn't rain during the days, only during the night in order to put the tent to the test. It passed with flying colors. It rained all night and there was not so much as a drop of moisture on the inside. I couldn't be happier!) We also got to try out then new cooking supplies that Jin bought last summer. Before this, I never realized you could buy such tiny gas burners! We could pack the tent, 2 sleeping bags, the burner, 2 tiny pots and pans, and the food in one backpack! Amazing.

Looks like the next time I'll get to use it will be in Europe! Can't wait!

I realize it's been a while since my last blog. I have been really pre-occupied with this Sweden business. I've been working on the visa, the apartment, the plane fare, and everything else that needs to be taken care of. I am about to crack.

I finally got my visa stuff in to the Swedish Embassy. They called me this morning when I was in class. The woman left a message that said, "Hi, we need to confirm some things from you. We got your application fee in the mail but we have no cr--------------- from you. so please give us a call at 03-234-3BEEP!" So, there was some kind of phone interference when she was telling me what they don't have so i missed that. THEN the end of the phone number was cut off by the beep. When I got the number and called back, the visa department was closed. I still don't know what's going on.

I did get some good news today. It turns out that I have a place in the dormitories. That takes a huge weight off my mind. Now I will have a place live right after I get there. whew! I can stash my luggage and go exploring...

if I ever get there. I spent 2 hours at the travel agency today. I had wanted to go to Korea for a couple days before leaving for Sweden and originally, they said it was a smart move, that it would be cheaper. Well, today, he tells me that there is some kind of problem with doing that. We went through so many different plans that I can't keep them all straight. I'm pretty frustrated now. I would really like Korea to work out.

Suddenly, everything looks so much brighter! I got word on Wednesday that I have been officially accepted to Lund University's Asian studies program!

I know I said before that I had been accepted but that was unofficial. This is official. So, now I have to set about with the preparation. Looking for a place to live, getting my visa, plane tickets. Because I didn't get the news until too late, I can't use my frequent flier miles to get there. It's really sad because there goes $1500 of my savings.

I can't believe it, in almost 2 months I'll be leaving Japan, maybe forever. (Not counting visits) Suddenly I've become very excited, really nervous, and a little sad. I am really looking forward to the new challenge and the experience. I am nervous because I basically know no one there. I have a few aquaintences but...I'm sure it will all work out.

I'm sad, of course, because I'll miss the people here. Jin won't be able to come to Sweden until next March at the earliest. I'll miss my kids. I'll miss friends I've made. I'll also really miss the food. I've grown quite fond of Japanese food. Although, I guess aside from the smorgasbord I have no idea what Swedish food is like.

Well, I'd better get to work. Too much to do, too little time.

I just want to say that I was 100% correct about Saturday's 'challenging' elementary school class. There were tears, frustration, anger...I heard one girl tell her dad she doesn't want to come back. When will people learn that I'm always right?

Anyways, after that I was in such a bad mood. I played a little tennis and, even though I lost, it was a good time. My partner was a pretty fun guy and we played against Jin so I got to talk a little 'smack' at least. Also, there are few things more cathartic than wacking a few tennis balls.

After that I was feeling pretty good. I was feeling even better when Jin and I went to Zauo again. This was our second trip to the restaurant and I still think it's a great concept for a restaurant. My mind has been turning it over and you just might see some similar restaurants in your neighborhood (with several improvements I've been thinking about.)

This time proved that I was born to fish. We were lucky enough to get a seat in the big boat in the middle. We were really excited because this meant that we could sit, order side dishes and drinks while fishing whereas last time we had to stand at the pond for over an hour without food or drinks.

So, we baited our hooks, dropped our lines in and settled in for the long haul. Not 5 minutes later I was almost dragged over the side of the boat by a mammouth snapper. We got it netted and the server took it away to slice up some tasty sashimi. mmmmmm...and how tasty it was! (Of course, I looked away for a few minutes and when I looked back, most of it had dissappeared mysteriously.)

Since the first catch didn't allow me enough time to enjoy the idea of fishing, nor did it give me the satisfaction of a job well done since it was all too easy, we decided to give it another shot. 10 minutes...that's all it took and my line was jumping again. Another snapper. This one was fried up and equally tasty in his own way.

That's actually one of the points that I'd improve if I opened my own restaurant. Every table around us caught a snapper. There were only about 3 choices of fish where we were. 2 were different kinds of snapper which taste the same. I don't know what the third was but there were only about 3 in the pond so the odds of catching it compared to the swarms of snapper were slim.

So, now I can't wait to go to Scandinavia. I've got to find a deep sea fishing cruise to try my luck on!

I am about to go crazy!!! I just got home from work and I am seething. I got another 'speech' from my boss today. At least I could see is train of thought on this one, although I feel it was waaaaaay off track.

Basically, his wife (a really nice, sweet lady) and I were discussing tomorrow's elementary class. This class is free for all students but really only 4 ever come: three 8-year-olds who have been studying for 1 year or less and one 12-year-old who's been studying for about 8-9 years.

Boss-man got upset when I mentioned that the younger ones' reading level is not very high yet so a listening test with a little bit of reading would be best. He said we should not 'dumb down' the class for the 'slower' kids. We should challenge them! So he chose the Eiken test. This test has lots of idioms and asks questions such as:

Q: How did Jack find the movie?
1. It was quite enjoyable.
2. Tomorrow it will rain.
3. He saw E.T.
4. He went by car.

He ignored my insistance that it may be pointless and perhaps damaging morale-wise for the 3 younger students (who are all actually, pretty exceptional students.)

I agree that a challenge is good but in my opinion, the goal should be attainable. Who gives a first grader a high schooler's exam and expects them come away feeling good about themselves for having challenged it...even though they couldn't get through the first question?

Sigh...anyways, I guess I don't really know if it is really my boss or not. Maybe it's me. Lately, my usually mild mannered temperment has become quite explosive. Ok, not explosive. Maybe implosive is a better word for me.

Just yesterday, Jin mentioned that I've been in a bad mood after playing tennis lately. Why? I love tennis. I like the people in the tennis club. I usually win. Why should I be in a bad mood? Well, for starters, I am feeling really sluggish and fat lately even though I'm excercising more now than I have for almost a year. For the past month I've run 2-3 times per week. I ride my bike at least 7-8 hours per week. I played tennis on the weekend.

Secondly, I don't feel as though I can really communicate with with the people while I'm playing. I can't really make any offhanded comments to my tennis partners or joke around easily. I am tired of thinking about what I say first...Will I offend anyone? Is it correct? If I were playing with friends in America and my teammate screwed up, I'd go off on him/her without a second thought no matter who it was(jokingly of course). In this circle that isn't really acceptable.

That's another thing. Dispite the fact that I'm living in Japan, my Japanese has really gone downhill. I am not taking classes now and basically, the only time I have the chance to speak Japanese is at pottery class, with my bosses wife and with Jin. Jin is also not a native speaker (though he's much better than me) but when I ask him for the correct way to say something he tells me what he thinks...but cannot be positive (I recently picked up a phrase from him that he'd been using often. It turns out that it was a very feminine phrase but he didn't realize it.)

And, to top it all off, I still have not heard from Sweden!!!!!! They told me unofficially that I've been accepted but to wait for the official news. That was about 3 weeks ago. I need to get roling. The deadline for University dormitory applications is June 15 but I can't fill out an application without official proof. I am hoping to use frequent flyier miles to get there in August but it's cutting it close now. It's a $1600 flight.

I am going crazy. I don't really like complaining but recently, that seems like the only thing I can do. I feel sorry for Jin who has to listen to it since he's the only person around here I feel comfortable letting myself go around.

미안 오빠. (맞지요?)

Today was an odd day. First, I had my English class at Kyushu University.
The class itself is not bad...actually it's pretty fun. I don't know how good of a job I'm doing but I'm enjoying it. So, the hard part is waking up early and making the one hour bike ride.

As I've mentioned before, riding my bike in Japan is a necessary evil. Well, today I was almost run down by a police car. It was close and it was NOT an accident. I had a green light and the patrol car was stopped waiting to turn. Those in front of me crossed with ease but as soon as I got to it, it suddenly lurched forward only to stop inches from me. Unbelievable.

Anyways, when I went to school. I got a lecture from my boss. I really don't know what the point was. I gave him my opinion about merging 2 classes of students who are at very different age levels and VERY different English levels. (one class has been studying for almost 3 years...the other has 2 students who started 1 month ago.) Anyways, so he suddenly went into this speach about what a great teacher/owner he is and blah, blah, blah. I stopped listening after a while because I could see absolutely nothing of relevance and I had my classes to prepare for.

Well, after that I was in a bit of a bad mood but that was washed away soon. I really enjoy my Wednesday elementary class. There are just 5 students all about 10-11 years old, and they are all pretty smart and fun to be around.

Today we were working on discriptions. For instance, 'He is thin.', 'She is tall.', 'He is my father.' In order to make the class a little more entertaining, I decided to bring in some photos of family and friends. I would ask them to discribe the people they saw. By the way, dad, when they came to your picture they said, 'He's young.' Before you get too excited though, let me put their powers of observation in perspective. I showed them a picture of Jin with my brother , Kevin, that I had taken at New Year's this year. I wish I could post the picture itself but as I have no scanner or digital camera, I am limited to the pictures I can pilfer from my brother's website. Thanks Kevin.

Well, when I came to this picture, one girl asked if Jin was my brother and if Kevin was my brother's friend. I thought she was joking or that she hadn't really looked at the picture carefully so I asked her to repeat it...she asked again. In fact, 3 of the students looked at the picture and couldn't figure out why I was so surprised until one boy looked and realized that Jin is Asian and I am not so therefore, the non-Asian person in the photo is probably my brother.

Maybe kids that age don't realize a difference. But if that's true, why do they keep stareing at me on the train? Maybe I'm just too sensitive. Or, maybe I look Asian. After all, when I was home in April, a store cashier, after asking me where I lived, asked me if I'd ever been to the States before. Apparently he thought I was Japanese.

So, then, to top it all off, I get home and check my email. I had an interesting message from my mother. Here is an excerpt:

"I didn't realize it but I was biting my lip when I ate. Pretty soon I saw blood on my ear of corn and realized what was happening. By then the
right half of my lower lip was puffed up really big and it still hasn't gone down yet."

Hmmmmm....I really don't know how to reply to that.

It's amazing. As the old saying goes, 'You learn something new everyday.' I'm coming out of this weekend feeling like a genius.

Saturday alone my I.Q. raised about 10 points. I learned several new Korean words and phrases such as 'It's horribly hot,' 'do your best,' and 'snot', just to name a few. I learned what that a clam's body looks just like a snail's when it is still alive and that they can spit water up to 1 foot away (unfortunatly for Jin). I learned that a one day subway pass costs the same as a round trip from my apartment to Kyushu University. I learned some new tasty recipes while teaching.

And, though I may not have learned anything, I finally got to see the inside of the Aerospace Engineering building at Kyushu University. I really wish I could have posted a picture here but the University doesn't have one on it's web site and I don't have a digital camera or scanner. It is truely one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen. It dates back to before WWII and legend has it that during the war it was painted with black tar to make it less visible from the sky during air raids because it was such an important building. It is still a mixture a dirty grey and dark black. The inside of the building was even more decrpit. I could write my name in the plaster of the walls with my little finger....but of course I didn't 'cause that would be wrong. Add to that the fact that there were small helicopters and various pieces of satilite equiptment laying around everywhere, it was a pretty cool experience.

Anyways, Jin and I used our subway day passes to go to a great, cheap, tasty little grilled meat restaurant. It's a restaurant that we found by accident a couple months ago. From the outside it really looks like there will be bugs scurrying around but inside it is pretty nice looking. Best of all it has some really good beef...so good that I'm willing to take the chance that it's not beef at all but really a stray dog.

I didn't really learn much on Sunday I guess. Just improved my tennis and ping-pong skills a little bit.

I'm pretty sure there was more but I'm tired and my elbow hurts. Just today I discovered that I'm developing a bump on my left elbow and the only thing I can think of is that it comes from using the computer too much (as I rest it on the table while I type.)