Hello Everyone,

Phil updated our website with new pictures again. Lots of you have been checking it out because the ticker says over 150 computers have visited the website. That's great. It works better than e-mails with pictures because the e-mails are too big.

We used our air conditioners for the first time today. This afternoon our thermometer said 32 degrees in the sunshine. I am dying! I have no idea how we will make it through the summer. People here are still wearing sneakers, jeans, sweaters and jackets. I am too hot in a t-shirt, sandals, and skirt. We walked 30 minutes to the library today, only to find it closed. You would think it would be open on a Wednesday afternoon. Oh well. It was a nice walk, although we get stared at even more when we are wearing noticably less clothing than everyone else. So we went over to the Gas Museum. There was a man there, who invited us in. He said that the museum is closed, but there was some kind of small event happening. It was either an art competition, or a funeral. I couldn't tell. All these old ladies were sitting around drinking tea and eating cookies. There was artwork that looked like Japanese poetry hanging all around the room. Then there was a picture of a very old man with a paper written in Japanese beside it. I think that maybe he did all the paintings, and this was a memorial for him or something. I guess I am taking after my Grandpa Pighin walking into funerals of people I don't know. Who knows. So we respectfully walked around the room, staring at al the paintings, pretending we understood what they said. Unfortunately there were no pictures to look at, only Japanese letters on scrolls. It was very boring, but we thought we should take our time and look around, seeing as we were invited in to this solemn event. Sometimes I feel like a very ignorant foreigner.

We finally got paid on August 15th. It was our first paycheque in 9 1/2 weeks, so we were very thankful. Luckily it was for a whole month's wages, but it was small because we are getting a probationary wage (about 70%) for the first two months until we pass the test. Phil already passed, and my test is on Thursday. I'm not worried because supposedly everyone passes. We also had to pay start-up fees for medical insurance, our cell phones, our cable tv and cable internet services. I had no idea it would be this expensive, but we are doing fine. Our wages are quite good though, so as soon as we are through the first hurdles we should be able to save back all the money we spent in the first place.

I asked for a transfer to a different school. They were very quick to approve it. I asked for a transfer on April 15th, and I will be changing schools on May 1st. I will be going to Meinohama, which is about a 10 minute commute. I wanted a transfer because my current school, Tenjin, is the busiest in all of Fukuoka. We also have 3-4 trainees there almost every week. I arrive at work early every day to plan my lessons, and then every day they change my schedule (which classes I am teaching), and my whole plan is shot. At other schools they don't change your schedule, and there are no trainees to help. In order to facilitate the transfer, Phil graciously offered to fill my position at Tenjin, so he will start there in May. He deals with stress and change a lot better than I do. None of this is permanent though, so we can always ask for another transfer if we want to.

I should get going to work. I will write again soon. Please let me know what is new in your lives.

April 26, 2004

Hello,

One of my students told me the other day that I can expect typhoon season in Fukuoka at the end of the summer. She said there are huge storms with high winds, lightning, thunder, and plenty of rain. She advised me to hide in my apartment as much as possible during this time because it is very dangerous to be outdside. I told her that I love storms, especially when I'm camping. She freaked out, and warned me that if I go camping during typhoon season I might die. I think I'll heed her warning, but I still love storms. Maybe that will change once I have lived through a typhoon season. She asked me why I love storms so much, and I think it is either because the yearly storm at Quesnel Lake meant riding the waves on an innertube, or because I'm the second generation to make money from storms. Dad always gets overtime from storms because it puts the power out, and when I worked at the Ministry of Forests, lightning caused forest fires. My co-worker, Barry, a 55 year old English man would rub his hands together and excitedly say "Shay, it's Oscar Tango time!" every time there was a storm. Oscar and Tango are the phonetic language for O and T, standing for overtime.

To Grandma Lerum: Thank you for the nice card and letter you sent. Phil was very happy with his newspaper clipping about the Canucks. He put it on the fridge. I hope you enjoy your trip to Saskatchewan, Kelowna, and Vancouver. I'm glad you like the nail art. They have all kinds of it here. It is very popular. Yes, the flowers here are absolutely amazing. I will keep on taking pictures and sending them to you.

To Karen: Thank you so much for the pictures from Jasper and Calgary. I'm glad you had such a nice visit with Mike and Sonia. Have they decided on a date for the wedding? Or a location? I showed the pictures to Phil too. If you want to send bigger pictures, I can accept up to 6 MB in my yahoo account: shay_b_jones@yahoo.ca but I don't check it as often.

To Spencer: Congratulations on all the jobs you have been offered. That is great. Are you still getting enough time to see Pam? I heard that your Prom was great. I can't believe that you are getting so old. You will always be my "little bro" even though you are taller than me. I am so glad that you and Pam are working out so well. She is such a wonderful girl. I'm sure she looked beautiful all dressed up for Prom. Good luck choosing your classes for CNC. I'm glad that you chose to go there. You are opening many doors. I found you something for a grad gift and something else for a birthday gift. I will mail them in a few weeks. I thought I would start shopping early because I had no idea what to get you, and I have no idea what store to find it at anyways. It is so difficult going shopping when you just wnader around, randomly going into stores, not knowing what they sell or how expensive it is.

To Mom and Dad: I am so glad that you might be able to get high-speed internet soon. That would be great. I found out from other Nova teachers that have the same phones as us that it doesn't cost us anything to receive long-distance calls, and it is even cheaper to use our pre-paid phone cards on our cell phones than it is using a public phone to call long-distance. Good news finally. I can't believe that you were watching the ice go off the lake. It is so warm here. It is abnormally hot for this time of year. We are having highs of 20 and lows of 15 degrees Celcius almost every day. I'm glad that you bought a pedal boat. I can't wait to spend time at the cabin again. You realize how much your family means to you when you are separated by half a world. Now we can make an experienced decision to live close to our family when we choose a permanent location.

To Doug and Bonnie: I asked an Australian what gob-smacked means for you, and surprisingly it is G-rated so I can tell you on an e-mail that is going to my little cousins too. It means that you are so shocked that you are stunned speechless. About the picture with Phil in a restaurant with his hat on. I know, I know, I'm keeping him in-line. We asked a Japanese Nova staff member before we entered the restaurant. She said there is no problem wearing hats in restaurants, but it is extremely rude to wear your shoes. So, as they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Phil was very happy about this. Say hi to Uncle Randy for us. We are very happy to hear that he is doing so well. It is good that you are seeing him lots too. Bonnie, I'm afraid to say that your birthday gift came wrapped that way. It wasn't me being artistic. If you buy something at a gift shop here, they ask you, "present?", and then they wrap it for you if you say "hi" which means yes. I found some origami paper at a craft store for your friend. I also found a book with instructions for making true origami. So far it is cheap. I have spent about $12 including the book. I am looking for a little bit more paper, and then I will send it to you.

I am listening to "Live 365", a free radio station on the internet. Actually, it is hundreds of radio stations that you can choose from. I'm listening to "Upbeat 80's". They are playing The Vapors "I think I'm turning Japanese." I had to laugh. Sometimes I feel like that. I have developed a tast for rice and miso soup. Now I can tell the difference between different types of miso soup, and I actually have preferences. I am now automatically veering left instead of right when there is a crowded sidewalk (they drive on the other side of the road, and they walk on the other side of the sidewalk too). I even say "Sue me mah sen" (excuse me, sorry) without thinking when I bump into someone. I think I'm turning Japanese.

May 2, 2004

Hello again,

It's Golden Week. I have no idea what that means, and as far as I can tell, neither do the Japanese. I also don't know when it starts or ends. I assume that Golden Week lasts for a week, but some things start on April 29th, and others start on May 2nd. For example, the Disney channel is playing all the traditional Disney movies for the week of May 2 - 8, but they call it "Platinum Week." All I know is that the Japanese people get a day off work, and there are parades in the streets at the city center from May 2 - 4. I have asked many Nova students what the holiday means, and they have no idea, or at least no idea that they can or want to express in English. I ask them what they are doing for the holiday, and they respond with answers like: sleeping, shopping, or travelling to a nearby city to sightsee. There is no word for hobby in Japanese, so we explain hobby as "what you do in your spare time, when you're not working." The most common answers are: sleeping, shopping, drinking, studying English, and watching movies or tv. This is what they seem to do on holidays too. I have been told that Golden Week is a good excuse to get drunk for most Japanese people. Unfortunately, we don't get holidays off when we work for Nova. Instead we get 10 days off with pay whenever we want to take them, and as many unpaid holidays as we want. It is strange not having statutory holidays. The worst part is that Japanese holidays are very busy days at Nova, because it is the perfect chance for all the students to take at least one class that day. There is one student at Tenjin Nova who is a multi-millionaire, and he comes to Nova every day. That is the only thing he does, other than travel the world. He is a real jerk, and he scoffs if we ask him to complete a task in English that he doesn't want to do. Sometimes he pretends he is asleep in class if he thinks another student is talking too much. All the teachers hate teaching him. I enjoy it. I find him entertaining. You never know what he will do next. For my last lesson with him I chose the lesson on stereotypes. I taught him the words "arrogant" and "greedy". He didn't know what those words meant, yet he is a very high level student. Strangely enough he likes me as a teacher, and he requests me! Maybe it is a good thing that I moved to a new school on May first. I am still teaching in Tenjin, the centre of Fukuoka city, but I am across the street. I am at a new school that is only four months old. It is heaven! Everything is brand new, organized, and clean! There are very few students, so I only have to teach about half the time. The other half the time I spend colouring and laminating flashcards, and easy chores like that. Hey, I like colouring. Especially for $25 an hour! Poor Phil got my job at Tenjin, the busiest school on our island of Kyushu. I am now working on the 11th floor of a 14 storey mall. It is actually the mall in the picture in the travel book that I showed some of you before I left. Glass elevators really do exist! I have heard the rumour that people commit suicide by jumping into the centre of the mall from the top floor. I am afraid of this. It is a tall, round building, with the centre completely open. The stores are only around the outside of the the circle on each floor, and there are only about 10 stores on each floor because the building is so small in circumference. The whole mall is only a few years old, so it displays the latest architecture and fashions.

Yesterday Phil turned on a radio station called oldies love songs. One of the first songs we heard was Charlie Pride's "Kiss an Angel Good Morning." I cried when I heard it because I haven't heard it since Grandpa Lerum was alive. He used to play it often. I was amazed that I still know all the words to a song I haven't heard since 1993. It is a beautiful song. I was also amazed that Phil, the music trivia dj, has never heard of Charlie Pride. I will teach him.

Mom: We received the pictures you sent. Thank you very much. I will send them back to you when I am done with them.

Bonnie: I have found some interesting and original origami paper for your friends. I have it packaged up and I will send the package to you in the next couple of days. I hope they like the paper I found. I also bought an origami instructions book for about $5. I will send that too.

May 3, 2004

Hello,

At Nova there is a room called "Voice". It is open anytime that Nova is open. Each teacher teaches about one or two Voice lessons per day. Voice is just a room that Nova students can pay to enter, and there are general conversations going on. Basically, they can enter a relaxed atmosphere and have a free conversation with a "Native English Speaker." There is usually a topic, but no lesson or evaluation. One day I chose the topic of pets. We talked about the pets we have had, which pets are the best for which people, and so on. I was asked by a student which pets I have had at my house, so I listed them.

3 dogs

3 cats

9 mice

1 hamster

1 budgee (bird)

12 chickens

6 ducks

and we babysat about 7 horses for a while.

Well, I think the students didn't believe me. One student asked me, "Do you live on a farm?". They then started to talk about unbelievable things. Maybe they thought the lesson was about gullability rather than pets. One student told me that his neighbour keeps a pet penguin in his house. I know that penguins come from Antarctica, where it is quite cold, so I asked him how his neighbours keep it cold. He said that they spray it with water using a garden hose. Hmmmmmm. The topic then turned to eating animals. Another student told me that a delicacy in Japan is to eat live, squirming minnows. They drink them from a glass of water. Hmmmmmmm. They squirm down your throat. What do you think Spencer? You ate a live minnow once, because Jereme Bennett told you to. Is it a delicacy? Do you even remember? It was at Quesnel Lake, and don't tell me I was dreaming, Dad. Then a medical student told me that fish don't feel pain, so they eat fish live. I have seen lots of raw fish served at restaurants and grocery stores. It is quite common. Very fresh, and supposedly very tasty, although Phil and I can't stand the texture. This student told us that the best restaurants put a live fish in the centre of the table, and you cut pieces from it to eat instantly. Hmmmmmm I say again. I then ask them if they have ever hit a live fish on the head with a stick. All 8 of them say no. When I say I have, they think I am lying again. I tell them that I disagree with the belief that fish don't feel pain, because when you hit them on the head they squirm like crazy to try to get away. The fact that they react must prove that they feel something, and how can it be pleasure instead of pain? The students tell me that Japanese scientists have proven that fish can't feel pain, so I must be mistaken. Hmmmmm. I can't wait until I get back to Canada and I can associate with people who think the same way that I do.

By the way, Phil is feeling much better now. He had a cold for a couple of days. Luckily it was on the weekend so he didn't have to miss any work. His haircut tuned out really well. It only cost $30 because a haircut usually comes with a shave too, but they refused to shave his face because he is a gaijin (foreigner, pronounced guy-gin). He has a lot more facial hair than the Japanese men.

May 18, 2004

Hello Everyone!

'Twas the night after payday,

and all through the city,

not an ATM was open,

and oh what a pity!

I keep forgetting that in Japan, all banks and ATM machines close after 7 or 8 pm. I asked some Nova teachers about this strange occurance. They said that the reason you can't access your money at night is so that the husbands can't get drunk and then spend their entire life's savings at a hostess bar. I was told that this is a big problem in Japan. Hostess bars are very expensive pub type places where you are served alcohol by scantily clad, attractive, young, women. Business men are often expected to go out for drinks with their co-workers every night after work. At our interview back in Canada, the Nova interviewers told us that in Japan, if a husband comes home after work instead of going out for drinks, his wife gets worried that things are not going well at work and he might soon get fired. Phil tries to tell me that I should be especially grateful for him now that we are in Japan and I see how Japanese men treat their wives. I tell him that we are Canadian and we know that equality and respect are part of any good marriage. He agrees, but he's always looking for brownie points!

So here we are, hungry for dinner after work, and without money. Of course, if you know me, you know that I had a fridge, freezer, and cupboard full of food, but who wants rice and frozen vegetables on payday? We had planned to go out for dinner, but we only had a thousand yen, which would buy us little more a couple of burgers. Visa to the rescue! Of course, Visa is rarely accepted in Fukuoka, but it is accepted at nice restaurants. So off we went, high-spirited, but silently cursing every closed ATM we walked by. We found a traditional Japanese restaurant that took Visa. They displayed their picture menu at the door, so we knew we could just point to pictures to order. As with all nice restaurants, we took our shoes off at the door, and locked them in small shoe-sized lockers. Then we bagged our wet umbrellas with the complimentary umbrella-sized plastic bags, and followed the lady to our table. The table is just higher than the floor, you sit on the floor, and you put your feet under the table, which is dug-out lower than the floor. They bring you a drink menu, and the best you can do is choose the prettiest colour liquid. You say "itchy" (one) "moto kiti" (bring me) "coo de sigh ee" (please). Then she rambles off a big speech in Japanese, realizes you have no idea what she just said because of the big smile on your face, and leaves. She comes back with the coloured drinks you asked for and a menu with lots of pictures on it. Everything is appetizers. So we start pointing: chicken fingers, mini pizza, meat on a stick, salad, sushi, rice, miso soup and who knows what else. We're in an adventurous mood. Then the food comes, one plate at a time. First the chicken fingers. Phil takes a bite, and screws up his face, but not so much that I am not curious to try one too. "What is it?" I ask him. "I don't know", he lies. The best I can describe it is breaded, deep-fried, chicken knuckles. You know, the cartilidge in the knee-cap. There was no meat to be found. Phil actually chewed up a couple AND swallowed. I had to spit mine out. Next, the mini pizza. It was a pizza, minus the tomato sauce and cheese. Instead it had mayonnaise, a two inch pile of raw, shaved white onion, and tiny dried transparent minnows with black, bulging eyes. You couldn't even pick them off because they were embedded in the crust. I downed one piece and Phil was able to close his eyes through two. Next came the meat on a stick. We had been warned about the meat on a stick, because sometimes it turns out to be chicken hearts or livers instead of meat. Luckily, we got some meat. One skewer was purely chicken skin, but not the nice crispy stuff. This was thick and fatty. One skewer was three scallops with something extra attached to them that was crunchy. The third and final skewer was pork bacon that was cut in cubes. The sushi, rice, and miso soup was normal (as normal as it gets). Last was the salad. It was sea cucumber, which tastes like very strong cucumber skin. It was so potent I only managed one piece. This was mixed in with half-cooked scrambled eggs, pan-fried spam, warm bean sprouts, and huge squares of very mushy tofu. Mmmmmmmm! What a great $75 dinner! It was by far the most expensive and the worst dinner we have had here. Our next most expensive dinner cost us $36. Usually we eat dinner out for about $15-$20. The worst part was how rude we felt leaving over half of it on the table when we left. I think I'll hold off learning about any more "traditional" Japanese food for a while. At least our drinks didn't have any live minnows in them. Oh, and I was talking to another Nova teacher who had gone to a restaurant where he fished for his own fish for dinner, and they gutted it in front of him, put a stake through its tail and then through its neck so it couldn't squirm and handed him a knife. He says the sauce they give you to dip the raw fish meat in is awesome. Eh?

I received the letters, pictures, and card from mom and Grandma. Thanks very much. Now Spencer's face is plastered all over my fridge. His grad photos turned out great! I'll put your face on my fridge too if you send me a picture! We got so ripped off as children having the only non-magnetic fridge. People don't even bvelieve you when you tell them your fridge isn't magnetic. If you are ever in the market to buy a new fridge, make sure that it is magnetic so your children can put things on it. The backside of our brick fireplace might have been bigger, but it just wasn't the same because the heat dried up the masking tape, and when the pictures fell off that was time for them to go in the garbage.

All right, we have our first Japanese lesson in the morning. Hopefully I will have the strength to get out of bed knowing that I have a two hour class to go to. Phil is actually excited about it. He says I'm bitter and I need to be more open-minded. Well, if open-minded means eating chicken knuckles, I think I'll sleep in.