Ohayo Osaka!

Little Crumbsnatchers

2006-04-10T13:47:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures of my preschool kids at good old PROS Language Center. I have a few more students, but only brought the camera (or remembered to get it out, more accurately) on a day when I only teach two. This is Chiaki and Miyu enjoying some free play on a rainy afternoon. It also shows the classroom I use (I have since switched the alphabet posters in the background. They always seemed a little confusing to me: Aa, Bb, Ee?) Here is Chiaki, cracking a crooked smile for the camera. She is an excellent little artist and can already write her name (albeit in simple Japanese). She does tend to block out English speakers after a long day, and when I first started teaching her I asked if maybe she was hard of hearing (Chiaki? Chiaki?? Chi-a-ki?!) She is a very sweet girl though, and very bright. And next is Miyu. She comes to PROS five days a week, so her English is pretty advanced for a 2-year old. She can read 3 letter words and she remembers a lot of the phrases I use in class. Once, during snacktime, she starting singing a little song that went "Sit down properly, sit down properly!" That was pretty funny. She's a lot of fun to have in class, and it's been amazing to see her progress. I hope to have some pictures of the other kids soon!

Hanami = Look at the Flowers!

2006-04-10T13:12:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for my long absence from this site. However, I will make it up to all of you out there with not one, but two fantastic posts! So get ready!

It's cherry blossom time here in Osaka, and that means all the work weary inhabitants, Japanese or otherwise, are enjoying the flowers in the traditional way: barbequing under the trees, drinking sake and singing. The park outside our apartment, has transformed into a wonderland of delicate pink blossoms and happy groups picnicking on the grass. The festivites began when the first blooms started to show, and both the fun and the flowers were in full force this weekend. Jeff and I spent last Sunday morning watching the crowd from our balcony, trying to decide what to do with the day. After a mention of hiking in Nara and haircuts in American Mura, I said, "Well, let's make one lap around the park and then see how we feel." Stepping out into the street, the smell of yaki-niku and grill smoke in the air, I think we knew we weren't going anywhere. We watched some kids catching goldfish at a small stand, next to a vendor selling shaved ice and grilled noodles. Hanami goers everywhere, who were obviously pros, had large tarps spread out with inummerable tasty delights and small pillows holding family members of all ages. Walking on the crowded path, passing old ladies (meaning 80-90 years old) strolling arm-in-arm enjoying the view, we began to hear some wonderful, strange guitar music. We stopped to listen to a young man play the sanshin, a traditional Okinawan guitar with only three strings. Soon, we found ourselves sitting with the family, enjoying canned beer and fish stew. Our host was a talkative native of Okinawa, whose little knowledge of English didn't stop him from chatting us up. He was a great dancer too, demonstrating some traditional Okinawan moves. However, the grandfather of the group really showed us how it was done; breaking out a fan and shouting "Sore, sore!" It was wonderful to see everyone letting loose for a change! Jeff and I spent about 3 hours drinking and chatting, and we didn't make it around the lake until the sun had set. What an unexpected afternoon! I'll be sorry to see the cherry blossoms go. Soon, we are moving to a new apartment, up in the mountains between Kobe and Osaka. It will be a big change, and I'll miss the lake, but having a new area to explore will be really fun. Hope you are all well! Lots of love, Erin

Genki de o?

2006-02-04T16:18:00.000+09:00

Hello all. I just wanted to write a quick post here dedicated to a really great Japanese word. It`s one of the first I learned and one of the few I use even with my American friends, the ubiquitous "Genki."
What does "genki" mean? When I first learned this word, it was in a Japanese phrasebook, under Greetings. "Ogenki desu ka?" translated to "How are you?" I tried it out on my neighbor, Mr. Tanaka, a middle aged man who by all evidence is single and unemployed. He owns a collie named Mary who is always beautifully brushed and who hates gaijin (foreigners, like myself). Catching him on the stairs, I called out "Tanaka-san! Ohayo gozimasu! (Good morning) Ogenki desu ka?" He laughed and put both arms in the air "Genki de!" Hm, I thought. Strange reaction. I decided to consult Marisa, my Japanese culture guru. She`s lived in Japan for about 3 years combined (never in one trip), worked as a hostess, had Japanese boyfriends, and is now working in public schools.
"Genki! Yeah, that`s a great word," Marisa said to me in the Imazato apartment over some Chu-hi`s. "It means like healthy, happy, excited. But it also means other things. There`s just no word in English for it." She later used it in this context, describing an illness she was suffering: "Normally, I`d be all genki and look it up on the internet and find out lots of information." So, it kind of means gung-ho, or hard working too.
Another encounter with "genki" came during the Japanese class I was taking at a local community center. In the textbook they gave us, genki was written next to a stick-figure drawing of a man jogging in the snow.
Historically, I guess genki means "good energy" or "having vitality, spirit." It literally translates to "root energy" In recent times, it`s taken on more of an over-the-top meaning, sort of like super happy, excited and ready-to-go.
I love this word. Just had to share.
Hope you`re all genki!!
Love, Erin

An Olympic holiday...

2006-01-08T17:42:00.000+09:00

So Christmas is probably a long ago happy memory for you all by now, but I just had to post one more picture of my very happy Osaka Christmas. This is Jeff and I getting ready to chow down on Christmas Day. Thankfully, our homecooked meal was MUCH better than the pitiful excuse for turkey that we got at Tin`s Hall. I still think it had to be chicken... After the festivities, we traveled to Nagano for a three day ski trip! Wow, look at this place! It was fantastic. We actually skied on the same mountain that they used in the 1998 Olympics, the ski jumps were still there and everything. (there was also a McDonalds at the summit, thanks a lot America!) And just look at all this snow! It actually snowed the night before we arrived, so we had some nice powder the first day. We took an overnight bus, left Osaka at 10:00PM and arrived, bleary-eyed and stiff, at Happo-one around 8:00AM. What a surprise to see so much snow (9 ft!), since there`s only been a shower of it where we live. This was a seriously beautiful place, and it had some pretty serious runs too. Now, I`m not the most experienced person when it comes to skiing. I think my most daring endeavor up to this point was tackling a black diamond at Jack Frost in Central PA, which is probably the equivalent of the bunny hill at this place. But seriously, it was challenging, but sooooo much fun :) Don`t you love my rental ski wear, by the way? I`m lucky nobody mistook me for ski patrol... One good thing was that Jeff couldn`t lose me if he tried. He was attentive enough to document one of my better wipeouts (I`m the orange blob behind that good skiier). Thanks a lot, honey!

A big highlight of the trip was staying at a Japanese style hotel. We had futons, a kontatsu table, tatami mats and all the green tea we could drink (no ice though). For breakfast, we were served rice, fish and miso soup, as well as some eggs and strange vegetables. And dinner was beef nabe (like a little cauldron that cooks on your table) more rice and fish and miso, as well as other, stranger vegetables. The food was quite good, wholesome and healthy and whatnot. However, we had to make up for all that behaving by dining at the only Mexican restaurant in Nagano each of the three days we were there ;) The hotel also had a little hot spring to ease those aching muscles, very relaxing. So, after three lovely days, I didn`t break any bones (or skis or poles for that matter) and even though my butt saw a little more of the snow than my skis, it was a great time. And, best of all, we had a visit from Santa, on vacation after a long holiday season. Wow, didn`t know Santa was so cute ;)

More to come soon...
Love, Erin

P.S.-For more of Santa`s adventures at Happo, visit Jeff`s site: http://earthbetween.blogspot.com update coming soon... Stay tuned :)

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime...

2005-12-25T16:07:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!! It`s that wonderful time of year again... packed shopping malls, crappy Christmas songs on the radio, department store Santas and all the rest. This year, I thought I`d be leaving this all behind in the States, but guess what?! Yes, it seems all those annoying things about Christmas have made it to Osaka as well. The Japanese have adopted the Christmas holiday pretty much intact, complete with light displays, like the Luminaria in Kobe (Jen, Kevin, Jamie, Marisa, Jeff and I braved the cold for this one [Marisa`s taking the picture]). However, it`s more of a time to be with friends and sweethearts than family. And also, no one knows who Jesus is. It was nice to feel Christmas spirit in the air, though. Jeff and I decorated the veranda, and decked the apartment with poinsettias, candles and a mini Christmas tree that Mrs. Bender sent us. (Thanks so much, by the way!! :) I baked chocolate chip cookies (in the microwave, which turns out is a conventional oven too! do the wonders never cease?) and gave them to our neighbors and my coworkers. Our landlady was very pleased with our decorations and took the time to write us a sweet note. In case you can`t read it, it says "What a fine light! I and my mother and other people are very very glad. Thank you! Merry Christmas! from Sawa" It felt good to spread some Christmas cheer :)
We even had a little snow, which is almost unheard of in Osaka. It was quite beautiful, but melted almost as soon as it fell (though not soon enough that I didn`t almost break my neck on my bike :) As for actual celebrations, on Christmas Eve (and like most Japanese folks) Jeff and I went to a foreigner bar with some of his Nova buddies (who are also working over the Christmas holidays, bummer!). We ate some TV-dinner style turkey and mashed potatoes and had some eggnog while listening to a Japanese acoustic guitar player singing Bob Marley. Lots of girls were dressed up for the holiday in Santa hats and I think I even saw a sexy reindeer outfit. Tonight, it`s stuffing cooking time again, wish me luck! Happy Holidays to everyone and I miss you lots! With love, Erin

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2005-12-05T20:35:00.000+09:00

Hello all! I hope everyone is well and happy remembering their fantastic Thanksgiving dinners that I couldn`t eat! Seriously, it was pretty tough to see this day come and go without so much as a whiff of turkey. I did, however, have a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with my American friends (and one Canadian, but we don`t hold it against him ;) Those of you who know me know that Thanksgiving is a big deal in my family, so to honor this hallowed tradition, this year I decided to take up the task of making homemade stuffing Lawrence/Waterkotte style. And what a task it was! You should have seen me, guys. I layed out the bread to stale during the afternoon so I could guard it from the mice who live in our ceiling. I buttered and spiced it all by myself! I ran to the store to buy more butter all by myself! (and prayed the mice wouldn`t come snacking in the meantime) And I cut it all up myself with a dull bread knife. Then over to Jen`s apartment with a shopping bag full of precious ingredients (one hour on the train!). Jen and Marisa watched the sauteing of the onion and celery and the thickening of the chicken broth, and of course the mixing! They were duly impressed by this labor-intensive process, but it wasn`t over yet! I baked small portions at a time in the toaster oven using a tinfoil dish of my own construction. The top burned, the bottom didn`t really cook through, but damned if that stuffing didn`t turn out delcious! I was so proud :) Of course, by Waterkotte standards it was sub-par (you guys would have definately been disappointed with the wetness factor) but under the circumstances, I think I did a good job. And my friends agreed. Leftovers for everyone! I forgot to take pictures at dinner, so instead here are some random funny things. Enjoy!
Mmmm.. hamburgers... You want the one with the eggs or the one with tarter sauce all over it? And guys, please...

Love, Erin ;)

you say you want a revorution

2005-10-31T20:38:00.000+09:00

Oh my god, how much do I suck? Honestly, how much? Let me tell you, I haven't updated this poor site over a month!! Like I need to tell you guys, all patiently waiting out there for some news. Well, wait no more! Things are going well over here in Osaka. Jeff and I are totally settled into our new place (which means it's pretty much a hopeless mess most of the time) and my job is pretty comfortable by now (though I do have kids songs in my head a lot more often than I'd like). Jeff took me to the World Expo in Aichi for my birthday! The theme this year was "Nature's Wisdom" and as you can see, the whole place was built with gardens, lakes, and tons of plants and wildlife areas, despite it's capacity to hold 10,000 people a day. A lot of the pavilions had green roofs too. The coolest buildings were definately the corporate ones. It's not a great shot, but this nondescript looking one with the pipes had water dripping from it constantly. I hope you can see it, because it was so cool. They turned the entire building into a giant fountain! These pavillions rocked, but the lines to get into these things were 5 and 6 hours long! Obviously, I did not have time for that. So, no, we didn't see any frozen mammoths or robot bands, but instead, we saw an array of smaller countries with shorter lines: India, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, New Zealand. I bought an amber necklace at the Morroco pavilion, then I went to the Ukraine and they told me it was a fake. Oh well! Guess they were just trying to represent their country. India was my favorite. All the African countries (except Morroco and Egypt) were lumped into one pavillion that had nothing but a food stall, some handmade crap and an awesome Makossa band. It was so great groovin to African music again, even though the crowd didn't know what to make of it. We also saw a performance of traditional Japanese drums (taiko). This was amazing, especially considering these were high school age kids and retired women. Except for the incredible drumming, the whole event had the feel of a high school talent show, with parents taking pictures, and kids in the audience hooting and hollering for their friends. Damn, can you imagine this being your after school activity? Amazing. Overall it was a great time, even though I didn't have time to check out the most important country of all! Ten bucks says this stupid mascot was not an Irishman's idea. Will this stuff ever stop being funny? Just let me know when it happens :) More to come soon. Love, Erin!

Reggae, apartments and the fabulous life of an English teacher

2005-09-06T20:06:00.000+09:00

Hello again! Well, I`m settling into life in Osaka. My job is pretty much in full swing now. I`ve been teaching most of the classes during my shift (and being observed by the head teacher, how nerve racking!). The kindergarten begins on Thursday. It`s so nice to have a schedule again, though it`s definately not one that I`m used to. I usually don`t get home until around 8 and Jeff doesn`t come in `til 10 or 11. So, I`m eating late, staying up late and waking up late. But, I guess that`s the life of an English teacher!
Speaking of English teachers, here`s a few awesome ones that we met who were visiting from Korea. Lena and Rodd (on the right) were fresh off the plane and looking lost, so I helped them find a hotel. We ended up meeting up the following night, along with their friends Aaron and Jennifer. Much beer was drank and karaoke sung and a fabulous time was had by all. We hope to relive the sequel in Seoul when Jeff and I make our visa run!
This is a pretty funny event we stumbled onto. A reggae party at the Osaka-jo Park, where you can find the famous Osaka Castle. Now, I know what you`re thinking. Japanese reggae?? Yeah, you read right. It was actually a pretty hip scene, complete with turban-clad rasta guys and chicken cooked in a big oil drum grill. Note the Buddha on top of the speakers. He`s got a beer beside him :) The DJ`s were surprisingly good too, playing classic Jamaican dancehall along with some new stuff, and shouting out things like "Chop! Chop!" and "Leggae Vi-bra-tions!" I never thought I would see so many Japanese butts shaking. What a trip!
Here`s a few shots of the new apartment. It`s nothing special, but it is comfortable. This is the front room, kitchen and front door. Hey, can we get a close-up of that clock?

Nice! This place is endlessly amusing. Most of the decorations and amenities were there when we arrived. Our landlady Mama-san is very generous. That`s her in the red. Can you believe she`s 89?? Incredible. The other woman is Sawa, her daughter, who speaks English. She`s just about the nicest person on earth. I`m peeking into the shower. We have a bathtub! Though, it is small but deep, like bathing in a big bucket. The other room is a living room/bedroom.

Like I said, nothing special. Jeff took one of the bureaus and rigged up a double bed.

Sawa painted the door. Lovely! So I know you`re thinking, why did you take this dump?! It`s tiny! Well, here`s the reason:

The veranda! Overlooking:

The most beauty place in Osaka! (as the ad proclaimed) And it`s true. This pond is huge and filled with wildlife like turtles and cranes. We can go fishing and watch people do tai-chi in the morning and it`s all right outside our door! You`re right, the close quarters will probably end up making us move at some point, but it`s not bad digs for the time being, eh?
Alright, thanks for reading this enormous post. Lots of love and take care of yourselves (and each other :) Love, Erin!

Kobe

2005-08-29T13:17:00.000+09:00

Hello to all! Sorry for the long delay in updating. I`ve been observing classes all week and settling into the new apartment. I`ll have some pictures of that place soon, when it doesn`t look like a bomb went off inside it (a bomb filled with tacky decorations). In the meantime, here`s some pictures from a jaunt to Kobe! This was about two weeks ago, when Jeff and I were still enjoying unemployed bliss. It rained all morning, so when we arrived, we made our way to a shrine near the train station. It was a really cool one: huge curved roofs, paper decorations and enormous gates. There was a naming ceremony going on at the time, kind of like a Buddhist baptism. That huge rope in front of the interior of the temple is attached to a giant bell, shaped like a bell you`d put on a cats collar. Here`s a shot of the prayer cards outside. You write a prayer on the back and hang it at the temple site. It looks like a lot of people are praying for cars. There were also some sweet looking lanterns. After the shrine, we took a cable car up the top of the mountain. Here`s a cool shot of the city. Can you believe this whole place was leveled by an earthquake less than ten years ago? Amazing. At the top of the mountain was a botanical garden park. It was really nice to walk around the plants (though they were mostly European). What a nice time! Thanks for all the comments, guys! It`s great to know people are actually checking the site. I love and miss you all!

Beautiful Imazato

2005-08-17T17:07:00.000+09:00

Alright, here it is, as promised. These are not award winning pictures, but I thought y`all might enjoy seeing where I`ve been living. The apartment that the crew moved into after the first exciting week was in just about the quietest place you could think of in the city. The neighborhood is called Imazato, and, as you can see, it`s pretty residential. This is the apartment from outside. Pretty luxurious, huh? We were all thankful to have a place to stay, but we were also thinking that we`re definitely earning our stars on this trip. Inside it`s actually quite nice. New tatami mats, very clean, and some fun decorations from Marisa, the girl who let us stay at her place. That`s Jeff in the living room (or the second bedroom :) Here`s the actual bedroom, which has an actual bed. Pretty rare for Japan, most people sleep on thick bedrolls on the floor called futons. We bought two of those for the unlucky couple who`d be camping in the living room. On the first night, Jen, Kevin, Jeff and I all played Scrabble to see who would get the bed for the first week. Jeff and I lost. Here`s the kitchen. It was pretty small, I`ll admit, but it did the job. And this is the shower and bathroom (the handle on the right is the toilet closet) Pretty awesome!! It took some adjustments to get used to smaller living (Jeff and Kev definitely had to learn to duck doorways) but we learned to maximize space using the glass and wood dividers. It was fun! We also made use of the roof, which was so awesome to have access to. Here`s the gang chowing down in style. The neighborhood was really convenient and the people were pretty friendly. We lived right next to a covered shopping street. This place had everything, from clothing shops and hats and shoes to a pet store that sold crickets. Also, used furniture and second-hand pottery, plus tons of little eateries and markets. Everyone rides bicycles right through the mall and they play Hawaiian music all day long, making the whole place seem just slightly surreal. They also have these crazy looking paper decorations everywhere. But, enough about the mall. Many of the houses have beautiful potted plants outside of the front door. It really brightens up the area and makes up for there being no trees. These really made me think of my mom, who was nervous about downsizing to an apartment and losing her ability to garden. See mom, no matter how small your place is, you can still have a garden! And, I hope to get my own little garden started at my new apartment! That`s right, Jeff and I found a new place, and we`ll be moving in next weekend. So, stay tuned for that. Take care and love to you all! -Erin

Hired!

2005-08-14T14:17:00.000+09:00

No pictures on this one. I just wanted to let everyone know that I got hired! I`ll be teaching preschool three days a week and a few conversation classes two days a week at a school called Pros Language Center. Luckily, it`s only one location, so I won`t be traveling too much, and I have Saturday and Sunday off! It`s a pretty cushy deal, I`m so happy stuff worked out. Now, on to the apartment search...
I`ll post again soon with pics of our current apartment and neighborhood. I swear, I`ll get this thing up to date! Lots of love to all, Erin

Jeff`s Blog

2005-08-10T15:55:00.000+09:00

I can`t figure out how to put a link to Jeff`s website on mine, so here it is, for everyone`s viewing pleasure:

http://earthbetween.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Fireworks, crowds and karaoke!

2005-08-10T15:22:00.000+09:00

Continuing with the festival.... Evening fell and as we wandered through food stalls and games, we followed the sound of fireworks in the distance. On the way we passed people selling chicken satay, pinapples and grapes on a stick (for $3 each! fruit is so expensive here!), and assorted grilled squids and other creepy seafood. It actually smelled really delicious, but it was just too hot to eat hot food, so I settled for a pinapple stick. Fantastic! So sweet and sticky :)

We finally found the place they were setting off fireworks, a bridge over the main river, with a view of Osaka Castle in the distance. It was really beautiful, but the place was packed with people. Some policemen were passing us with megaphones yelling something in Japanese, but we didn`t let that stop us. Off we went, following the crowd to the other side of the bridge. HUGE mistake! Before we knew it, we were trapped in a crowd of unimaginable size! This picture does not even do it justice. People were literally smacked right up against each other and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn`t get anywhere, not back or forward. I started to feel really panicked, especially when some drunk kids started pushing each other. What a scary feeling, to actually think you might be trampled. But, just when I thought I was going to freak out, I saw a kid, no more than 4 years old with her dad. She was smiling and talking as if this was the most normal situation ever. I thought, if this kid can stay calm, so can I. Finally, a policeman cut his way through the crowd with his arm up, indicating "Everyone who wants to get out of here, follow me." We let ourselves get caught up in the flow of people, and in less than a minute we were free!

After all that excitement, we decided we deserved a drink or two or five. So, we bought a few six packs at the Family Mart and played drinking games in the hotel. Then we went out for karaoke!! Here`s a few shots of the gang, partying like rockstars ;)

As you can see, it`s not like American karaoke where you have to make a fool out yourself in front of an entire bar. In Japan, you`re free to act as silly as you like in the comfort of a private room.

What a night!

The park and the cool boat

2005-08-07T13:46:00.000+09:00

Ah, some beautiful green leaves! Well, continuing with the continuting saga, here are Jen and I at Osaka-jo the main park in town. We came here to see a festival that we heard about, but couldn`t find any information on in English. We just knew the dates and the place, so here we are waiting for something to happen. The park had very well kept gardens and it`s on an island in the river, so the breezes were very nice. There were some boats decorated with flags, and soon, we began to see boats coming down the river, being rowed by groups of men in traditional clothing to the beat of traditional drums. A little further down, we were luckly enough to see a group of these guys pulling one of the wooden boats out of the river.

It didn`t look like it was going to budge, so we started to leave. But then...!

Oh my gosh!

They hauled the boat up the incline...

Straightened it out...

And pulled it down the street!!

What a sight! We were kind of proud to be the only forgieners witnessing this amazing thing. Just goes to show the rewards of wandering around once in a while :)

We watched as the boat got loaded up with kids in traditional costume. Then a child took the huge wooden drumsticks in hand and began beating out a rhythm on the giant drum at the back. The men geared up and hauled the boat down the street, a crowd of people in kimonos following them. What a cool thing to see!

Finally, the first few pictures!

2005-08-03T13:16:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone!! Well, I finally figured out how to post pictures on this thing, so here`s an update. I figure, even though it`s been two weeks already (can it be???) I should start at the beginning. So, here`s the four of us outside the Kansai Airport, happy to be on the ground after our exhausting 16 hour flight.

This is the massive rainstorm that we took off into in Chicago. I was definately more than a little nervous... thanks for the happy send off, America!

And, this was our first view of Japan! Note the man made islands. I believe the airport was actually on one of these.

Once we landed, rested for a while and took in the obligatory sushi and beer, it was time for exploring! Here`s a shot of Dontonburi, the Times Square of Osaka. That`s Jen in the foreground, taking in the sights. There are hundreds of restaurants, karaoke complexes, arcades, and pachinko parlors throughout this area (pachinko is a gambling game). There are also tons of shops selling the lastest fashion at astronomical prices. It`s a happening area, and a crash-course introduction to the absurdity that is modern Japan.

Speaking of absurdity, here`s an action shot of your American ambassadors (me, Jen and Kevin) acting a fool outside of the Umeda Sky Building. We didn`t get to go inside to get a view of the city, but we did ride an enourmous ferris wheel and got a pretty good view from there.

This city is huge!! It`s like this is every direction! Luckily, in the weeks to come, we will discover that there are quieter places. But, for now, everything is bigger than life and every square inch of this place is packed. Even underground! I think you could walk from one end of the city to the other purely using the underground malls. Here is a mall that we walked through that had life-size replicas of sperm whales. Only they`re red. Go figure. And on the right is the store where we bought our cellphones. Do you think they`re having a sale? I can`t tell...

Ok, this is already too long, but let me finish with a few parting shots. Here`s Jeff in America Mura, a part of town where they sell American fashions, reggae music, and McDonald`s burgers. I accidentally ordered a Teriyaki Burger at this place. It wasn`t so bad, actually. And this is the very well kept Tower Records in America Mura. I think some of these Japanese kids know more about American music than I do!

And what would a Japan trip be without a little bad English? Internet Cafe World has it`s mission statement posted here. It sounds pretty inspiring to me, don`t you agree?

Well, that`s all for this installment. I hope everyone reading this is doing well and if I know you, I love you and I miss you! Until next time...

This is Erin Lawrence, signing off :)

It starts...

2005-07-23T13:18:00.000+09:00

Wow. So, this is my first post on my first blog. It`s also my first time in an internet cafe that has places you can sleep and a shower, as well as a humongous library of manga. It`s my second day in Japan and I couldn`t be happier. More to come soon, as soon as I figure out how to set up my laptop...