LD's Guide to Japan

I’m trying so hard not to let this blog just become all about my kittens! They’re just so cute! There are other things going on in my life, though, so here’s a brief summary:

Still no internet in my apartment. I don’t even know what’s going on with the internet companies at this point. I ask my supervisor about it on a near daily basis and every time he just says, “just wait a little bit longer.” Sigh.

I’ve started playing soccer. Well, I’ve started playing futsal, to be more accurate, but it’s basically the same as soccer, just on a slightly smaller field and with a slightly smaller ball. There are some groups that play around here every Monday, Friday, and Sunday, and you can just come and go as you please. I’ve gone a few times now and it’s been a blast. I also played some ultimate frisbee yesterday with some other JETers and a few Japanese guys. That was also a blast and it’s looking like it’ll become a weekly thing.

I watched a quiz show on TV last night and I was answering questions correctly that some of the contestants even got wrong, so that tells you a little something about how much better my Japanese has gotten.

I had curry 4 nights in a row last week, but it was not on purpose. A friend and I cooked curry on Wednesday night and ended up with way too much leftovers. Then I went to an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher—my job) welcome dinner on Thursday and what was on the menu: curry. And then I still had enough leftovers to last me for both Friday and Saturday’s dinner. I don’t think I’ll have curry again for a few weeks.

We have a 3-day weekend in a couple weeks and I’m planning on going with a group of JETers to Kyoto for it. Definitely looking forward to it. I haven’t been back since studying abroad there 3 years ago.

My brother and his wife had a baby boy!!! He’s so adorable. I wish I could go see him.

I’m constantly redecorating and rearranging my apartment, little by little figuring out the most effective and efficient places to put things. It’s rather therapeutic.

And, finally, work is going rather well. I’m slowly getting more and more confident in the classroom. It’s definitely a challenge coming into this with no teaching experience, but I’m doing my best and I haven’t had any complaints from my fellow teachers yet (except for me to remember to speak more slowly).

So I’m keeping very busy, which, combined with the lack of internet in my apartment, is the reason this blog goes relatively un-updated. Please accept my apologies!