"D" is for Dorayaki.

Mmmmmm dorayaki......what can be better than two pancakes sandwiching sweet red bean paste? Seriously, so good I could eat it everyday. I have loved almost every single type of dorayaki that has crossed my path. Red beans, white beans, with a chestnut in the middle, with purin in the middle, I LIKE THEM ALL. Come visit me here, and I will take you to get some dorayaki. Actually, I might just bring some to the airport with me when I pick you up. ;)

In Japan, there is a famous cartoon character called Doraemon. He is a blue robot cat whose ears were nibbled off by mice. He is also quite magical and handy in a tight spot because he has this pocket in his tummy that can produce basically anything. Doraemon is absolutely crazy for dorayaki. I feel that this Doraemon and I could be friends...Notice the similarities between this picture of him and the one of me.

"C" is for Commuting

Yes, "C" is for Commuting, which is a big part of my work day. As you all know, I must ride my bike everyday--an activity which initially convinced me I would die an early death. My bike and I have had rocky relationship. I started off scared of it, then I got used to it, then I hated it in the winter, then I liked it again in the spring, now I'm annoyed with it because the chain and gears are all rusted and the sound of it grinding hurts my ears and freaks me out. There are so many great things about riding a bike. For example, it's eco friendly. It's fast. It's easy and it never runs out of gas!

There are bad points, too. My bike basket is only so big, so I can't do too much grocery shopping at one time. Also, the streets here are very narrow and often do not have sidewalks. The absolute worst part, though, is biking in any weather but sunshine. I hate biking in snow, rain, typhoon winds, or even when it is just way too hot outside. Too often have I been caught in the rain. Here is a picture of exactly that: Jamie and I were biking home when all of a sudden the heavens opened up on us. We took cover under and awning and waited it out. Jamie kindly snapped a shot of me looking like a hot mess. Please notice the rain droplets on my glasses:

Another part of commuting is riding the train. Most of my schools are out in the countryside and I must take a train to reach most of them. I enjoy riding the trains most of the time. My longest train ride is a whopping 45 minutes, and as it's early in the morning, I often find myself nodding off. Some of my funniest moments as a foreigner in Japan come from riding the train. Sometimes, when I board a train full of students (not even my students, but high schoolers!), they take one look at me and whip out their English homework. Not even joking. They never ask me for help or anything, but they often glance over to see if I notice them studying English. Or they will suddenly start using random English words to see if they can get my attention. Sorry, kids, your shouting of the words "I have a pencil" is not going to entice any conversation out of me. :)

"B" is for Budou

"Budou" (ぶどう）means "grapes" in Japanese. When I first arrived, my supervisor and some teachers took us ALTs to pick grapes. One of the teacher's parents own a vineyard so we were able to do it for free, plus we got to sample all the different kinds of grapes they grow there. It was so delicious and fun! I had never picked grapes before in my life, so it was interesting to me. Here in Japan they grow them on trellises and you walk underneath it to pick. It was so enchanting being under the canopy of grape vines. Plus, one of the teachers brought his super adorable son, so it was really enjoyable to watch him run around laughing. I hope we can go grape picking again this year!!

"A" is for Arrival.

Yesterday was the official one-year mark for my time in Fukuoka! I honestly cannot believe how fast time has flown by. It seems just yesterday that I was frantically running around St. Louis trying to accomplish last minute errands. These days I have been answering questions for the new ALTs (arriving next week!!) and I can remember so clearly what it felt like to be packing up and heading off to orientation. I am back in the office again for summer break, so to kill time I was looking ahead to when I might take my paid holidays and where I might go visit. It was very thrilling to think of all the possibilities. I made a list of some of the places in Japan I want to see before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 12 more months here. I must make the most of it while I'm here.

To commemorate what has certainly been one of the most exciting years of my life, I am going to pick something important to me for each letter of the alphabet.

So, A is for Arrival.

This time last year, I arrived in the place that would be home for the following 2 years. I had some hardships in the beginning (aaahhh riding a bike!!) but I was able to nestle in comfortably. My arrival in Fukuoka prefecture was a very nice one, though I was nervous at first. I will never forget getting my bag from the baggage claim and wheeling it out to the lobby where Jamie, Chris, Rich

ard, and Ide sensei were waiting for me holding signs with my name on them. What a rush. I still have those red "fukuoka" baggage claim tags! And yeah, Dad, the abbreviation for Fukuoka Airport is FUK. Something I know you find very funny

(^_^)

This is me, on arrival day, with Kurume's cityscape behind me. You can see the whole city from Kurume's City Hall building that is super tall.

Later I discovered that shirt is too low and "sexy" for the Japanese workplace. Whoops. My bad. ;)